Viadera gets belated start to season in Perfect Sting
ELMONT, N.Y. – With four horse cross-entered in Tuesday’s Grade 3, $200,000 James Penny Memorial at Parx Racing, the composition of the field for Saturday’s $100,000 Perfect Sting Stakes at Belmont Park won’t be known until after scratch time. The one thing for certain, however, is Viadera is the horse to beat provided the one-mile stakes is run over the Widener turf course.
After a mostly dry June, July is scheduled to get off to a wet start, provided forecasts are correct.
Viadera completed her 4-year-old season with a string of narrow stakes victories going a mile for trainer Chad Brown and owner Juddmonte Farms, capped by a nose score in the Grade 1 Matriarch on Nov. 29 at Del Mar.
Brown said he had hoped to have Viadera ready for a race like the Grade 1 Just a Game run here last month, but the 5-year-old daughter of Bated Breath needed more time to get ready.
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“It’s been time well spent,” said Brown, who won this race in 2019 with Uni. “She looks fabulous right now, coming along in her works. We have her back to where we left off based on her morning training. Excited to get her back.”
Viadera impressed with a strong turn of foot that enabled her to be successful regardless of how fast the early pace. In winning the De La Rose Stakes at Saratoga, the half-mile went in 49.60 seconds. In the Grade 2 Noble Damsel, the opening half was 44.85.
“The way she developed all season every race got better,” Brown said. “Early on, when we got her going, we were trying to figure out what her best trip would be, and in her first start she fell back a little. From that start forward, we started figuring her out. She got better each start and capped it off being a Grade 1 winner.”
Joel Rosario rides Viadera from the outside post.
It remains to be seen from just how far outside she will break. Four of the seven entered for turf – there were two additional main track-only entrants – also were entered for Tuesday at Parx.
Honey Cake, a 4-year-old Irish-bred, was among that quartet. Trainer Jonathan Thomas said he wanted to assess the fields of each race before deciding where to run, and also indicated he would not run here if the race is off the turf.
Honey Cake went 4 for 8 in Europe and has trained like a filly who will be forwardly placed in this race, though she may not be fit enough to lead all the way.
“I feel she’s fit enough to run, but probably not fit enough to be at her best,” Thomas said. “With an older filly I’d rather run short than breeze her 10 more times.”
Princess Grace also is cross-entered in both spots. She is returning from a November layoff after going 3 for 4 last year. She won twice on turf but also captured the off-the-turf Mrs. Revere on Nov. 14 at Churchill.
Sunset Kiss and Madita are the other two cross-entered in the Perfect Sting and Penny.
Piedi Bianchi, second in the Grade 3 Intercontinental, and Hogan’s Holiday complete the field on turf.
Truth Hurts and Velvet Crush were entered only to run if the race is moved to the dirt.