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Feel Glorious set to rematch Brown-trained contingent in Saturday's Wild Applause

by Brian Bohl

Feel Glorious will look to sustain a stellar beginning to her sophomore campaign when she competes against a six-horse field in the sixth running of the $100,000 Wild Applause for 3-year-old fillies going one mile on Belmont Park's Widener turf on Saturday.

Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Tango Uniform Racing, the English-bred Feel Glorious has found a comfort zone since arriving from Europe, winning her first two North American starts before running a game second in finishing a length behind Seek and Destroy in the Grade 3 Soaring Softly at seven furlongs last out on May 18 on the Belmont turf labeled good.

Since being placed in trainer Christophe Clement's care, Feel Glorious defeated optional claimers in her 3-year-old bow at one mile March 9 at Gulfstream Park before edging Wild Applause-rival Blowout by a neck to win the 1 1/16-mile Memories of Silver on April 19 at Aqueduct, with both of those victories coming on firm ground.

"I think she'll be fine on good to soft. She's a very good mover, so we expect her to do well on faster ground, too," Clement said. "I think the one-turn mile at Belmont is absolutely ideal, because she has speed."

Feel Glorious never ran longer than seven furlongs in her first five career starts, including a second-place finish in the Grosser Preis Soldier Hollow Youngster Cup in Hannover, Germany on October 28 that capped her juvenile campaign.

Since traveling across the Atlantic, the Bated Breath filly is 2-for-2 going a mile or longer, which Clement said facilitates success in the Wild Applause.

"I'm very happy with my filly and she's been training very well since she came from Europe and has been improving all the time," Clement said. "She's been training forwardly since her last race. It's a nice stakes with good competition, so it should be good."

Jockey Joel Rosario will pick up the mount for the first time, drawing post 5.

Trainer Chad Brown entered a trio of contenders in Seek and Destroy, the German-bred Nova Sol and the English-bred Blowout.

E Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Seek and Destroy will face off against Feel Glorious again after earning a personal-best 87 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory in her graded stakes debut in last month's Soaring Softly.

The daughter of Verrazano will look to register her fourth consecutive win - all at Belmont - including a 3 ½-length score in the Chelsey Flower on dirt on October 18 that preceded a nearly seven-month break.

As a juvenile, Seek and Destroy was entered four times on the turf but ran just twice on the grass, with two strong off-the-turf wins, including a 9 ¼-length win in a maiden special weight before the Chelsey Flower.

Kendrick Carmouche, aboard for the Soaring Softly, will be in the irons again from the inside post.

Nova Sol ran second in her first U.S. start, rallying to finish 1 ¾ lengths behind Dogtag in the Hilltop on May 17 at Pimlico. A daughter of Solider Hollow, she went 1-0-2 in her first three career starts, all in France, including a third-place finish in the Group 3 Prix des Reservoirs in October at Deauville.

With Brown taking over the training duties, Nova Sol was sent to Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Florida until late April, when she was shipped to her current base at Belmont. Owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Bethlehem Stables, Nova Sol will seek her first career stakes win, drawing post 4 with Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Peter Brant's Blowout, who Feel Glorious outkicked at the wire in a photo finish in the Memories of Silver, will be returning off a two-month freshening since that contest, cutting back to one mile after making her first three career starts at 1 1/16 miles.

The lightly raced Blowout won her debut on January 23 at Tampa Bay Downs and handled a step up in class by finishing just a half-length behind Concrete Rose in a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks on March 9 at the same track.

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who picked up the mount in the Memories of Silver, will have the assignment again, breaking from post 6.

John Oxley's Wings of Dawn drew post 2, but trainer Mark Casse said he could point her instead towards the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the main track on June 29.

After running sixth and eighth in her first two career starts, both on turf, Wings of Dawn posted back-to-back wins in May on Woodbine's Tapeta surface. Purchased for $600,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale, the Medaglia d'Oro filly continues to train at Woodbine, including her last two breezes this month on the dirt training track.

"We're entering in there but in all honesty it's more likely we're going to scratch and wait for the Mother Goose," Casse said. "We've been training her on the dirt in Toronto and she's doing really well, so I think we're going to go for the Mother Goose."

Should Casse decide to let Wings of Dawn run in the Wild Applause, Dylan Davis will ride.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Pep will make her stakes debut in her fifth career start, looking to notch a victory for the first time since capturing her debut in February at Tampa. The City Zip filly, trained by Todd Pletcher, was purchased for $125,000 at the same sale as Wings of Dawn and is coming off consecutive third-place finishes at 1 1/16 miles and 1 1/8 miles, respectively.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez drew the assignment and will exit from post 3.

Carded as Race 9, the Wild Applause has an approximate post time of 5:51 p.m. Eastern. First post time is set for 1:30 p.m. for the 10-race card.