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High Opinion Trying To ‘Turn The Tables’ In Noble Damsel

Trainer Anthony Dutrow saddles High Opinion in hopes of turning the tables on five-time race winner Chad Brown in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Noble Damsel for fillies and mares going one mile over the Widener turf course at Belmont Park.

Woodford Racing's and Team D's High Opinion broke her maiden last October at Belmont at odds of 97-1 before finishing second in the 1 1/16-mile Winter Memories on November 15 over good turf at Aqueduct Racetrack in her first start against winners.

Only off the board once in five starts since then, the 4-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid put together a successful summer campaign at Saratoga Race Course with an allowance victory on July 31 ahead of a nose defeat last out to last year's Noble Damsel winner, Viadera, in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa.

Ridden by Luis Saez in the 1 1/16-mile Ballston Spa, High Opinion saved ground in fifth behind an honest pace set by Tamahere, who she will face again in the Noble Damsel. Saez asked the filly for more at the quarter pole and High Opinion answered, making a strong bid two-wide around the turn before tucking back in to the rail for one last try at new leader Viadera. Though she came up just shy of securing her first graded stakes victory, Dutrow said he was thrilled with his filly's effort.

“I was so happy that she was able to run so well against that competition,” Dutrow said of the dark bay filly's gusty performance. “People ask if I'm disappointed she lost the race. Yeah, I would have rather won the race than lost, but it was satisfying to see her race that well against those quality horses.”

Since her Ballston Spa effort, High Opinion has posted a series of works over Belmont's inner turf, most recently breezing a bullet four furlongs in 47.82 seconds Sunday.

Dutrow said he is confident the dark bay filly has carried her Saratoga form to Belmont.

“She was very good in her workout,” Dutrow said Sunday morning. “She was training fantastic at Saratoga and I believe I'm seeing very close to the same filly at Belmont this fall as I did this summer at Saratoga. I think a mile is very good for her, especially at Belmont. She loves that one turn there, so I'm feeling very good about her here.”

If High Opinion crosses the finish line first, it will be the first time a trainer other than Brown visits the winner circle to claim the Noble Damsel trophy in five years. Dutrow said he welcomes the challenge, hoping to play spoiler to Brown's attempt at a record sixth win in the stakes.

“You bet I want to turn the tables on Chad,” Dutrow said with a laugh. “I wouldn't want to trade places with anybody. I'm very happy and confident that our filly will give us a great effort.”

Saez gets the return call aboard High Opinion from post 3.

Brown, who is tied with Christophe Clement for most Noble Damsel scores, has won the event previously with Mrs McDougal [2016], Off Limits [2017], Uni [2018], Significant Form [2019] and Viadera [2020].

He will have two chances to earn another Noble Damsel victory with Swift Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables, and Wonder Stable's graded stakes winner Tamahere, and John and Tanya Gunther's recent allowance winner, Love and Thunder.

Winner of the Grade 2 Sands Point at Belmont last year, Tamahere earned a Grade 1 placing in the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in her first start of 2021.

Fourth behind Viadera and High Opinion in the Ballston Spa, she dominated in her next outing, scoring the listed Violet over yielding turf at Monmouth Park by 7 ¼ lengths on September 25.

A wire-to-wire winner in the Violet, Brown said being the one to catch is what works best for the 4-year-old daughter of Wootton Bassett.

“She's training well,” Brown said following the filly's five-furlong breeze in 1:02.11 over Belmont's inner turf course Saturday. “Letting her run freely on the front seems to be what she wants to do.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride from post 10.

Love and Thunder enters the Noble Damsel off an October 1 allowance victory going seven furlongs over firm turf at Belmont after being the bridesmaid in each of her four starts since moving stateside from England in April.

Runner-up to High Opinion in a July 31 allowance at Saratoga, Love and Thunder is seeking her first graded victory and returns to stakes company for the first time since a pair of off-the-board Group 3 efforts in England last year.

“She's knocked on the door in a lot of these races, so it was nice to see her punch through with a solid victory,” Brown's assistant Dan Stupp said of the filly's first American victory. “She's another one that's going the right way.”

Love and Thunder will break from post 6 with Jose Ortiz aboard.

Completing the field are stakes-placed Risky Mischief [post 9, Dylan Davis]; four-time winner Flower Point [post 2, Jose Lezcano]; last-out winner In a Hurry [post 1, Javier Castellano]; dual stakes winner Shifty She [post 5, Edwin Gonzalez]; Irish-bred Marlborough Road [post 7, Benjamin Hernandez]; and multiple graded stakes placed Platinum Paynter [post 4, Kendrick Carmouche].

Truth Hurts is entered for the main track only.

The Noble Damsel is slated as Race 8 on Saturday's 10-race card, which also features the Grade 2, $400,000 Hill Prince for sophomores going nine furlongs over the inner turf course in Race 9. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

Originally run as the Lexiable Stakes, the Noble Damsel is named for the daughter of Vaguely Noble who won Belmont's Grade 3 New York Handicap in 1982. Trained by Michael Kay, Noble Damsel was a four-time winner at Belmont and earned six other graded stakes placings in her four seasons of racing.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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Viadera Outlasts High Opinion In Ballston Spa

Chad Brown continued his winning ways in the first graded stakes on the Travers Day card at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. With three horses entered in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa, Brown claimed two of the top three spots, with Viadera taking the stakes for 4-year-olds and up by a nose while Kalifornia Queen finished third.

With a rain shower putting a brief damper on the day's festivities, the field of six broke evenly, with Tamahere, Brown's third starter, taking the lead over Platinum Paynter and Viadera. Tamahere and Platinum Paynter were several lengths ahead early, setting fractions of :22.60 for the first quarter and :47.55 for the first half-mile. As they approached the final turn, Tamahere's lead began to shrink, the field catching up to her as Platinum Paynter dropped back on the turn. Joel Rosario moved Viadera from the rail to the outside of Tamahere, positioning her for her closing run at the leader.

In the stretch, Tamahere looked like she could wire the field, Irad Ortiz, Jr. urging her to keep up the pace. To her inside, High Opinion and Luis Saez were riding the rail, taking advantage of the open lane, while Rosario had Viadera in a drive on Tamahere's outside. The two passed Tamahere and then hooked up inside the last sixteenth of a mile, with Viadera nosing out High Opinion at the wire. Kalifornia Queen, closing fast on Viadera's outside, rounded out the top three with Tamahere, New York Girl, and Platinum Paynter completing the field of six.

The final time for the 1 1/16-mile G2 Ballston Spa was 1:41.82. Find this race's chart here.

Viadera paid $3.60, $2.90, and $2.30. High Opinion paid $5.00 and $3.30. Kalifornia Queen paid $3.00.

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“Joel [Rosario] got in really good position this time and made sure there weren't too many horses in front of him in his way when he wanted to make his run. She got a nice, pocketed ground-saving trip, and once again she showed that she knows where the wire is. She's won a couple of close photo finishes now in her career,” Brown said after the race.” She has an affinity for the wire, this horse. If you train horses long enough you'll realize that certain horses know where it is on the winning end and some seem to come up on the losing end. She's one of the ones who knows where it is.”

“I think last time she was coming off a long layoff and the pace didn't work out all that well [fourth in the Faisg-Tipton De La Rose on August 8]. It was better here. She was sharper and I still thought the filly on the inside [High Opinion] probably had momentum on us going to the line, but she just has a way of always getting her nose down on the line,” Garrett O'Rourke, Juddmonte general manager, told the NYRA Press Office after the Ballston Spa. “She keeps winning photo finishes and everyone wants a horse with ability, but that competitive edge is fantastic as well.”

“It was a better trip today with horses being in front and I was able to track there for a little bit. Turning for home, I was clear. She always tries really hard. She's a very good filly,” Rosario said after the race. “At the last minute, I knew the horse was coming inside [High Opinion], but she was so game and fighting going forward, so I was never worried about it, but that horse came very close.”

Bred and owned by Juddmonte Farms, Viadera (GB) is a 5-year-old mare by Bated Breath (GB) out of the Beat Hollow (GB) mare, Sacred Shield (GB). The Ballston Spa is her first win of 2021, following a fourth-place finish in the De La Rose at Saratoga on Aug. 8. Her lifetime record is seven wins in 15 starts for career earnings of $618,641.

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Chad Brown-Trained Trio Headline Ballston Spa

Trainer Chad Brown will be represented by a trio of turf distaffers while seeking his sixth triumph in Saturday's 33rd running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Ballston Spa for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles over the Mellon turf at Saratoga Race Course.

Brown, a three-time leading trainer at the Spa, is the winningest trainer in the Ballston Spa, having saddled Zagora [2012] and Lady Eli [2017] to victories en route to Champion Grass Female honors in their respective years, as well as winning with Dacita [2015], Quidura [2018] and Significant Form [2019].

Juddmonte's Viadera, who arrives off nearly three week's rest, was a troubled fourth as the favorite in the De La Rose on Aug. 8 at the Spa, where she made her first start in over eight months. The 5-year-old daughter of Bated Breath will try to regain her winning form from last season, when she secured three stakes victories.

Following a triumph by a neck in the 2020 De La Rose, which was her second start in North America, she won by the same margin against stable mate Blowout in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel on September 26 at Belmont Park. Viadera brought her form to new heights when shipping to Southern California for the Grade 1 Matriarch on November 29 at Del Mar, besting Blowout once more under a well-timed ride by jockey Joel Rosario to win by a nose.

In the De La Rose last out, Viadera rated at the rear of the field along the rail, checked slightly down the backstretch, and lacked racing room in upper stretch to close late finishing 2 ¾ lengths behind stable mate Regal Glory.

“She had a lot of trouble last time, but she got something out of it and hopefully can move forward off short rest,” Brown said.

Rosario, the pilot in all five of her North American starts, will retain the mount from post 3.

Kalifornia Queen, owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and First Row Partners, arrives off a late-closing second to stable mate Great Island in the Grade 3 Matchmaker on July 17 at Monmouth Park.

A Group 2 winner in her native Germany, the 4-year-old daughter of Lope de Vega was unplaced in graded stakes in her first two starts in North America, but made her third effort stateside a winning one in an allowance optional claiming tilt at the Ballston Spa distance on July 13 at Belmont Park.

Brown said he was satisfied with the effort.

“She ran great last time. Cutting her back and taking the blinkers off have done her well,” Brown said.

Kalifornia Queen will leave post 6 under jockey Flavien Prat.

Swift Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables' Tamahere seeks her first victory since capturing her North American debut in the Grade 2 Sands Point on October 10 at Belmont Park.

The French-bred daughter of Wootton Bassett finished second in two of her three efforts this season. In her 2021 debut, Tamahere was second to Juliet Foxtrot in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on April 10 at Keeneland. After a distant ninth in the Grade 1 Longines Just a Game on June 5 at Belmont Park, she received a drop in class into allowance optional claiming company to run second on July 28 at Saratoga.

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride Tamahere from post 2.

Trainer Tony Dutrow will send out Woodford Racing's High Opinion, who bested winners last out on July 31 going one mile over Saratoga's inner turf.

The 4-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid lit up the tote board when breaking her maiden at 97-1 odds on October 10 at Belmont Park and validated the effort when finishing a close second in the next-out Winter Memories on November 15 at Aqueduct.

Jockey Luis Saez will pilot High Opinion from post 1.

R Unicorn Stable's New York Girl has been multiple graded stakes placed since joining the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott last year and will seek a breakthrough victory in the Ballston Spa.

The 4-year-old daughter of New Approach was beaten by one length or less in three graded stakes events to kick off her 2021 season. After losing by one length in the Grade 3 Endeavor on February 6 at Tampa Bay Downs, she returned to the Oldsmar oval to finish third beaten three-quarters of a length one month later in the Grade 2 Hillsborough. In the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile on May 1 at Churchill Downs, she closed late to finish second and miss by a half-length.

New York Girl arrives off a troubled fourth at allowance optional claiming level on August 1 over the Spa inner turf.

Breaking from post 4, New York Girl will be piloted by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, the winningest rider in the Ballston Spa with five victories.

Rounding out the field is Just In Time Racing's multiple stakes-placed Platinum Paynter, who was third in the Grade 3 Beaugay on May 8 at Belmont Park and in the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial on July 6 at Parx Racing. Trained by Juan Vazquez, the daughter of Paynter made her 5-year-old debut when second to Regal Glory in the Plenty of Grace on April 24 at Aqueduct.

Jockey Jose Lezcano will ride from post 5.

The Ballston Spa is slated as Race 4 on the 13-race card. First post is 11:35 a.m. Eastern. For the third consecutive year, FOX will air the Runhappy Travers as the centerpiece of a 90-minute telecast beginning at 5 p.m. The networks of FOX and FOX Sports will air 7.5 total hours of live racing and analysis on Runhappy Travers Day, with coverage scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on FS1. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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Duopoly Records Front-Running Victory In Winter Memories At Aqueduct

Klaravich Stables' Duopoly surged to the front and never relinquished the lead, going gate-to-wire while holding off game longshot High Opinion in deep stretch for a three-quarters of a length score in Sunday's $100,000 Winter Memories for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

One of two entrants for trainer Chad Brown, Duopoly, who was coming off a fifth-place effort in her stakes debut last out in the Grade 3 Pin Oak Valley View last month at Keeneland, broke sharp from post 5 under Irad Ortiz, Jr., leading the seven-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 24.75 seconds and the half in 50.15 on the inner turf coursed labeled good.

With Vigilantes Way giving close pursuit, Duopoly continued to lead, with three-quarters going in 1:14.52, and continued to pace the field out of the final turn, being kept near the rail when straightening for home. In the stretch, the Animal Kingdom filly responded to her jockey's urging as Vigilantes Way pressed her from the immediate outside while High Opinion made a valiant charge from the three-path.

High Opinion pulled into second and continued to challenge, but Duopoly completed the 1 1/16-mile course in a final time of 1:44.80 to notch her third win in five career starts.

“She relaxed and went so well,” said Ortiz, Jr., who registered his day's third win. “She went into the first turn pretty well and when we got to the backside, she started getting out a little bit, but I didn't panic because I knew she could do it and I knew she would keep going. I just rode her with patience, relaxed and didn't try to fight her too much. Turning for home, I asked her, and she had plenty left.”

Off at 5-2, Duopoly returned $7.90 on a $2 win wager. The $160,000 purchase at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale improved her career earnings to $128,034.

“There wasn't too much speed in the race today, so we wanted to take advantage of that,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “We know she's fast, so I let her break out of there and she was comfortable. She did it pretty easy.”

Woodford Racing and Team D Stable's High Opinion, the longest shot in the field at 25-1, rewarded trainer Tony Dutrow's decision to elevate her to stakes company following her last-out win on October 10 at Belmont, finishing a half-length in front of Vigilantes Way for second.

“The filly ran very well. I was expecting a big run from her,” said Eric Cancel, the rider aboard High Opinion. “Her last performance was really good. Today, she stepped up in the game and ran very well. I had a nice trip. I tried to follow the winner, and everything worked out well. We didn't win, but I'm very happy with the way that she ran. She's a pretty brave filly. She kept on fighting and never gave up.”

Speaktomeofsummer, Selflessly [also trained by Brown], Crystalle and Faccio Io completed the order of finish. Thankful, entered for the main track only, was scratched.

Live racing resumes on Thursday at the Big A with a 10-race card. First post is 11:50 a.m.

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