Francesca Le Donne Photo

Clement goes two deep in pursuit of fourth $100K License Fee win

by Ryan Martin

Trainer Christophe Clement will saddle stakes winners Miss J McKay and Too Sexy in search of a record-extending fourth victory in Sunday’s $100,000 License Fee for older fillies and mares going six furlongs over the inner turf at Belmont Park.

Clement previously found License Fee success with Zindaya [2015], Portmagee [2017] and last year with She’s My Type.

Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, Tony Weintraub and Brandon Dalinka’s Miss J McKay arrives off a third-place finish in the off-the-turf Captiva Island on March 12 over the synthetic surface at Gulfstream Park. One month prior, the 5-year-old daughter of Hangover Kid was a troubled fourth as the heavy favorite in the Ladies Turf Sprint at the South Florida oval, where she stumbled down the backstretch and was shuffled back to last before launching a late rally in the stretch to miss third by a slim margin.

Miss J McKay earned her second stakes triumph in the final start of her 4-year-old year, taking the Abundantia on December 31 at Gulfstream. She captured the Anne Arundel County at Laurel Park during her juvenile season in September 2019 while under the care of Mid-Atlantic based Cathal Lynch, earning six stakes placings over as many tracks.

“She stumbled very badly in that race two starts ago and just missed third,” Clement said. “She looks well and she’s sound. I’ve spaced her races enough to where she has enough time in between races. I think she’ll be fine.”

Bred in Maryland by Linda Oliff Rohleder, Miss J McKay boasts a consistent 14-4-4-3 record and $330,373 in earnings.

Irad Ortiz, Jr., a two-time Licensee Fee winner, will pick up the mount from post 3.

While Miss J McKay makes her third start of the year, Too Sexy will arrive off five month’s rest. Owned by Stuart Grant’s The Elkstone Group, Too Sexy won the Floral Park in October at Belmont in her stakes debut before finishing a game second last out in the Autumn Days in November at Aqueduct.

“She’s a nice filly and she has never stopped improving,” Clement said. “It’s her first race back this year, but she’s fit enough.

Breaking from post 2, Too Sexy will be ridden by Joel Rosario, who will seek his first triumph in the 2014 License Fee since guiding Free as a Bird to victory in the inaugural running.

Paul W. Tackett’s homebred Miss Majorette will make her seasonal debut and first start for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Never worse than fourth in seven lifetime starts, Miss Majorette has not raced since her stakes debut, where she completed the superfecta in the Autumn Days on November 27 at Aqueduct.

The daughter of Twirling Candy has found the winner’s circle three times over as many turf courses in the Mid-Atlantic region where she raced for trainers Ann and Michael Merryman.

Miss Majorette has worked consistently at Casse Training Center in Ocala, Florida since the beginning of March and registered an easy half-mile move over the Belmont training track on April 23 in 53 seconds flat.

Casse spoke of his longstanding relationship with Tackett.

“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Casse said. “I bought a lot of nice horses off of him and he called me over the winter and said, ‘I have this nice filly and I'd like you to train her,’. So, he sent her to us in Ocala and she's training really well. We'll see how she fits in.”

Dylan Davis, the leading rider at Aqueduct’s winter meet, will pick up the mount from post 7.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Igloo enters off a first level allowance optional claiming victory at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Jonathan Thomas, the daughter of Mshawish was forwardly placed in her last start, displaying the same frontrunning dimensions from her first-out maiden score in December 2020 at Turfway Park. 

Manny Franco will ride from post 4.

Completing the field are the Derek Ryan-trained three-time winner Gogo Shoes [post 1, Kendrick Carmouche]; Assertive Style [post 5, Javier Castellano], who makes her first start for trainer Tom Morley; and stakes-placed Alwayz Late [post 6, Jose Ortiz] for Hall of Famer Bill Mott.

The License Fee honors WinStar Farm’s multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire, who displayed her versatility winning stakes races on dirt and turf. The License Fee is carded as Race 8 on Saturday’s nine-race program. First post is 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the spring/summer meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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