Sentiero Italia rates slight advantage in Sands Point
ELMONT, N.Y. – With two wins at the distance and two good runs over the course, Sentiero Italia may rate a slight edge in a very competitive renewal of the Grade 2, $500,000 Sands Point Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on turf Saturday at Belmont Park.
Sentiero Italia is the only member of what figures to be a 10-horse field to have won at the 1 1/8-mile distance, with one of those wins coming in the Grade 2 Lake Placid four weeks ago at Saratoga. She also won at 1 1/8 miles in a maiden race back in April at Aqueduct, a race from which the second- third- and fourth-place finishers have each come back to win twice.
Sentiero Italia’s only loss in her last four starts was when she finished fourth to Lady Eli in the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational.
“She had the 11-hole, wide, she was the only who ran further than Lady Eli,” said Kiaran McLaughlin, trainer of Sentiero Italia.
There is no Lady Eli in this field, but there are four European-based runners in the mix. Malabar defeated males going a mile in a Group 3 stakes at Goodwood in July. Osaila, third to Lady Eli in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, just came up short in a Group 3 seven-furlong race on that same Goodwood card. Iromea is coming off her first win in five starts but has never finished worse than third. Blond Me was beaten a neck in a Group 3 at Sandown and is the only European who will race on Lasix.
Among the U.S. challengers are Miss Temple City, second to Sentiero Italia in the Lake Placid; Mrs McDougal, winner of the Lake George at Saratoga on July 24; and Cara Maria, the potential longshot pacesetter under Manny Franco.
Her Emmynenncy, second in the Del Mar Oaks, will scratch to await the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Oct. 10 at Keeneland.
Sands Point, Race 9
KEY CONTENDERS
Sentiero Italia (Last 3 Beyers: 95-92-86)
◗ Has improved her Beyer Speed Figures in each of her five races and did win a first-level allowance going a mile over this course in May.
◗ Heavy rains fell here Thursday and more was possible Friday, perhaps altering the turf course from firm.
“Any time you have change it’s a concern, but I think she’s going to love it soft or with give in the ground,” McLaughlin said.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Sentiero Italia. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is 19-0-3-1 over the past four years in turf route graded stakes with last-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Miss Temple City (Last 3 Beyers: 92-NA-90)
◗ After finishing fourth in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, this filly came back with a second-place finish in the Lake Placid.
“I think she would benefit from some speed in the race,” trainer Graham Motion said. “She hasn’t had it the last few times she’s run.”
Malabar (First U.S. start)
◗ Comes off a three-length victory with blinkers added in a Group 3 race at Goodwood in July.
“She hasn’t done a lot wrong all year to be honest, but her win at Goodwood against the colts showed that she has a bit of class,” Mick Channon, assistant to his father, Michael Channon, wrote in an email. “She murdered them that day, and the undulations and turning nature of Goodwood makes me think she’ll handle the turns at Belmont. She’s agile and very game with a turn of foot that put the last race to bed in a matter of strides.”
◗ Top California jockey Rafael Bejarano rides Malabar.
Osaila (No recent Beyers)
◗ Was good enough to finish within five lengths of Lady Eli in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last October, earning an 85 Beyer. Has two wins and a second in four starts this year.
◗ Trainer Richard Hannon says the 1 1/8 miles “is what she needs.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 11 Mrs. McDougal. Trainer Chad Brown is 44-13-6-9 with a $2.39 ROI over the past five years in turf route graded stakes on the NYRA circuit with last-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
– additional reporting by Marcus Hersh