Stonestreet homebred Clairiere is making her case for this year's Older Dirt Female Eclipse Award. The 5-year-old Curlin mare put in an impressive performance to defend her title in Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park, making up nearly five lengths in the final sixteenth of a mile to hit the wire a half-length better than Search Results.
Sent to post as the 8-5 favorite under Joel Rosario, Clairiere ran the one-turn 1 1/16-mile course over Belmont's fast main track in 1:43.40. It is already the second Grade 1 win from just three starts on the year for the Steve Asmussen-trained mare, who won the G1 Apple Blossom in April after finishing second in her 2023 debut (the G2 Azeri in March).
The victory, her second straight in the Ogden Phipps, earned Clairiere an expenses-paid berth to this fall's Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita Park. It will be Clairiere's third start in the World Championships race: she finished fourth in 2021 and third in 2022.
Bred in Kentucky by her owner Barbara Banke, Clairiere is out of the three-time Grade 1-winning Bernardini mare Cavorting. Clairiere now owns four Grade 1 wins, overtaking her dam's statistics and improving her overall record to 8-5-3 from 19 career starts for earnings of over $3 million.
In this year's edition of the Phipps, Clairiere faced familiar rival Secret Oath as well as Grade 1 winners Played Hard and Search Results and the G1-placed Pass the Champagne. As expected, Rosario allowed Clairiere to settle at the back of the six-horse field while last-out La Troienne (G1) winner Played Hard rushed up to take the early lead.
A 42-1 longshot, Gamestonks made an early move to take that lead before the first quarter mile had been completed, leaving Played Hard nearly three lengths second down the backstretch through fractions of :24.32 and :48.63. Search Results was settled in third, while Pass the Champagne and Secret Oath were together just ahead of the trailing Clairiere.
Midway through the far turn, Played Hard took back the lead from Gamestonks while Search Results went three-wide to mount her challenge. Pass the Champagne tried to get through at the rail, but wound up having to swing wide into the stretch for clear racing room. Moving together from the rear of the field, Secret Oath and Clairiere bided their time until the field straightened for home.
Search Results skipped away from Played Hard to grab the lead at the eighth pole, but Clairiere caught sight of that leader and began gaining with every stride. A visually-impressive late run saw Clairiere chase down Search Results to win by a half-length at the wire. Played Hard had to settle for third, while Pass the Champagne was fourth. Secret Oath finished fifth, while Gamestonks faded to finish sixth and last.
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