Waltzing Matilda scores upset in New York Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – The connections of Waltzing Matilda shipped the Irish-bred filly to North America with the ultimate plan of selling her at the Fasig-Tipton auction in November.

Her price tag just went up.

Under Junior Alvarado, Waltzing Matilda emerged from midpack to be four wide in the stretch of Belmont Park’s inner turf course and persevered to the wire to run by Kitten’s Queen and then hold off Eastern Belle to win the Grade 2, $300,000 New York Stakes by three-quarters of a length.

Eastern Belle got up by a nose over Kitten’s Queen, who finished a neck in front of Stephanie’s Kitten, the latter two part of a favored 1-5 entry.

Kitten’s Queen was entered to perform as a rabbit, or pacesetter, for Grade 1 winner Stephanie’s Kitten, not to finish in front of her. Instead, jockey Eric Cancel took a hold of Kitten’s Queen after an opening quarter and set slow fractions, much to the consternation of Chad Brown, who trained both Kitten’s Queen and Stephanie’s Kitten.

“I don’t know what the rider on the rabbit was doing, and [Stephanie’s Kitten] was unfortunately six wide the whole race,” Brown said. “Why? I have no idea.”

Meanwhile, the connections of Waltzing Matilda were floating on air after their filly broke a 10-race losing streak and captured her first stakes.

“Plans are fluid,” said Fozzy Stack, the son and assistant to trainer Tommy Stack. “We might leave her here, give her another shot, might bring her home.”

Owner Linda Shanahan seemed more inclined to leave Waltzing Matilda in the U.S. and look for a New York-based trainer to take her for another race or two.

Waltzing Matilda broke better than expected and placed herself in fifth position, in between horses, as Kitten’s Queen set fractions of 24.98 seconds, 49.75, and 1:14.43 for six furlongs.

“We were going an easy pace for those kind of horses; she was dragging me but still very handy,” Alvarado said. “When I asked her a little bit to get her in good position, I felt loaded with horse.”

In the stretch, Alvarado was able get Waltzing Matilda in the clear, and she had enough punch to run by Kitten’s Queen and keep Eastern Belle at bay.

Waltzing Matilda, a daughter of Danehill Dancer, covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.30 and returned $47.40 to win.

“She did it well, and Junior gave her a great ride,” Stack said. “I didn’t know anything about him. He was recommended to me.”

The winner’s share of the purse, $165,000, was more than three times Waltzing Matilda’s career earnings ($44,883) entering the race.

The victories by Waltzing Matilda and Fortuitous Path ($79.50) earlier in the sequence ensured a pick six carryover of $110,029 into Saturday’s Belmont Stakes card.