Short but competitive field in Friday turf feature

ELMONT, N.Y. – There may be only five horses in Friday’s multicondition turf allowance feature at Belmont Park, but there is nary a standout nor a throw-out among the quintet.

Tricky Escape and Perdona ship up from the Mid-Atlantic region to take on the locally based trio of Azaelia, Somethingelse, and Princess of Gibraltar in the one-mile race on the inner turf course.

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Tricky Escape won the Grade 3 Violet Stakes at Monmouth Park two starts back but remains eligible for the third-level allowance condition of this race. She is coming off a second-place finish behind odds-on favorite Kitten’s Roar in the $330,000 Ramsey Farm Stakes on Sept. 14 at Kentucky Downs.

Trainer Lynn Ashby said that while Tricky Escape enjoys a turf a course with give in the ground, the inside part of the Kentucky Downs turf course was even “more squishy” than her filly wanted.

“We were still gaining on [Kitten’s Roar] at the end, so I was very impressed with that,” Ashby said.

Ashby said she is hoping to use Friday’s race as a stepping-stone to the Grade 3, $200,000 Athenia here Oct. 28.

Perdona, trained by Kelly Rubley, is coming off wins at Delaware and Laurel and returns to Belmont, where she finished fourth, beaten five lengths, going six furlongs in June.

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KEY CONTENDERS

Azaelia, by Turtle Bowl
Last 3 Beyers: 86-81-81

◗ Coming off a seven-month layoff, she finished third, beaten three-quarters of a length, while trying to close behind a slow pace.

“I thought her last race was good,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “I would like to run her farther, but they can’t get farther [races] to go here. She’s training good. I think she’ll run well.”

◗ Her lone win in four starts for McGaughey came last fall at Aqueduct, where she avoided trouble created by a spill and came with a strong late run.

Tricky Escape, by Hat Trick
Last 3 Beyers: 95-92-74

◗ Won the Violet, a race that produced two next-out minor stakes winners.

◗ Cutting back to a mile after finishing a late-running second in a 1 5/16-mile stakes.

“I’m a little worried about that because she is better farther,” Ashby said. “It’s like a sprint, but she’s feeling good, so we’re going to see if we get the trip. You got to like her – she’s just constantly improving.”

Somethingelse, by Leroidesanimaux
Last 3 Beyers: 86-87-83

◗ Was headstrong and checked often yet still finished a neck in front of Azaelia when those two were second and third in a similar spot Sept. 8.

“She was unlucky last time,” trainer Christophe Clement said.

Princess Gibraltar, by Rock of Gibraltar
Last Beyer: 79

◗ In her lone start in this country, she finished third in a stakes Sept. 2 at Suffolk Downs.

“I was disappointed,” Clement said. “I thought she trained better than the race, and she has trained since better than the race. We’ll see.”