Street Girl among five stakes winners in Bed o' Roses field

ELMONT, N.Y. – She is only 2 for 17 in her career, with both of those wins coming in races rained off the turf and onto the main track. Still, if you dissect Street Girl’s form a little more closely, you can warm to her chances in Saturday’s highly competitive 58th renewal of the Grade 3, $150,000 Bed o’ Roses Handicap at Belmont Park.

Street Girl was one of five stakes winners in a field of 11 entered in the seven-furlong Bed o’ Roses. To illustrate the competitiveness of the race, Street Girl was installed as the 7-2 morning-line favorite by NYRA linemaker Eric Donovan.

Street Girl, a daughter of Street Hero, has not won since taking the Calder Oaks in April 2013, but two of her best races since have come at the seven-furlong distance. Last August, while facing older fillies and mares in the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga, the then-3-year-old Street Girl came with a late six-wide run and finished fourth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Dance to Bristol. Last month, Street Girl finished second to Midnight Lucky in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs.[bc_video_id:327814:]

::DRF Live: Get real-time updates and insights from DRF reporters and handicappers on Saturday

“She ran a huge race last time, and we’re thinking the distance is ideal for her, and there is quite a lot of pace in this race,” said trainer Eddie Kenneally, who got Street Girl after Thomas Berry purchased her for $550,000 out of the Keeneland November sale following her fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Jose Lezcano will ride Street Girl from post 10.

Among the speed in the field is the Kenneally-trained Ultimate Shopper, who makes her stakes debut here. Kenneally pointed out that Ultimate Shopper is 2 for 2 at Belmont Park, with both wins coming at seven furlongs.

“She’s a lightly raced filly with not a lot of experience, but the goal is to get her stakes-placed, and we thought it was worth taking a shot in here,” Kenneally said.

Five Star Momma, a multiple listed stakes winner; Flattering Bea, the winner of the Sugar Maple Stakes at Charles Town; and Classic Point, trained by seven-time Bed o’ Roses winner Allen Jerkens, add speed to the mix.

Merry Meadow and Lion D N A are two recent stakes winners who would benefit from a pace duel. Merry Meadow, who has finished worse than third just twice in 20 career starts, took advantage of a hot early pace to win the Grade 3 Vagrancy Handicap by nearly four lengths going 6 1/2 furlongs May 17.

“She seems to rise to the competition,” trainer Mark Hennig said. “It took her a long time to win a race, but once she did, she must have liked the feeling. I think her best distance has been six and a half. Seven might be the edge of what she wants to do. But with a well-timed move, it still should be within her grasp.”

Lion D N A already has won three stakes this year, including the Skipat Stakes in the slop May 16 at Pimlico. She has proven to be a six-furlong specialist, with her only try at seven furlongs resulting in a second-place finish in an optional claimer here last September.

Manuel Franco rides Lion D N A for Rudy Rodriguez from post 11.

DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 11 Lion D N A (6-1 morning line). Trainer Rudy Rodriguez is 0 for 11 the past five years in graded stakes at Belmont. Click for more details.

:: Learn more about Formulator | Follow the @DRFFormulator Twitter feed and get free Formulator facts