Stephanie's Kitten should get her course in Flower Bowl
ELMONT, N.Y. – Based on their past prowess under such conditions, the coastal storm that drenched Long Island on Thursday shouldn’t bother the major contenders in Saturday’s $600,000 Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont Park.
The Flower Bowl is race 7 and the first leg of an all-Grade 1 pick four with a $500,000-guaranteed pool. Post time is 4:07 p.m. Eastern.
Chad Brown entered three of the nine fillies and mares in the Flower Bowl: Alterite, Stephanie’s Kitten, and Watsdachances, who are graded stakes winners over the local courses but a combined 0 for 9 this year.
Stephanie’s Kitten may benefit most from Thursday’s rain, as she was a perfect 4 for 4 on non-firm ground for former trainer Wayne Catalano, including the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and last year’s Just a Game. After finishing off the board in her first two starts of the year, she returned to top form over the summer with a pair of fast-closing seconds in the Diana at Saratoga and the Beverly D. at Arlington.
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“She very well could have won both races with a better trip, and in the case of the Diana, a better post,” said Brown. “She’s lost a little bit of the speed she had in her younger days, but with that, she’s now able to go a mile and a quarter effectively.”
Alterite, one of six foreign-breds in the Flower Bowl field, won last year’s Grade 1 Garden City in her U.S. debut and was beaten just a length in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, but she has been off the board in the Diana and Beverly D. this year at 4.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Alterite and No. 9 Stephanie's Kitten. Trainer Chad Brown is 22-6-4-5 with a $2.36 ROI over the past three years in graded stakes turf routes at Belmont and between 31 and 44 days since the last race. Click for more details. – Dan Illman
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“She’s really come unglued in both her races in the paddock,” Brown said, “but I’m not sure if that’s enough of an excuse for her as to why she’s run so poorly. Hopefully, running out of her own stall at Belmont over a turf course she’s already won a Grade 1 on is the key to getting her back on track.”
Abaco and Strathnaver, who closed from last and next-to-last to finish one-two in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa on good turf at Saratoga, figure to be charging late.
The late-blooming Abaco handled yielding footing nicely when second in the Sheepshead Bay in May for trainer Shug McGaughey. After being compromised by a slow pace in the Diana, she finished determinedly to edge Strathnaver in the Ballston Spa.
“I was very, very pleased,” said McGaughey. “She had been knocking on the door and deserved to win a race like that. She ran hard and finished hard.”
Viva Rafaela, whose two wins on soft turf in South America include the Group 1 Brazilian Oaks in 2012, projects as the controlling speed and comes off two sharp tries in the Waya and Glens Falls for Todd Pletcher.
Tannery, a close second in last year’s Flower Bowl, has posted five wins over soft going, including the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine and the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay in 2013.
Maximova and Starstruck complete the lineup.