Sea Calisi top of the heap in New York Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown already had plenty of ammunition in the filly-and-mare turf division when Sea Calisi looked like the bomb while making her North American debut May 7 in the Sheepshead Bay Stakes.
One race does not an elite filly make, but Sea Calisi has overseas form supporting her performance last month, and her star can grow brighter still Friday at Belmont when she starts as the likely favorite in the Grade 2, $500,000 New York Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on turf.
And if Sea Calisi happens to falter, Brown has backup. He also entered two more capable horses, Dacita and Guapaza, and thus has three of the top four betting choices in the seven-horse New York, which goes as race 9 on Friday at 5:14 p.m. Eastern. Photo Call for trainer Todd Pletcher appears to have the best chance at Brown-busting, while the field is completed by Trophee – a less-capable sister to the magnificent dual Arc winner Treve – and two European imports, Havana Moon and Kyllachy Queen, whose overseas form can’t hold a candle to Sea Calisi’s.
KEY CONTENDERS
Sea Calisi, by Youmzain
Beyer: 95
◗ The 4-year-old purchased out of France by Martin Schwartz came to the U.S. late last year with versatile and high-class form, having won over both soft and firm going and run to her best in England and France. She was beaten less than a length in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks and was third behind Treve and Candarliya in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille before probably going over the top and coming home seventh in the Group 1 British Champions Filly and Mare stakes to end her season.
◗ Her strong races at Saint-Cloud and York, left-handed, relatively flat tracks that better approximate U.S. turf racing than many European courses, boded well for her transition to North American competition. “She’s done real well for us, had a good winter adjusting,” said Brown.
◗ Sea Calisi tracked a slow pace on yielding ground in the Sheepshead Bay and blew past her rivals with eye-catching acceleration coming into the homestretch. “In her first start for us, she showed that turn of foot that she’d been showing in her works,” Brown said.
◗ At 10 furlongs, the New York is a furlong shorter than any race Sea Calisi has contested, but the cutback might be a good thing for a filly who sometimes looked like she didn’t truly stay 12 furlongs against top-class foes overseas.
Guapaza, by Seeking the Dia
Beyers: 91-90
◗ Five-year-old Chilean import has turned in two strong, perhaps slightly underrated performances in her brief North American campaign. Dacita beat her in Florida, and Sea Calisi beat her in the Sheepshead Bay, but Guapaza didn’t have ideal passage in either race.
“She’s run two really good races with some trouble,” Brown said. “She went the inside route and was stopped, rerallied. She’s a horse that trains with a lot of quality, and I think she’s set up for a really good season.”
Dacita, by Scat Daddy
Last 3 Beyers: 93-91-86
◗ She’s the last horse to beat the mighty Tepin, rallying past her in deep stretch of the Ballston Spa last August at Saratoga to win by a nose, but the very firm and fast-playing ground that day probably enhanced Dacita’s performance level. “The conditions were perfect that first time even though she was off a long layoff,” said Brown.
◗ The three races she’s run since the Ballston Spa clearly were below Dacita’s best, and since two came at Keeneland, Brown hopes the mare, who was Guapaza’s better during their time in Chile, doesn’t care for that course. But even in her narrow loss to still another Brown-trained filly, Olorda, at Gulfstream this winter, Dacita lacked the flash she’d shown last summer.
Photo Call, by Galileo
Last 3 Beyers: 93-91-96
◗ Knocked out a Grade 1 win in the Rodeo Drive last fall at Santa Anita and finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf before being sold. She has not found her best form yet in two starts this year, although she did hold on to win the Grade 3 Orchid in her last start April 2.
◗ She made the lead in the Orchid and is a candidate to set the pace Friday under Javier Castellano. “She’s a horse that can be very headstrong, and I don’t think you really want to fight her,” Pletcher said.