Tasting the Stars faces tougher in Van Clief at Colonial
Tasting the Stars was a square 3-1 winning the Nellie Mae Cox Stakes on July 19 at Colonial Downs but her odds are going down Monday in the $100,000 Van Clief Stakes.
The Van Clief, like the Nellie Mae Cox, is restricted to Virginia-bred, Virginia-foaled, or Virginia-certified fillies and mares. The 1 1/16-mile grass race for fillies and mares drew nine entrants and, top to bottom, is stronger than the race Tasting the Stars won last month.
But Tasting the Stars could be stronger, too, and she was much the best in her most recent start. Prepared for that race in New York with trainer John Kimmel, Tasting the Stars went into the barn of trainer Miguel Vera following her Cox victory. That race was her first start since October 2020, and Tasting the Stars, before a two-race 2020 campaign, hadn’t raced in more than a year.
The 5-year-old Bodemeister mare, however, has talent, and she traveled like a winner from the start of the Nellie Mae Cox. Jockey Feargal Lynch, who has a return call, sat chilly on a loaded mount who only needed to be pointed to daylight before dashing clear in upper stretch. Tasting the Stars galloped to a 2 1/2-length victory and worked back on July 31 at Pimlico, but she’s a reasonable 9-5 on the morning line, which would feel like negative value if appealing alternatives existed.
No Mo Lady ran several races in 2020 that were better than anything Tasting the Stars ever has put forth, but the 5-year-old mare hasn’t looked like the same horse this season. Trained by Mike Trombetta, No Mo Lady finished second and third in three stakes races last season, including the Grade 3 Gallorette, won by Grade 1-winner Juliet Foxtrot. But following a winter break she has looked like a shell of her best self, sandwiching a decent third-place Belmont allowance performance between a pair of dull sixth-place finishes.
Appurate, in from New York for trainer Todd Pletcher, remains eligible to a first-level allowance race, with five second-place finishes alongside her lone victory. She does have early speed and has posted competitive Beyer Speed Figures, and jockey David Cohen makes the trip to Virginia to pick up the mount.
Sweet Sandy and Inside the Box also merit a second look, especially at a meet that has yielded a slew of longshot winners.
The Van Clief is carded as race 8, post time 5:01 p.m. Eastern on a card with nine betting races over the flat and two non-wagering steeplechase races.