Mean Mary Heads Field of Seven in Beverly D. Stakes
By: Nicolle Neulist, Blinkers-Off
The Beverly D. Stakes (G1), one of the premier filly and mare turf races of the summer, is named after Beverly Duchossois, the late wife of Arlington Park chairman emeritus Richard Duchossois.
First run in 1987, the race’s winners have been a litany of top-class mares including Hall of Fame inductee Flawlessly (1991), as well as Champions Possibly Perfect (1995), Stacelita (2011), Dank (2013), and Sistercharlie (2018, 2019). Even Mr. D has won the race named after his wife: in 2010, Eclair de Lune came roaring home to win it in the blue and gold silks of the chairman.
The 2021 Beverly D. offers a purse of $400,000, and is carded as the day’s 7th race of 10, to go off at 4:49pm CDT. It drew a field of seven to compete. There is one horse cross-entered; rail-drawn Bramble Queen is also entered in the Mike Spellman Memorial Handicap against her fellow Illinois-breds.
Mean Mary has been one of the top American turf horses since last year. She has the stamina to handle the mile and three sixteenths trip well. And, she has early speed — something that should serve her well. Mean Mary should get an excellent trip on the front end under strong speed rider (and her regular pilot) Luis Saez; it looks unlikely for anyone to truly go with her.
Though outside-drawn Oh So Terrible has shown speed at some points in her career, she hasn’t shown as much pace early and may not be able to go with Mean Mary even if she tried.
Naval Laughter, with Sophie Doyle in the irons, will probably rate again.
Aside from pace, it is also a positive that Mean Mary just won the New York Stakes last out over yielding turf. After all the rains this week, the course probably will not be firm come Saturday, and it is good to see she won over yielding going last time. And the horse she beat was none other than Thundering Nights, a Joseph O’Brien horse who has already come back to win the Pretty Polly.
In that Pretty Polly, Thundering Nights defeated none other than Santa Barbara, who ships in to contest the Beverly D. for Aidan O’Brien. That was Santa Barbara’s first start against older and only her fourth race ever, a nice form reversal from her flat fifth as the chalk in the Oaks (G1) at Epsom.
Santa Barbara then returned to win the Belmont Oaks, overcoming trouble in the lane to get through and get up to win by half a length over Con Lima. Speaking of races that have been franked, the Belmont Oaks form was flattered when Con Lima came back to win the Saratoga Oaks (G1). In short? Santa Barbara’s off-pace style may be a bit of a liability without a lot of speed entered in this race, but if anyone does come one to make a race of it with Mean Mary late, it’s Santa Barbara.
If someone told me the morning of June 3, 2021 that Naval Laughter would be entered in the Beverly D, much less one of the mid-priced horses in the race? They’d have heard just that: laughter. But, oh how her fortunes have changed! She raced once at two, was sold back to her breeders for just $17,000 last year, and didn’t race at all last year. But trainer Chris Davis had her ready to roll in that maiden race June 3, and she rolled clear to win by 19 3/4 lengths in a hand ride.
Though she finished just second behind Fate Factor in an allowance, she stretched out and went first-time turf in the Modesty. That day jockey Sophie Doyle settled her off the pace, got her running late, and got her up to win by half a length over Joy Epifora. It was a good first start against good horses. The waters get deeper here, of course, especially with the top of the field. But jockey Sophie Doyle should be able to give her another good tactical ride, she can stay the trip, and she should find the frame again.
She’ll likely be a more appealing price than Lemista, who ships out for Chad Brown. Lemista still has yet to prove she has found her stride in America. She still has some upside in only her third American start, but has yet to prove she wants longer than a mile and an eighth and hasn’t done enough on the track to get excited about the inevitable too-short price caused by those who throw money at Chad Brown horses.
Selections
#2 Mean Mary (9/5)
#4 Santa Barbara (2/1)
#5 Naval Laughter (9/2)
Longshot: In such a stratified field of six, there are not a lot of serious win candidates in the field. However, #3 Joy Epifora (8/1) has excellent claims to hit the board. She hasn’t been much of a winner in general; she has not won since racing in Argentina in 2019. However, she showed in the Modesty that she has held her strong form. She sat a little closer to the pace than usual in that last race, something that tends to bring her better efforts out of her.
Jockey Declan Cannon, who rode Joy Epifora that day, returns and can give her that sort of a ride not too far behind Mean Mary again. Plus, she is trained by Ignacio Correas, IV — a trainer who has proven, with the likes of Kasaqui and Dona Bruja, that he can show up on big days at Arlington park.
No comments:
Post a Comment