Shug sends out talented fillies in Ruffian, Beaugay
ELMONT, N.Y. – In a little more than a half-hour’s time Saturday afternoon at Belmont Park, trainer Shug McGaughey should get a good idea of just what type of year he could have with Carrumba and Tapitry, a pair of very promising 4-year-old fillies.
Carrumba, coming off her first stakes victory in last month’s Grade 3 Top Flight, is the morning-line favorite against Cavorting and four others in the Grade 2, $250,000 Ruffian Stakes going a mile on dirt. Thirty-two minutes later, Tapitry will try to secure her first stakes victory as a bit of a longshot in the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on turf.
The Ruffian and Beaugay are two of four graded stakes on an 11-race card that begins at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. They combine with the Grade 2 Peter Pan and Grade 1 Man o’ War for an all-graded stakes late pick four (races 7-10).
Carrumba hasn’t finished worse than second in seven career starts. She is a head loss to Forever Unbridled in last November’s Grade 3 Comely Stakes from having a five-race winning streak.
She came off a 4 1/2-month layoff to win the Top Flight, a 1 1/8-mile race around two turns, last month at Aqueduct. Though the ultimate goal is the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps here on June 11, McGaughey didn’t want to wait that long to run her again.
“She came out of it so good is the reason,” McGaughey said.
Cavorting is seeking her first victory since annexing last summer’s Grade 1 Test at Saratoga. She will try a mile for just the third time. Her previous two races at that distance were her worst races.
Include Betty won the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes here last summer and is 2 for 2 at a mile.
In the Beaugay, Tapitry will seek her third consecutive victory and her first in a stakes race.
“She had a very good winter, came back and ran very good first time back,” McGaughey said. ‘’This is a big step up for her.”
McGaughey believes Recepta, the winner of the Grade 3 Noble Damsel over this course last fall, is the horse to beat. Ball Dancing, a Grade 1 winner in 2015, and My Miss Sophia, making her 5-year-old debut, are other top contenders.
Ruffian, Race 7
KEY CONTENDERS
Carrumba, by Bernardini
Last 3 Beyers: 87-94-84
◗ Carrumba earned a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure in winning an allowance race by nine lengths while cutting back to a one-turn mile from a two-turn win last year.
“I think you can do pretty much what you want to with her,” McGaughey said.
◗ She drew the outside post in the six-horse field.
Cavorting, by Bernardini
Last 3 Beyers: 88-85-87
◗ Grade 1 winner at seven furlongs didn’t handle a mile in the slop here as a 2-year-old or over a quirky Gulfstream Park surface in her 3-year-old debut last year.
“It’s an unknown for her, but her pedigree and her looks suggest she should be able to stretch out,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said.
◗ Gets a rider switch to Javier Castellano. Since Jan. 1, 2012, Castellano is 10 for 25 aboard McLaughlin-trained runners, with a $2.02 return on investment.
Beaugay, Race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Recepta, by Speightstown
Last 3 Beyers: 92-99-80
◗ Jimmy Toner said he didn’t have her fully cranked when she finished fifth behind Tepin in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley.
◗ Third in this race last year, she improved to record back-to-back stakes wins, including the Noble Damsel here last fall.
“She’s better now than she was last year,” Toner said.
◗ Reunited with John Velazquez, who won twice on her last year.
My Miss Sophia, by Unbridled’s Song
Last 3 Beyers: 94-102-98
◗ Sports a solid work tab for her first start since finishing third behind Tepin in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland last Oct. 3.
“The time off has helped her soundness-wise,” trainer Bill Mott said.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 My Miss Sophia. Trainer Bill Mott is 27-3-4-7 with a $0.83 ROI over the past five years in turf route graded stakes following a layoff of 100 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Tapitry, by Tapit
Last 3 Beyers: 88-79-84
◗ Returned from a five-month layoff to win a second-level allowance at Aqueduct while taking advantage of a paceless race. Has run well from off the pace, too.
◗ McGaughey believes her nose loss in an allowance race at Saratoga and her fourth in the Sands Point were better efforts than they may look on paper.
“She’s going to have to run that kind of race or a little better, but I think she might be sitting on top of that,” McGaughey said. “She sure has trained well. If she goes over there and acts right, I think she has a big chance to get a piece of it.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Tapitry. Trainer Shug McGaughey is 29-11-4-4 with a $2.66 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
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Sistas Stroll. Trainer Tom Proctor is 23-6-1-3 with a $2.85 ROI over the past two years in turf routes following a layoff of 180 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan