Ground Support looking for graded double in G3 Pebbles

NBS Stable’s Ground Support will attempt to add a third graded conquest in New York to her resume in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Pebbles, a one-mile Widener turf route for sophomore fillies, at Belmont Park.

Trained by Kelsey Danner, the daughter of Army Mule was a stalk-and-pounce winner of the first of two divisions of the Grade 3 Glen Cove sprinting seven furlongs on October 25 here. The 3 3/4-length score from just off the pace under regular pilot Adam Beschizza garnered a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure, and came on the heels of a half-length third to Somerset West in the Grade 2 Music City in September at Kentucky Downs. The runner-up in that event, Lion Lake, exited to win the other division of the Glen Cove.

“She’s doing really good and I think she’s live in there,” Danner said. “It was nice to see her get that win – it was pretty close the time before, so it was nice to see her win and she did it really easily, which is nice. I think she’ll handle the mile just fine.”

Ground Support was a 100-1 winner of her debut last August at Kentucky Downs, and won the Grade 2 Miss Grillo at Belmont at the Big A en route to a solid third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last October at Del Mar. She returned this year with a pair of fifth-place stakes finishes ahead of a return to top form in the Music City. 

“She started off [the year] a little slow, but she’s kind of put it all together now,” Danner said. “She’s a massive filly and grew a lot from 2-to-3 and I just think it took her a little while to get back into form. Before she ran [as a juvenile], we all really liked her and I thought she was our best horse. We had high expectations and obviously they got higher when she ran so well last year.”

An $80,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Ground Support is out of the Grade 3-placed Arch mare Arch Support, who also produced Catenaria, dam of multiple graded stakes-placed San Siro.

Beschizza has the call from the inside post.

A competitive pair enter off local wins for five-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Chad Brown, with Miss Twitter [post 9, Manny Franco] and the supplemented Counterintuitive [post 6, Flavien Prat] each vying for their first stakes conquest in their debut at this level.

Michael Dubb, William Lawrence, The Elkstone Group and William Rucker’s Miss Twitter graduated at third asking last out going 1 1/16 miles versus elders over the local Tapeta on October 11. The Not This Time bay finished third going one mile in her first two starts against elders – one on dirt and one on turf – and earned a career-best 76 Beyer when stretched out the extra sixteenth.

“She’s one that we’ve always liked, and she finally got it together in her last start,” Brown said. “It’s a chance to run against straight 3-year-olds, and it’s a big step up, but I’m going to give it a shot.”

The $170,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale is out of the Tale of the Cat mare Tigress Tale, making her a half-sister to turf stakes-winner Empress Tigress.

Klaravich Stable’s Counterintuitive looks to rebound from a distant off-the-board finish last out when setting the pace and fading in a first-level allowance going nine furlongs against elders. Also a daughter of Not This Time, she graduated at second asking last October at Keeneland, and was away from the races until this August when a deep-closing second in an optional claiming tilt to stablemate and next-out Grade 3 Winter Memories-winner Shelzawa.

“She’s coming off a poor race in an allowance, but her race before that was really good running second to Shelzawa,” Brown said. “In her last race, I’m not really sure what happened. She found herself on the lead and she stopped, but she’s come back and trained well.”

The $285,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale is out of the Ghostzapper mare Scauri, a half-sister to Grade 3-placed Seeking Her Glory.

Copper Thoroughbreds, Fred Rosen, Merriebelle Stable and Steve Dervenis’ New Rose [post 8, Dylan Davis] got her head down in time for show honors in the Glen Cove 4 1/2 lengths back of Ground Support with an off-the-pace trip under Antonio Fresu.

Trained by Jena Antonucci, the Nyquist bay’s lone win in seven outings came in a second-out graduation going 1 1/16 miles against elders in June at Saratoga Race Course. She stretches back out beyond sprint distances for the first time since a competitive sixth in an optional claiming tilt in August at the Spa.

Woodford Racing and Team D’s Three Sixty [post 7, Javier Castellano] was a neck winner of a key 6 1/2-furlong optional claiming tilt over the dirt on October 1 that saw runner-up Meg’s Foxy Grey and third-place L’Eclair both exit to win their next starts.

Trained by Tony Dutrow, the daughter of Twirling Candy tries turf for the first time since a fifth at second asking in November at Aqueduct Racetrack. She graduated by 5 1/2 lengths going a one-turn mile over the Big A main track in December ahead of a misfire when trying stakes company in Laurel Park’s Weber City Miss in April.

Three Sixty is out of the Grade 3-winning Uncaptured mare Two Sixty, and was purchased for $185,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Completing the field are Hark Theangelssing [post 3, Ismerio Villalobos], who was third in the second division of the Glen Cove for trainer Michael Tromebetta; multiple stakes-winner Victory Hall [post 2, Edgard Zayas] for trainer Tom Morley; allowance-level winners Getting Serious [post 10, Samuel Marin] for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey and Candy Rockette [post 5, Kendrick Carmouche] for trainer Brittany Russell; and maiden-winner That’s How We Love [post 4, Reylu Gutierrez] for trainer Philip Antonacci.

The Pebbles is slated as Race 9 on Saturday’s 10-race program, which also includes the $175,000 Autumn Days in Race 8. First post is 11:40 a.m. Eastern. 

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