Dontlookbackatall goes for successful title defense in Listed $150K License Fee

West Point Thoroughbreds, Scarlet Oak Racing and Titletown Racing Stables’ graded stakes-winner Dontlookbackatall will look to defend her title in Sunday’s Listed $150,000 License Fee, a six-furlong outer turf sprint for older fillies and mares, at Belmont at the Big A.

The License Fee [Race 3] is one of four stakes slated for Sunday’s 10-race card, which features a trio of Grade 3, $175,000 events in the Westchester [Race 9], the Beaugay [Race 8] and the Vagrancy [Race 7]. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Trained by Christophe Clement, Dontlookbackatall looks to add to her consistent 16-6-6-0 record that includes a Grade 3 victory in the 5 1/2-furlong Caress presented by Albany Med Health System in July at Saratoga Race Course.

The neck victory over her now-stablemate Danse Macabre – which garnered a career and field-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure – capped a strong three-race win streak last summer that began with her first career stakes victory in this event over Gal in a Rush, followed by another narrow win in the restricted Power by Far at Parx Racing.

The Pennsylvania-bred Peace and Justice 5-year-old makes her first start since November when off-the-board in the local Autumn Days. She returned to the work tab in mid-March at Payson Park Training Center, where she most recently covered a half-mile in 48.80 seconds on Friday over the dirt.

Miguel Clement, son of and assistant to Christophe Clement, said he is pleased with the way Dontlookbackatall is coming into the race.

"She's training very well,” said Clement. “It is always a bit of a question mark to bring them off a long layoff. Nonetheless, she looks great. She looks like a colt, which is always a great sign for turf sprinting fillies, if that makes sense. She's powerful. She is very powerful and muscular. Great shoulder, great hip, she's impressive to look at. I do believe the ground has a big say. Nonetheless she is training great."

Dontlookbackatall holds a respectable 6-2-1-0 record over the Big A turf, where she also captured an allowance in September 2023 ahead of a game runner-up effort to Danse Macabre in the Glen Cove.

Clement said Dontlookbackatall is plenty versatile as she boasts wins with a variety of tactics.

"She has won on the lead, stalking, she's won from a little bit off the pace. She is a versatile and good filly,” Clement said. “Of course speed is always dangerous, especially with turf sprints, so we'd like to use that. Nevertheless, if something happens and we want to call an audible, she is more than capable to do so, as seen in the past."

Irad Ortiz, Jr., who engineered each of her stakes-winning trips, returns to the irons from post 5.

Clement will also send out the useful Love Appeals [post 3, Dylan Davis] for her seasonal bow as well for owner and breeder Moyglare Stud Farm.

The Speightstown 5-year-old was last seen finishing off-the-board in the six-furlong Holiday Inaugural in December over the Turfway Park synthetic, ending a four-race streak of in-the-money stakes performances. Her 4-year-old campaign included a pair of tidy stakes scores, notching a one-length win in the five-furlong Incredible Revenge in August at Monmouth Park and a similar victory in the aforementioned Autumn Days over course and distance in November.

"She is an improving mare,” Clement said. “She has been improving all of the time for the past two years. I hope she continues to do so. She is on an upward trend. She is moving very well at the moment and she has run well at Aqueduct." 

Clement added Love Appeals, who holds a 14-5-1-4 record with $346,165 in earnings, is similar to her stablemate in both her consistency and versatility.

"She is more than capable of figuring it out with the pace,” Clement said. “It is great to have a plan and such, but a lot will have to do with the field and the pace of the race. Plus, you never know. Both fillies are very versatile. You expect Dontlookbackatall to be forwardly placed, and Love Appeals to come from off the pace, but I wouldn't be surprised to change it up. Both are not one-dimensional, which makes this great."

Steep opposition to the Clement pair will be provided by Tracy Farmer’s Time to Dazzle [post 6, Javier Castellano], whose sophomore campaign included a graded triumph in Woodbine’s Grade 3 Ontario Colleen in July.

The 4-year-old Not This Time gray was a dominant pacesetting winner of the one-mile Ontario Colleen, taking the early lead under Sahin Civaci and never looking back en route to a 4 1/2-length triumph that yielded a career-best 91 Beyer. She followed with a pair of fourth-place finishes in the Grade 2 Music City at Kentucky Downs 1 1/4 lengths behind the victorious Simply in Front and in the local Listed Glen Cove with an even effort.

Out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Staria, Time to Dazzle was a $310,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is a half-sister to multiple stakes-winner Sir Genghis.

Three Diamonds Farm’s multiple graded stakes-placed Buttercream Babe [post 2, Joel Rosario] seeks a breakthrough stakes triumph after five previous stakes placings.

Trained by Mike Maker, the 4-year-old Twirling Candy bay has hit the board in three graded events, landing a neck short to finish second in the Grade 3 Surfer Girl as a juvenile at Santa Anita Park, and a half-length third when taking on males in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in August at the Spa. She closed out her campaign with three more outings that included a third in the Grade 2 Valley View in October at Keeneland.

Buttercream Babe was a $180,000 purchase at the 2023 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the stakes-placed Mr. Greely mare Runway Ready, a half-sister to Grade 3-winning millionaire New York Central and Grade 2-winner Corfu.

Completing the field are multiple stakes-placed Hollywood Walk [post 4, Mychel Sanchez] for trainer Michael Trombetta; last-out local main track optional claiming-winner On Command [post 7, Katie Davis] for trainer Amelia Green; and four-time-winner Weehawken [post 1, John Velazquez] for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. Save Us Melania has been entered for the main track only. 

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