Adam Coglianese Photo

​Grade 3 winner Yuugiri makes turf debut in $150K License Fee

by Mary Eddy

Tsunebumi and Sekie Yoshihara’s graded stakes-winning homebred Yuugiri will make her first grass start in Sunday’s $150,000 License Fee, a six-furlong sprint over the Widener turf course for older fillies and mares, at Belmont Park. 

Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, Yuugiri enters from a pace-pressing fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Madison on April 8 at Keeneland where she dueled for the early lead with Society and faded in the turn after racing through sharp fractions. 

“She’s doing pretty good,” said Brisset. “We’ll throw out the race last time. We took a shot there and it didn’t go the way we were thinking. It didn’t set up the best way for her.” 

She was a winner in her other start this year, earning a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure for a 3 1/2-length victory in the six-furlong Carousel over a sloppy and sealed Oaklawn main track. She entered the Carousel off a pacesetting victory in December in a third-level allowance over the same course, which was listed as muddy and sealed. 

Yuugiri is out of the turf stakes-winning Medaglia d'Oro mare Yuzuru, who is a half-sister to millionaire Air McCool. The second dam, Macarena Macarena, is a half-sister to multiple graded-stakes winning turfer and sire Sligo Bay.

Brisset said the filly’s strong performances over a wet track and her breeding led him to give her a try over the lawn. 

“We always kept the turf in the back of our mind because her dam was a winner on the turf and that’s something we always wanted to keep as a ‘Plan B,’” said Brisset. “It looked like she enjoyed the wet track at Oaklawn, and sometimes that can give you an indication that they can enjoy the turf, too.”

Yuugiri has worked once over the turf at Keeneland, covering five furlongs in 1:07.20 on April 29 with Brisset in the irons. 

“I liked what I saw and what I felt,” Brisset said. “The cones were all the way on the outside and the time was a bit slow, but she came on running and galloped out really strong, so I have no problem trying the turf with her.” 

Yuugiri first flashed her talents with a visually impressive debut victory in September 2021, winning by 7 1/4 lengths when sprinting six furlongs at Churchill Downs. She stretched out to 1 1/16 miles for her next four outings, including a determined neck victory in the Grade 3 Fantasy at Oaklawn and a close runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill. She finished a distant 13th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks and did not return until her December allowance victory. 

Brisset said he is impressed with the way Yuugiri has progressed from 3 to 4. 

“She’s changed a lot and has really matured physically,” said Brisset. “She put some weight on and the break after the Oaks was really what she needed. She’s moving well and is turning out to be a beautiful mare.” 

Flavien Prat has the call from post 9. 

Two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox will saddle two contenders in Shortleaf Stables’ dual graded stakes-winning homebred Bubble Rock [post 8, Joel Rosario] and Klein Racing’s stakes-winning homebred Goin’ Good [post 5, Manny Franco]. 

Bubble Rock was last seen finishing a close second in a one-mile allowance on April 16 at Keeneland, crossing the wire a neck behind Gam’s Mission in her first start since winning the Grade 2 Miss Revere in November at Churchill. The daughter of More Than Ready boasts a graded victory over the Belmont turf already with a half-length score in the 2021 Grade 3 Matron over Gal in a Rush. 

Goin’ Good was a last-out winner of a six-furlong optional claiming contest on April 14 at Aqueduct Racetrack where she battled for the early lead and led from the stretch call to the wire, besting Mac the Pee H Dee by 1 1/2 lengths. The 5-year-old Congrats mare hit the board in four stakes last year, her best finish a runner-up effort in the 5 1/2-furlong Mardi Gras in March. Her lone career stakes victory came in the 2021 Coronation Cup, which was contested at 5 1/2 furlongs on the Saratoga Race Course main track. 

Blue Devil Racing Stable’s graded stakes-placed Messidor makes her 5-year-old debut for conditioner Christophe Clement on the heels of a nearly six-month respite. The Irish-bred daughter of Vadamos posted two optional claiming victories last year at Belmont and Saratoga and finished a closing third in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel in October at Belmont at the Big A. She closed out the year with an even fifth-place finish in the Forever Together. 

Clement said the bay mare has trained well in company with recent allowance runner-up Canisy. 

“I've been training her with Canisy, who ran pretty well the other day in a ‘2-other-than’ at Aqueduct to finish second,” said Clement. “I would have loved to find an easier race - an allowance going three-quarters or seven-eighths of a mile, but that race does not exist. So, at least by going in a stakes we can start to get going. It's a bit ambitious for a first race back, but she's doing well and we need to start her somewhere.”

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will ride from post 3. 

Lawrence Goichman’s multiple graded stakes-placed Star Devine [post 10, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] earned a field-best 96 Beyer two starts back for a strong 1 1/4-length victory in the Autumn Days at Aqueduct. Trained by Jorge Abreu, the Fastnet Rock mare made her seasonal bow with a closing third-place finish in the 5 1/2-furlong Giant’s Causeway on April 15 at Keeneland, finishing just 1 1/2 lengths behind the victorious Twilight Gleaming. 

Star Devine earned two graded placings last year when defeated a length in the Grade 3 Intercontinental [second] at Belmont and 1 3/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Franklin at Keeneland [third]. She also won the 5 1/2-furlong Galway as a sophomore at Saratoga, besting Illegal Smile by a head. 

Multiple stakes-winner Poppy Flower will look to regain winning form for Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott as she makes her second outing off a seven-month layoff. Campaigned by Arnmore Thoroughbreds, the 4-year-old Lea chestnut finished third in an April 14 optional claimer at Aqueduct after veering out at the break. She captured two stakes races last year in impressive fashion when rallying from 8 1/2 lengths off the pace in the Stormy Blues at Laurel Park and from 4 3/4 lengths back in the Galway at Saratoga. She finished the year with a close fifth-place finish in the Music City in September at Kentucky Downs. 

Jose Ortiz, aboard for nine of Poppy Flower’s 12 lifetime starts, retains the mount from post 2. 

Completing the field are dual stakes-winner Spun Glass [post 1, Feargal Lynch] for conditioner Michael Trombetta; Group 3-winner Minaun [post 4, John Velazquez] for trainer Brendan Walsh; Grade 3-placed Imagery [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche] for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse; and the stakes-placed Linda Rice trainee Hot Fudge [post 7, Eric Cancel]. 

The License Fee is slated as Race 9 on Sunday’s nine-race card, which co-features the Grade 3, $175,000 Beaugay in Race 3. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern. 

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