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Australasia Puts Undefeated Record On The Line In Saturday’s Victory Ride

Trainer Brad Cox will send out a pair of contenders entering off last-out stakes wins, as Australasia and Inject will compete as part of an eight-horse field of sophomore fillies in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Victory Ride at 6 1/2 furlongs on the Belmont Park main track.

The 19th edition of the Victory Ride is one of three stakes on the final Saturday of the Belmont spring/summer meet, bolstering a pair of Grade 1 turf contests going 1 1/4-miles, with the $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational for 3-year-olds and the $700,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies. Both of those contests are the first legs of NYRA's Turf Triple series for sophomores.

Magnifico Stable's Australasia brings an undefeated record through six starts into her graded stakes debut. The Sky Kingdom filly took to Belmont's Big Sandy in her first appearance over the track, besting fellow Victory Ride-rival Bella Sofia by one length in the six-furlong Jersey Girl on June 6, earning a personal-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

The Louisiana-bred won her only start of her juvenile year in November at Fair Grounds and is 5-for-5 this year at four tracks, racking up restricted stakes scores in the Louisiana Jewel and the LA Bred Premier Starlet at Delta Downs before winning the Crescent City Oaks at Fair Grounds. A win against open allowance company in April at Churchill Downs set up her successful effort at Belmont. Since the Jersey Girl victory, Australasia has continued to train at the Elmont-based track, breezing four furlongs in 48.63 seconds on Monday.

Joel Rosario will have the call from post 7.

Her stablemate, Louis Wright's Inject, has won her last two starts, including her first stakes triumph with a 5 1/4-length blowout in the six-furlong Goldfinch on May 15 at Prairie Meadows. The daughter of Frosted was a $390,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and has started her career with a 3-2-1 ledger through her first eight starts.
Tyler Gaffalione will ride from post 2.

Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational will be competing against graded stakes company for a fourth consecutive race. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Souper Sensational went 2-for-2 as a juvenile at Woodbine, including a four-length score in the seven-furlong Glorious Song on the all-weather track.

Since then, Souper Sensational earned black type twice as a sophomore, finishing second in the Silvebulletday in January at Fair Grounds and third in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks in March.

Last out, Souper Sensational, with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez aboard, ran fourth in the Grade 2 Eight Belles going seven furlongs on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

“She's doing very well and Johnny rode her last time for us and kind of got hung up a little bit, but she hung in and ran well,” Casse said. “She's coming into the race well and should run well. I don't think the distance this time will be a problem.”

Flavien Prat will pick up the mount from post 5.

Team D and Madaket Stables' Miss Brazil ran third as the mutuel favorite in the Jersey Girl, just one length back to Australasia and will step up to graded stakes company for the first time after earning Beyers of 90 or better in four of her six starts for trainer Tony Dutrow.

The daughter of Palace Malice bested optional claimers on April 23 at Belmont in her last start at the Victory Ride distance and will have the services of Jose Ortiz from post 3.

“She seems to be doing very well coming into the race and we're very happy with her,” Dutrow said. “The Jersey Girl didn't go perfect for us, but that's just a day in the office. She came out of it well and she's training well for the Victory Ride. Anywhere from six furlongs to a mile, I don't think it really matters to her.”

The runner up in the Jersey Girl, Bella Sofia, will be making her third career start. The Rudy Rodriguez trainee coasted to an 11 1/4-length debut win on May 6 and was moved up in class exactly one month later where she finished one length behind Australasia and edged Miss Brazil by a head for second.

Owned by Michael Imperio and Vincent Scuderi, Bella Sofia is a daughter of Awesome Patriot. After working four furlongs in 49.43 seconds on Sunday over Belmont's training track, she will now break from the inside post with Manny Franco set to ride.

“She breezed Sunday on the training track and it was nice and solid,” Rodriguez said. “The horses in the field are already seasoned, but she did good against them last time. The last race was very good for her. She has decent ability, so hopefully we can get lucky.”

Douglas Scharbauer's Red Ghost has won three of her four starts, including two in a row following her victory by a nose over next-out allowance winner Euphoric in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness on May 14. The Ghostzapper filly who began her career with an off-the-turf 8 1/2-length score in August at Saratoga for trainer Wesley Ward, will return to New York for the first time since that effort, breaking from post 6 with Hall of Famer John Velazquez aboard.

Rounding out the field is Kinsman Stable's Shop Girl, second in the Any Limit in March last out for trainer Christophe Clement at Gulfstream Park [outermost post 8, Hall of Famer Javier Castellano]; and Brittlyn Stable's Ova Charged, making her first stakes race after starting 2-for-2 for trainer Jose Camejo [post 4, Luis Saez].

The Victory Ride is slated as Race 8 on Saturday's 11-race card. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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Whitney Next for Knicks Go, BC Classic a Possibility

With his horse's year having been rejuvenated with a powerful performance in the GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H., trainer Brad Cox is ready to tackle bigger and better things with stable star Knicks Go (Paynter). Cox said Wednesday that Knicks Go will race next Aug. 7 in Saratoga's GI Whitney S., a 'Win and You're In' to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

“We always thought that the Whitney was the race we were going to point for this summer,” Cox said. “We felt it was necessary to get a run into him between the Met Mile and the Whitney. Obviously, in the Met Mile we didn't see what we wanted to see, so we thought it made sense to get a run into him.”

It's been an up-and-down year for Knicks Go, who kicked things off with a win in the Jan. 24 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. at Gulfstream. But, he wasn't the same horse in his next two starts, finishing fourth in the $20-million Saudi Cup and fourth again the GI Metropolitan H. Looking back, Cox doesn't think either race was the best fit for his horse.

“You're not going to run in a race like the Met Mile unless you think your horse is training well enough,” he said. “I felt every bit as good going into the Met Mile as I did the Breeders' Cup or the Pegasus. But with the way he ran in Saudi Arabia and in the Met Mile, I no longer have any interest in trying him around one turn any time in the near future. I'm thinking his dull effort in Saudi Arabia and in the Met Mile was due to the one turn.”

Coming back in a month after the Met, Knicks Go took a drop in class when showing up Friday in the Cornhusker, which is worth $300,000 and doesn't ordinarily attract the highest tier horses. While he may not have faced the best competition, Knicks Go could not have been any more impressive. He won by 10 1/4 lengths and earned a 113 Beyer figure, which represents the best figure run by any horse this year.

“It's always great to run in Grade I's and it's great to have horses that are Grade I horses,” Cox said. “He's a Grade I horse. But I do think a race like this one can give the horse confidence and fitness without really getting to the bottom of them. It was a nice race going a mile-and-an-eighth and I think it, being five weeks out, was a nice set up for the Whitney. A race like that can do a lot for a horse. He's a sound, happy horse and we witnessed that last Friday.”

Should Knicks Go stay on course in the Whitney, Cox and his owners will have some tough choices to make. Knicks Go won last year's Big Ass Fans GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and a return to that race would appear to be in his sweet spot. But Cox has come to believe that Knicks Go can get the job done at a mile-and-a-quarter and is open to the possibility of starting Knicks Go in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, a richer more prestigious race than the Dirt Mile. He has never run in a 10-furlong race.

“With the way he ran Friday and the configuration of Del Mar, the Classic is definitely in play,” he said. “Both Breeders' Cup races are in play. At Del Mar, we think a mile-and-a-quarter is something he can handle. I think he's a horse that benefits from a shorter stretch. Keeneland has a short stretch when you run a mile there. Gulfstream has a bit of a shorter stretch. There was a shorter stretch the other night at Prairie Meadows and Del Mar doesn't have a long stretch. Those are things we've picked up on over the last year that seem to benefit him.

“He's a horse that doesn't slow down around the turns and that's where he seems to win his races, on the far turn. He can get away from other horses there. And they have to work around the turns to keep up with him. Obviously, with his running style, he saves all the ground around both turns. He's very fast and is able to establish himself early on in a race and save all the ground. He establishes the kind of lead where he is hard to run down.”

As for another big name in the Cox barn, the trainer has no firm plans for two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). She has not started since finishing second in the

GI Apple Blossom H. April 17. Afterward she came down with a case of muscle soreness and was sent to WinStar Farm to recuperate.

“She's back in training at WinStar and she is doing great,” Cox said. “There's no real time frame set so far as to when she will come back to us. But we're all very happy with the progress she has made over the last two months.”

When asked if Monomoy Girl would be ready in time for a fall prep for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, Cox replied: “I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but that's possible. That would be if everything goes right.”

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Well-Traveled Bonny South Installed Delaware Handicap Favorite

Juddmonte's Bonny South tops the 84th renewal of the $400,000, Grade 2 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., this Saturday. The filly and mare summer classic has attracted a field of seven. After being shortened to a mile and an eighth last year due to the pandemic, the race will return to the traditional distance of a mile and a quarter. The Delaware Handicap has been carded as the ninth race with an approximate post time of 5:15 p.m. ET.

This year, the 4-year-old daughter of Munnings is one for two. In her first outing in 2021, the Kentucky-bred trained by Brad Cox notched a head victory in the 1 1/16-mile, Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland on April 16. She followed by running second over the same distance in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park on June 5. Last year, Bonny South had a record of two wins and three seconds from six starts including a victory in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks and a trio of seconds in Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga, the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico and the Grade 2 Falls City at Churchill Downs. She has a career record of four wins and four seconds from ten starts with earnings $692,150.

“She is doing well,” said trainer Brad Cox. “She is a solid horse. You never really have to make any excuses for her and hopefully with a good trip on Saturday, she will get the job done. We have run her at Fair Grounds, Oaklawn, Pimlico, Keeneland, Saratoga, Belmont and obviously Churchill and she has run well at each time regardless of distance. She is a just a consistent and solid filly.”

Bonny South will be arriving in Delaware towards the end of the week.

“She is going to ship to Monmouth,” Cox said. “We are sending a little string to Monmouth and she will be part of that group. From there, we are going to ship her to Delaware the day before or the day of the race, so she will be there Friday or Saturday.”

A solid effort in the Delaware Handicap will punch a ticket for her to travel to upstate New York in August.

“If all goes well afterward, we will ship her to Saratoga and point for the Personal Ensign (August 28),” Cox said.

Trainer Joseph Saffie Jr. has entered both eFive Racing Thoroughbreds Gibberish and Ken Copenhaver's Queen Nekia.

It will be a homecoming for Queen Nekia as the 6-year-old daughter of Harlington will be returning to the track where she has a main track career record of five wins, two seconds and a third from ten starts. The Florida-bred has not raced at Delaware Park since her Delaware Certified Horse of the Year campaign in 2019.

In her 2021 debut, she posted a 1 ¾-length score in the Grade 3 Royal Delta going 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park on February 20. Since then, she had a pair of fourth-place efforts in the Top Flight Invitational at Aqueduct on April 10 and the aforementioned Phipps at Belmont on June 5. She has a career record of ten wins, six seconds and seven thirds from 34 starts with earnings of $528,876.

“She has run well at Delaware in the past, so hopefully she will run well again on Saturday,” said trainer Joseph Saffie Jr. “She was a proven solid filly before we claimed her back in December 2019 and she has gotten even better. She has done more than we could have ever asked for.”

Gibberish has a career mark of four wins, a second and a third from 11 starts with earnings of $170,310. In her most recent, the 4-year-old daughter of Lea ran second in the 1 1/16-mile Lady's Secret at Monmouth on June 6.

“Gibberish is also coming into the race well,” Saffie Jr. said. “She has won a stake, she beat Queen Nekia once and Queen Nekia beat her and she is coming off a good run at Monmouth. We feel like the mile and a quarter fits her nicely as well and are expecting a solid effort from her.”

$400,000 Grade 2 Delaware Handicap, fillies & mares 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/4 miles

PP	HORSE	OWNER	TRAINER	JOCKEY	Wg	OD
1	Gibberish	eFive Racing Thoroughbreds	Joseph Saffie Jr	Trevor McCarthy	118	8-1
2	Queen Nekia	Ken Copenhaver	Joseph Saffie Jr	Sheldon Russell	119	3-1
3	Dream Marie	Miracle's International	Matthew Williams	Joe Bravo	120	4-1
4	Saracosa	Chad Schumer	Cipriano Contreras	Emmanuel Esquiuel	116	10-1
5	Bonny South	Juddmonte	Brad Cox	Florent Geroux	123	3/2
6	Miss Marissa	Cammarota Racing	James Ryerson	Daniel Centeno	119	6-1
7	Final Cut	G. Watts Humphrey Jr	Victoria Oliver	Jaime Rodriguez	116	12-1

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She’sonthewarpath Holds Off Dominga To Take Ellis Park Turf

She'sonthewarpath was. And the result was a neck victory over favored Dominga in Sunday's $75,000 Ellis Park Turf at the RUNHAPPY Meet at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky.

Trainer by Steve Margolis for Robert and Lawana Low, She'sonthewarpath closed from mid-pack to win three stakes last year. However, facing a field devoid of natural front-runners in the field of six fillies and mares, jockey Adam Beschizza didn't wait on anyone else to do the dirty work for She'sonthewarpath.

Beschizza sent the 5-year-old mare to the initial lead out of the gate from her outside post, before letting her settle just off of the Brad Cox-trained Dominga, who broke on the rail under Shaun Bridgmohan.

Dominga loped through a crawling early pace, but Beschizza kept She'sonthewarpath within pouncing position and went after the favorite heading into the far turn.

“I told Adam, 'Bridgmohan is on a nice filly for Brad. Just don't let her steal it. Keep her in your sights,'” Margolis said. “You let a horse like that get loose, it's going to be tough to catch her.”

Rounding into the stretch, She'sonthewarpath wrested a narrow lead in a bunched-up field and had a length advantage with an eighth of a mile to go. Dominga wasn't finished and tried to come back on the rail only to fall a couple of feet short.

“We know she's pretty fast,” Beschizza said. “She ran at 5 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs this year, so we know she's got speed. We know she can rate. She's probably one of those that can turn it off and turn it on. You just have to be a little bit more aggressive with her out of the gate. She seemed to get a nice perch going around there. We know she's got the ability and the engine, and that turn of gear.

“We were in prime position, and as soon as I pulled the trigger, she delivered. She's got that turn of gear that can sort of put horses into shock mode as soon as we turn into the stretch. We took Brad Cox's horse in there seriously. We knew she was going to go to the lead. The field size was small and sometimes when they get an easy ride on the front end, it can get a bit tactical. It doesn't usually go to plan like that. But super-pleased for Steve. He's done a great job with her, and she's a real barn favorite.”

It was another 1 1/4 lengths back to the late-running Pass the Plate, followed by Sister Hanan, High Regard, and Nope. Enjoyitwhilewecan and Alnassem were scratched.

“I got to the spot where I needed to be, and she was comfortable,” Bridgmohan said. “She was game, though. She tried to come back on the other horse. She tried hard.”

Said Paul McGee, trainer of Pass the Plate: “They got away with slow early fractions, so it's hard to close into that. She ran a good race.”

She'sonthewarpath, a daughter of Declaration of War, completed the mile over firm turf in 1:44.07, the last sixteenth-mile going in :05.84 seconds as she picked up the pace throughout. The fractions were :25.43, :50.65, 1:15.65, and 1:38.23.

The bay mare now is 7-2-3 in 18 starts, earning $432,820 for the Lows, who are also her breeders.

In her last start, Beschizza backed out of a potential jam early on and She'sonthewarpath closed to be third in a tough field for Churchill Downs' Grade 3 Mint Julep.

“I probably wasn't aggressive enough as I should have been, getting a position,” he said. “She rated on me going into the first turn and got a little bump. It just took her off of her game. She came with a flying run at the end. She's all heart. But we got her day today.”

She'sonthewarpath ran in last year's $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf, showing speed that day and finishing second. Margolis said that stakes is a logical objective, with the ultimate goal being the $750,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf at Kentucky Downs.

“The Lows are great,” Margolis said. “They always do right by the horses they give me. She's a hard-knocker who always tries. Just grateful to have her. When you have a mare like her, a horse who always tries, you know they're going to always fire. You just hope everything goes right. She's such a classy mare. You ask her to go, like Adam says, she gives you everything she's got.”

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