Way to Be Marie tries three turns for the first time in the Long Island
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Way to Be Marie is the new female turf marathoner on the block Saturday in a well-matched edition of the Grade 3, $250,000 Long Island Stakes at Aqueduct.
She will be making her first start at three turns in the 1 3/8-mile race for fillies and mares on the inner turf. A field of 10 is set to start, including multiple Group 1 winner Beach Bomb, Grade 2 winner Grayosh, Group 3 winner Immensitude, and fellow stakes winners No Show Sammy Jo, Brocknardini, and Fun With Flags.
“This race came up pretty deep,” said Rob Atras, who trains Way to Be Marie for Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables. “It’s a big field and there’s some decent runners in there. It’s a pretty tough race. There’s some nice mares in there.”
Way to Be Marie ran her first marathon in September at Kentucky Downs. She was second in the Grade 3, $2 million Ladies Marathon Invitational over 1 5/16 miles, one start after running fifth by a length in a one-mile division of the De La Rose Stakes at Saratoga. Way to Be Marie stalked the pace at Kentucky Downs, rallied for second, and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 90 for the effort. It’s one of the best last-race numbers in the Long Island.
“We always kind of thought she might want to go farther and we never really found the right spot,” said Atras. “After the race at Saratoga, we kind of pointed toward the race at Kentucky Downs. I know she didn’t win, but it really worked out. She ran great. She was still coming at the end.
“Like I said, we always had a little bit of an inkling she might want to go a little bit farther, a mile and an eighth-plus, so when she ran that good at Kentucky Downs, it was really nice to see. We thought this would be a logical [next] spot.”
A 4-year-old daughter of Not This Time, Way to Be Marie won the $150,000 Tom Benson Memorial at 1 1/16 miles on turf in March at Fair Grounds. Last year, she placed in a pair of graded stakes – one at Churchill and the other at Aqueduct.
“She’s definitely bigger and stronger than she was last year and she’s been training great going into this race, so I think that she probably is getting a bit better,” Atras said. “She hasn’t been over-raced. She’s kind of had spread out races and she’s had a few freshenings. It’s not like she had a real hard campaign, so I do see her kind of as improving, even though she has not won her last two races. Both races were pretty good, and maybe we found out that she’ll excel at these longer distances. That’s a good thing, too.”
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Manny Franco has the mount from post 9.
“She’s a pretty versatile filly,” Atras said of where Way to Be Marie might be placed in the Long Island. “I think [it’s] just Manny getting her in a good spot where she’s comfortable. She doesn’t mind being covered up. She can be close. She can be sitting a little farther back – basically wherever Manny wants to put her.
“Sometimes, in these kinds of races, it’s tough to dictate what the pace is going to be. There’s multiple entries for a few different trainers, so that could be a factor, as well. But, you know, she’s a filly who has good tactical speed, so she could definitely be close if the pace isn’t too hot, which I don’t think it will be.”
Beach Bomb enters off a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Waya on Oct. 5 at Keeneland. She was beaten a neck in that race, which was run at the same distance as the Long Island. Javier Castellano has the mount for trainer Graham Motion, who also saddles two-time stakes winner No Show Sammy Jo.
Alluring Angel was third in the Waya and is looking for her first stakes win Saturday.
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