West Coast Belle another filly success for Catalano

NEW ORLEANS – Trainer Wayne Catalano was all smiles after watching the undefeated 2-year-old filly West Coast Belle work a half-mile Wednesday morning at Fair Grounds.

“She went 48 and 2 like nothing,” Catalano said.

A petite gray daughter of Tapit, West Coast Belle was working for the first time since coming to New Orleans from Churchill Downs, where she won the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes on Nov. 27 in her third start.

A specific racing schedule hasn’t been made, Catalano said. Getting her to the Kentucky Oaks in as good a shape as possible is his general plan.

“The Oaks is the target race,” he said.

All three Fair Grounds two-turn stakes for 3-year-old fillies – the Silverbulletday on Jan. 17, the Rachel Alexandra on Feb. 21, and the Fair Grounds Oaks on March 28 – are possible spots for West Coast Belle, Catalano said.

“The first race is a question mark,” he said. “It’s on the list. If she’s doing great, we’ll talk about it.”

Catalano, a 58-year-old New Orleans native who had 97 wins this year and 2,560 in his career entering Friday racing, has done some of his best work with fillies. He trained two champions – Dreaming of Anna (2006) and She Be Wild (2009), who clinched their Eclipse Awards with victories in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Stephanie’s Kitten, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in 2011, won five graded stakes, including two Grade 1’s, in three seasons under Catalano.

Debuting with a last-to-first victory in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race in September at Monmouth Park, West Coast Belle impressed Catalano, who trains her for Mary and Gary West. She’s better suited to longer distances, and Monmouth generally favors speed, Catalano said.

“That’s when I thought she might be special, right there,” he said. “I was hoping for second.”

Moving to stakes company, West Coast Belle won the one-mile Rags to Riches by 6 3/4 lengths in October at Churchill Downs before trying two turns for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile Golden Rod. She settled in mid-pack early before taking the lead in the stretch en route to a 1 1/4-length victory.

A fast horse has a way of putting a bounce in a trainer’s step. Catalano hustled back to his barn to see how West Coast Belle would cool out after the workout. A hands-on trainer who doesn’t miss details, Catalano is grateful to be working at full speed. He nearly died last summer from influenza and pneumonia.

“I’d like to thank everybody for all the prayers when I was sick,” said Catalano, who spent 22 days in a Chicago-area hospital. “They gave me a 40 percent chance to make it. We’re 100 percent back.”