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G1 Kentucky Oaks winner Malathaat returns to work tab with half-mile breeze

by NYRA Press Office

• G1 Kentucky Oaks winner Malathaat returns to work tab with half-mile breeze
• Lynch targets G3 Wonder Again with Gift List
• Clement expresses excitement in regally-bred La Dragontea
• A trio of Pick 5s offered on Saturday’s Belmont card

Shadwell Stable’s undefeated Malathaat recorded her first breeze since capturing the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks with a half-mile move on Thursday morning over the Belmont Park main track for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. 

Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s, the daughter of Curlin out of Grade 1-winner Dreaming of Julia travelled the four-furlong distance in 49.89 over a fast main track under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez in company with stablemate and fellow Shadwell color bearer Mahaamel. 

“She breezed well,” said Pletcher’s assistant trainer Byron Hughes. “Johnny worked her and was happy with the way she went. We had her in company with Mahaamel and they both went head-and-head and both looked good. We just wanted her moving well and doing it well within herself and she accomplished all of that.” 

Undefeated in five starts, Malathaat gave Velazquez his 2,000th Belmont Park victory in her debut last October before notching stakes wins in the Tempted and Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct. She parlayed her winning form into her sophomore campaign with a victory in the Grade 1 Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland. 

Mahaamel, by Into Mischief and out of the graded stakes winning Bustin Stones mare Hot Stones, earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in her runner-up effort to First Captain in her April 24 debut sprinting seven furlongs on Big Sandy. She was purchased for $700,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

A next start for Malathaat has still yet to be decided. 

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Lynch targets G3 Wonder Again with Gift List

Amerman Racing’s newly minted graded stakes winner Gift List will be New York bound following a triumph in the Grade 2 Edgewood on April 30 at Churchill Downs. 

Trainer Brian Lynch said the daughter of Bated Breath will ship to Belmont Park for the Grade 3, $200,000 Wonder Again on June 3 for sophomore fillies going nine furlongs over the turf. 

Previously racing in her native Great Britain for trainer Karl Richard Burke, Gift List has never finished worse than second in seven lifetime starts which included two victories at seven furlongs in her native country. She made her North American debut in the Grade 2 Appalachian on April 3 at Keeneland when a late-rallying second to Jouster, who led at every point of call while commanding a leisurely pace throughout. 

In the Edgewood, Gift List settled along the hedge in third as Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Aunt Pearl displayed her typical frontrunning ways. Saving ground down the backstretch, Gift List angled to the outside of Aunt Pearl in upper stretch and drove home 4 ¼-length winner. The victory, which was a third lifetime win for the chestnut filly, produced an 88 Beyer Speed Figure. 

“It was a pace less race [in the Appalachian] and she was closing that day. Jouster got away on the lead that day,” Lynch said. “She came back and solidified that form beating Aunt Pearl at Churchill Downs, so the Wonder Again would be the next logical race for her.”

A good showing in her first New York engagement could result in a start in the Grade 1, $700,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 10 – the first leg of NYRA’s Turf Triple series for 3-year-old fillies. Lynch would be attempting his first triumph in the ten furlong event, but won its male counterpart race – the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational – with Oscar Performance in 2017, who also was owned by Amerman Racing. 

“That would be in the game plan,” Lynch said. 

Lynch also said that three-time stakes winner Carotari, a last-out fifth in the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint, is a possibility for the Grade 1, $400,000 Jackpocket Jaipur a six-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds and upward on June 5. 

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Clement expresses excitement in regally-bred La Dragontea

Trainer Christophe Clement said he was happy to see Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Rebecca Hillen’s La Dragontea post a promising win in her North American debut on Friday going ten furlongs over the Widener turf course at Belmont Park. 

The dark bay daughter of Lope de Vega was in command throughout the 1 ¼-mile journey and effortlessly fended off confrontations from several rivals. Jockey Joel Rosario shook the reins a few times in the final furlong and such coaxing was plenty as the now two-time winner won by 1 ¼ lengths under a hand ride. 

“She came out if it and good shape, no plan yet has been made for her next start,” Clement said. “It was a great ride from Joel on the lead, when they came, she had something left.”

Bred by Bartisan Racing, the 4-year-old La Dragontea is out of the Sadler’s Wells mare La Concorde and comes from the same family as multiple Group 1-winning champion Montjeu. Deeper into the pedigree, La Dragontea’s fifth dam Adele Toumignon is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Acacio D’Aguilar, who was conditioned by Clement’s father Miguel Clement. 

“She’s a stayer. She’s bred for longer distances,” Clement said. “If you go deep into the family, she is related to horses like Montjeu and even further down the fifth dam was a half-sister to a Group 1-winning horse trained by my father so that makes it even more fun for me.”

Currently second in the trainer standings with 10 wins, Clement is gearing up for a big weekend, where he will saddle a pair of fillies in Saturday’s featured event – the Grade 3, $100,000 Soaring Softly going seven furlongs over the Widener turf course. 

Hoolie Racing Stable and Madaket Stables’ Hit the Woah handled her turf debut well when a close third in the one-mile Sanibel Island on March 21 at Gulfstream Park. 

Fresh off a five-furlong maiden victory on March 20 at Gulfstream Park, Bach Stables’ Bye Bye was a 2 ¾-length winner in her second start last out. 

“I like them both a lot,” Clement said. “Hit the Woah has always trained like a nice horse. Bye Bye was very impressive when she broke her maiden. We’re stretching her out a little bit, but I think she’ll make a very good showing.” 

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A trio of Pick 5s offered on Saturday’s Belmont card

Saturday’s 11-race card at Belmont offers a numbering of intriguing options for bettors, including a middle Pick 5 featuring a mandatory payout.

The 11-race card begins at 1 p.m. Eastern with a field of five fillies and mares 3-years-old and up traveling a one-turn mile on Big Sandy to kick off the first of three Pick 5 offerings. The opening Pick 5 sequence, which offers a carryover provision, will conclude in Race 5, where a field of seven turf milers 3-years-old and up compete in an allowance contest on the Widener turf.

The middle Pick 5, which offers a mandatory payout, begins in Race 4 [2:37 p.m.] with a 6 1/2-furlong claiming sprint on the main track for 3-year-olds and up. The middle Pick 5 sequence concludes in Race 8, a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight on the Widener turf that drew a field of 11 state-bred fillies and mares, 3-years-old and up.

The Late Pick 5 sequence, which has a carryover provision, kicks off in Race 7 [4:13 p.m. p.m.] featuring a field of 10 state-bred maiden claimers 3-years-old and up contesting at six furlongs on the inner turf.

In Race 10 [5:52 p.m.] the penultimate leg of the Late Pick 5 will see a field of 11 sophomore filly turf sprinters contest at seven furlongs on the Widener turf in the Grade 3, $100,000 Soaring Softly. A talented field is led by the accomplished multiple stakes winner Tobys Heart for trainer Brian Lynch.

Closing out the sequence in Race 11[ 6:22 p.m.] is a field of 10 state-bred maiden claimers sprinting six furlongs on the inner turf. Panster, a first-time gelding trained by Christophe Clement, takes a drop in class after facing state-bred maiden special weight company in his first three starts.

For more information, please visit http://www.nyrabets.com.