Rising star Nitrogen back to turf in G1 Belmont Oaks Invitational

D. J. Stable’s Kentucky homebred Nitrogen will look to extend her win streak to six in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational, a nine-furlong Mellon turf test for sophomore fillies on Day Three of the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

The Belmont Oaks Invitational is slated as Race 11 on the 12-race card which also features the Grade 3, $175,000 Sanford in Race 3 and the Grade 3, $175,000 Kelso in Race 10. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern. Statistics for the 37-day Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet will include the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Nitrogen has banked in excess of $1.1 million via an 8-5-1-2 record. The Medaglia d’Oro bay was twice Grade 1-placed as a 2-year-old, finishing third in both the Natalma at Woodbine and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar.

Nitrogen [post 7, Jose Ortiz] is a perfect 5-for-5 this year, demonstrating a tremendous turn-of-foot when asked by her returning pilot Jose Ortiz to score in the Listed Ginger Brew in January at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 3 Florida Oaks in March at Tampa Bay Downs, the Grade 2 Appalachian in April at Keeneland and the Grade 2 Edgewood in May at Churchill Downs.

Last out, on June 7 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga, Nitrogen faced a new challenge when the Grade 2 Wonder Again [subsequently downgraded to a Grade 3] was rained off the turf and scratched down to a field of three sophomore fillies.

Undaunted, Nitrogen traveled well as she tracked the early foot of stablemate Bessie Abott through splits of 24.88 seconds and 47.89 over the sloppy and sealed main track of the one-mile tilt out of the Wilson Chute. Ortiz gave Nitrogen her cue into the far turn and the filly opened up 10 lengths on the field at the stretch call and widened her margin to 17 lengths under a motionless Ortiz to stop the clock in a final time of 1:36.16.

The winning effort garnered a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure and was so impressive that Casse is considering pointing Nitrogen to the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales on August 16 – a 10-furlong test over the Spa main track.

“She was very impressive. The Belmont Oaks has always been our goal, but we're seriously thinking about the Alabama after this,” Casse said. “If you're a Thorograph guy, I think she's been running 7s and she ran a 2 that day, which is phenomenal and probably as good as any 3-year-old filly in North America, dirt or turf.”

Nitrogen traveled 1 1/16-miles to capture the Florida Oaks and Edgewood and faces a new challenge on Saturday as she tries nine-furlongs for the first time.

“The extra distance shouldn't matter,” Casse said. “One of the things that makes her so good is her ability for Jose to get her to shut off and just go when he asks her. As long as she does that, which she always has, that's going to make her tough.”

Nitrogen worked back a half-mile in 52.65 on June 23 over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training turf.

“She worked easy,” Casse said. “We've got her in a pattern where she's been running every four or five weeks and she's extremely happy. I don't do much with her in between and it seems to work.”

Nitrogen, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-placed Love to Shop, is out of the stakes-placed Uncle Mo mare Tiffany Case – a half-sister to graded stakes-winner Talk Veuve to Me.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Warming [post 1, Manny Franco] enters from a rallying neck score in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming event on June 13 at Delaware Park for trainer Graham Motion.

The Global Campaign chestnut made her first two starts sprinting at Belmont at the Big A, winning her debut last June by a comfortable 2 1/4-lengths. She did not return until nearly one year later when a 3/4-length fifth in the Take the A Train on May 10, a race won by Love Cervere, who exited that event to capture the Listed Alywow at Woodbine.

Warming endured a troubled trip in the Take the A Train when exiting the outermost post 9 under returning rider Manny Franco. She broke alertly and settled into seventh position as longshot Gata Brazil showed the way through an opening quarter-mile in 22.87 seconds. Warming tracked behind rivals along the rail into the turn and dropped to the back of the pack with Love Cervere to her outside. While Love Cervere steered to the outside and found clear racing room, Warming was stymied in her attempt to find a lane before closing bravely in the middle of a blanket finish.

“I thought she was incredibly unlucky when she was beaten at Aqueduct off the layoff. She had a brutal trip that day,” Motion said. “We were really excited about her that day and just couldn’t believe how much trouble she got into. It wasn’t Manny’s fault; it was just one of those things.”

Warming found trouble again last out with Samuel Marin up. She saved ground from post 2-of-10 but was on heels behind a wall of rivals in the final turn and had her momentum stopped. Warming was eighth-of-10 and 6 1/4-lengths off the pace at the stretch call as Marin angled Warming to the outside in search of racing room with the track announcer calling, “Warming is closing in but way too little too late.” As if spurred on by the call, Warming found an extra gear and stormed home to win by a neck.

Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners said he has always held the $100,000 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase in high regard.

“She broke her maiden as a 2-year-old sprinting on the grass at Aqueduct. We had really high aspirations for her and unfortunately, she ran into an issue that required time off,” Wellman said. “Last out, we wanted to get a race into her around two turns. The spot came up at Delaware Park and that worked out very well.

“She faced a lot of adversity that day and exhibited brilliance to close extremely fast to get up and win,” he added. “This is obviously a huge, huge ask of her. A massive step up in class, but we always thought she was a graded stakes caliber filly. Stepping into Grade 1 competition for the first time against a monster of a filly in Nitrogen is a tremendous challenge, but it is something we feel she could be up for.”

Warming is out of the Unusual Heat mare Haute Style, a full-sister to stakes winners Lennyfromalibu and Heat Du Jour.

KatieRich Stables’ May Day Ready [post 6, Frankie Dettori] won 3-of-5 starts as a juvenile, taking the Listed Juvenile Fillies in September at Kentucky Downs and the Grade 2 Jessamine by a nose over returning rival Totally Justified in October at Keeneland.

Trained by Joe Lee, the Tapit bay rallied from 12th-of-14 and 8 1/4-lengths off the pace to finish second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in November at Del Mar and extended her season with a trip to Japan where she was off-the-board in the Group 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December at Kyoto.

May Day Ready returned to action in the Wonder Again but failed to fire over the sloppy and sealed footing. The $325,000 purchase at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training is out of the Group 3-winning More Than Ready mare Nemoralia, who was second in the 2015 Grade 1 Frizette and third in the 2015 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out Opulent Restraint [post 2, Joel Rosario] and Virgin Colada [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] in search of a record extending sixth win in this event following past success with Samitar [2012], Alterite [2013], Minorette [2014], Lady Eli [2015], New Money Honey [2017] and McKulick [2022].

Stephanie Seymour Brant’s stakes-winner Opulent Restraint enters from a close second in the one-mile Listed Memories of Silver on April 27 at Aqueduct Racetrack. There, the Dubawi gray set the pace and battled on, but was defeated a neck by Laurelin, who improved to 4-for-4 in Friday’s Penn Oaks at Penn National.

Opulent Restraint was making her second start of the year after a prominent fourth to Nitrogen in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Florida Oaks. She made all three starts as a juvenile at that distance, notably capturing the Listed Chelsey Flower in October at Belmont at the Big A by a nose over Rare Art to cap her 2-year-old campaign. 

Bred in Ireland by Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm, Opulent Restraint is out of the Brown-trained and Stephanie Seymour Brant-owned Significant Form - a multiple graded stakes-winner with wins arriving at distances ranging from seven furlongs to 1 1/16 miles topped by a score in the 2019 Grade 2 Ballston Spa at the Spa. 

Resolute Racing’s Virgin Colada made her first two starts at the Spa, winning on debut in July ahead of a close second to returning rival Totally Justified in the Listed P.G. Johnson in August.

The More Than Ready bay closed from too far back in 11th-of-12 to finish second to Scythian in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo in October at Belmont at the Big A – a race that featured a number of trouble lines after the Brown-trained Marvelous Madison bolted on the final turn.

Virgin Colada failed to fire when off-the-board in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in November but the $110,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale purchase returned off the layoff to finish 1 1/2-lengths back of Opulent Restraint last out when third in the Memories of Silver.

Bregman Family Racing’s regally-bred Totally Justified [post 3, Luis Saez] has been knocking on the door at the graded level, missing by a nose in the aforementioned Grade 2 Jessamine and by a half-length last out in the Grade 3 Regret won by returning rival Fionn on May 31 at Churchill.

Trained by Rusty Arnold, the Justify bay graduated in style at third asking in August over the Spa turf with a win over Virgin Colada in the Listed P.G. Johnson ahead of her Jessamine effort. She completed her 2-year-old campaign with a distant eighth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Totally Justified returned to action in April with a non-threatening fifth over good ground in the Grade 2 Appalachian at Keeneland.

“The Breeders’ Cup didn’t go great, so we turned her out and gave her a little time off,” Arnold said. “She came back and was training really good, but she caught soft ground at Keeneland and didn’t run well – really, it was her only bad race. We couldn’t figure it out and it was a head-scratcher, so we entered her in the Regret, and she ran her race again. We’re assuming she doesn’t like soft ground.

“She’s doing very well and coming off a narrow defeat in the Regret,” Arnold continued. “She got beat a long neck in a very good effort. Nitrogen is in there and she seems unbeatable, but the distance is good for us, the timing is good for us, and we’re going to give it a try.”

The $285,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, a half-sister to dual Grade 2-winner Masteroffoxhounds, is out of the Galileo mare Outstanding, who finished third in the 2015 Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational won by Lady Eli. Outstanding is a full-sister to Magician, winner of the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas and Breeders’ Cup Turf in 2013; as well as graded stakes-winner Apple Betty.

Completing the field is George Messina and Michael Lee’s Fionn [post 5, Flavien Prat], who boasts a perfect in-the-money record of 6-4-1-1 for dual Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox.

The Twirling Candy bay put together a three-race win streak over the winter at Fair Grounds, culminating in a win in the Allen Black Cat LaCombe Memorial in March. She was a closing third in the Grade 2 Appalachian in April and demonstrated a strong closing kick last out to rally from last-of-9 and win the Grade 3 Regret by a half-length.

The $75,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Gaelic Gold, a half-sister to multiple stakes-winning New York-bred Sea Foam. Her second dam is Grade 3-winner Strike It Rich.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the July 4th Racing Festival. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.