Ruffian a tough comeback spot for Unchained Melody

The six entrants in the Grade 2 Ruffian at Belmont Park on Sunday have a lot of questions to answer.

Holiday Disguise has the most straightforward form of anyone in the one-mile race for fillies and mares, and may go favored. But the Linda Rice trainee certainly is not a standout and will be stretching out a furlong in distance off her win in the Grade 3 Distaff. While her Beyer Speed Figures are competitive, she is in for a stern test.

Unchained Melody will be making her first start since being pulled up during the Alabama at Saratoga and vanned from the track.

According to trainer Brian Lynch, no specific problem was found and she was given a 90-day farm vacation. Unchained Melody has worked 16 times since Jan. 12 for her first start in close to nine months. She will wear blinkers for the first time in the $250,000 Ruffian.

“She’s trained forwardly and had a couple of lovely breezes at Keeneland,” Lynch said. “Each work has been better than the last.”

Unchained Melody, winner of the Grade 2 Mother Goose last July, is 3 for 5. Last year, she defeated the talented runners Lockdown, Actress, and Jamyson ‘n Ginger. The seven furlongs seems right for her, but this is not an easy comeback spot.

Highway Star won both the Ruffian and the Distaff a year ago, but gave way and was beaten nearly 40 lengths at 5-2 in the one-mile Heavenly Prize Invitational in March. Trainer Rodrigo Ubillo reported she came out of that race with mucus in her lungs and a sore back.

Ubillo entered and scratched her from the April 6 Distaff and has since put a series of sharp works into her. Her last-race aberration should be disregarded.

Pacific Wind and Faypien will be facing tougher competition than in their last-race victories, but may be up to the task.

Pacific Wind, a West Coast import, scored an 8 1/4-length victory over second-level optional-claiming rivals at Keeneland in her first start for Chad Brown. She will be turning back from a two-turn mile to a one-turn mile, and Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode Holiday Disguise to victory in the Distaff, stays aboard.

Bob Baffert has sent Faypien in from California off a win in the $100,000 Harry Henson Handicap, a mile race on the Sunland Park Derby undercard. Faypien’s time of 1:35.28 was 1.38 seconds faster than Blamed’s mile split in the 1 1/16-mile Sunland Oaks two races earlier.

Faypien ran well to be second to American Gal last summer in the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga.

The Ruffian field is completed by the Michael Matz-trained Tequilita, who finished third in the Test, a half-length behind Faypien. Most recently, she was beaten less than four lengths in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland.

Unchained Melody has the best early speed in the lineup and is likely to make a clear lead. Her nearest pursuer could be Highway Star. If the pace is moderate, they could prove difficult to catch.