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Magic Attitude Rallies From Last To Win Sheepshead Bay

Lael Stable's Magic Attitude rallied from last of six to capture Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Sheepshead Bay, an 11-furlong inner turf test for older fillies and mares, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by Arnaud Delacour and patiently piloted by Trevor McCarthy, Magic Attitude saved ground at the back of the pack as graded stakes winner Antoinette led the field through splits of 25.27, 51.03 and 1:17.05 on the firm turf.

Mutamakina stalked from second position down the backstretch under Jose Lezcano but it was Always Shopping, with Joe Bravo up, who made the first run at the leader with a menacing move outside rivals into the final turn.

Antoinette was asked for more as pressure arrived from Always Shopping, and Mutamakina positioned off the rail to launch her bid. But it was Magic Attitude, angled off the rail inside of Orglandes and out to the center of the track, who saved her best run for last to pick off her rivals one-by-one for a powerful three-length score in a final time of 2:14.32.

Delacour said Belmont's inner turf course is ideal for Magic Attitude, who entered the Sheepshead Bay from a close seventh in the Grade 2 Hillsborough on March 6 at Tampa Bay Downs.

“They weren't going fast, but there's no other way to really ride her,” said Delacour. “She needs to be switched off behind, and she has an explosive turn-of-foot, so it's nice to train a filly of that caliber.

“She likes it at Belmont,” he added. “It's more like the European style for her. She can take her time, get balanced, and then produce acceleration. Last time nothing really worked out for her that day. She was really edgy in the post parade and in the paddock. Usually, she is really relaxed, like she was here. I knew that wasn't the best set up, but she probably needed that race.”

Magic Attitude launched her career in France with trainer Fabrice Chappet, capturing the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux at Longchamp last May and finishing second to Tawkeel in the Group 1 Prix Saint Alary at Chantilly in June.

Transferred to the care of Delacour in the fall, Magic Attitude made a winning North American debut under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational, part of NYRA's Turf Triple Series for fillies, on September 19. She completed her season with a third in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October at Keeneland.

Saturday's stylish score marked the fourth win on the card for McCarthy, who was full of praise for the talented filly.

“When Javier rode her, he didn't get aggressive with her,” said McCarthy. “In the stretch, he just gathered her, let her run and get into her rhythm, which is what she loves. She impressed me today.”

Mutamakina, who stalled in mid-stretch, re-rallied to earn place money by a half-length over Always Shopping and My Sister Nat. Rounding out the order of finish were Antoinette and Orglandes.

Lezcano, aboard the runner-up Mutamakina, felt the slow pace hampered his chances.

“She broke very well. No one wanted to go to the front, so I let her be where she was,” said Lezcano. “When [Always Shopping] came around the backside, I had to push a little early. I think if the race had set up better for her, she may have beat the other filly.”

Bred in Great Britain by Katsumi Yoshida, Magic Attitude banked $110,000 in victory while improving her record to 10-4-1-2. She returned $11 on a $2 win wager.

Victory in the Belmont Oaks qualified Magic Attitude for considerable bonus money should she win the Grade 2, $750,000 New York, going 1 ¼ miles on June 4 at Belmont; or the Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl, at 1 3/8 miles on September 4 at Saratoga.

The “New York Stakes Turf Bonus” will provide $315,000 to the owner and $35,000 to the trainer of any previous winner of the filly Turf Triple series races – Belmont Oaks, Saratoga Oaks or Jockey Club Oaks – who captures the 2021 edition of the New York.

Additionally, the “Flower Bowl Bonus” will provide $300,000 to the owner and $30,000 to the trainer of any previous winner of a filly Turf Triple series race who wins the Flower Bowl, a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” event offering a berth in the Grade 1 Filly and Mare Turf in November at Del Mar.

Live racing continues Sunday at Belmont with a nine-race card and a 1 p.m. Eastern first post. The slate is highlighted by the Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up going one mile on the main track in Race 8 at 4:40 p.m.

Starting on May 1, Belmont Park re-opened to a limited number of spectators. All admission must be purchased in advance at nyra.com/belmont/tickets/.

For comprehensive information on health and safety protocols in effect for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet, please visit: https://www.nyra.com/belmont/visit/plan-your-visit.

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Magic Attitude Back On Favorite Course For Sheepshead Bay

Lael Stables' Magic Attitude will seek a return to winning form over familiar ground, taking on an all-graded stakes-winning field in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Sheepshead Bay for older fillies and mares going 1 3/8 miles over the inner turf course at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by Arnaud Delacour, Magic Attitude is the lone Grade 1-winner in the six-horse field, capturing her North American debut in last year's Belmont Oaks Invitational in September.

The daughter of prolific international sire Galileo rallied from last-of-5 in that race, displaying a powerful turn of foot in mid-stretch, crossing the wire a 2 1/2-length winner. The same late-running strategy was utilized next out in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on October 10 at Keeneland, but she could not replicate the winning push of her prior start, finishing third, 1 1/4 lengths back to Harvey's Lil Goil.

Magic Attitude arrives at the Sheepshead Bay off her 2021 debut in the Grade 2 Hillsborough on March 6 at Tampa Bay Downs, where she rode the rail throughout most of the journey, lacked racing room in upper stretch and made a late bid in between horses to finish a close seventh.

“She may have been a little short when we brought her back at Tampa,” Delacour said. “It didn't work out well as far as the trip was concerned. She was down and on the inside and never got relaxed. I'm also not sure she likes the tight turns at Tampa either. So, we just regrouped after that race and we wanted to go where she's been successful in the past to try and bring back her best form. We know she likes Belmont Park.”

Delacour noted that Belmont Park's wider turns could play to his filly's favor in the Belmont Oaks and hopes to see that play to her advantage on Saturday.

“She had a hard time with the tight turns. At Belmont, she had plenty of time to come gradually. She had balance and produced an explosive kick. We are looking for more stretch,” Delacour said. “The turns are wider at Belmont, and it was a slow pace when she won the Belmont Oaks, which gave her plenty of time to settle and come with a kick. We'll see what the pace scenario is like, but likely she'll take back and make one big run.”

Jockey Trevor McCarthy will pilot Magic Attitude from the inside post.

A victory in the Belmont Oaks qualified Magic Attitude for considerable bonus money should she win the Grade 2, $750,000 New York, going 1 ¼ miles on June 4 at Belmont; or the Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl, at 1 3/8 miles on September 4 at Saratoga.

“The bonus is something that is definitely in the back of our minds,” Delacour said. “With a filly like her the main thing is to bring her back where she can win, and we know she loves Belmont Park. We'll see how she does on Saturday.”

Trainer Chad Brown seeks a fifth Sheepshead Bay win when he sends out My Sister Nat and Orglandes for their respective seasonal debuts.

“I think they're both very classy fillies with a lot of potential. Both have very bright futures,” said Brown's Belmont-based assistant trainer Dan Stupp. “They both wintered well, came up in great condition. They've trained well since they've been here.”

Owned by Peter Brant, My Sister Nat seeks a second graded stakes win in North America after winning the Grade 3 Waya going 1 1/2 miles on August 8 at Saratoga. The half-sister to 2018 Champion Turf Mare Sistercharlie trailed the field early on, inched her way into contention along the hedge midway down the backstretch and swung four-wide in upper stretch for the win.

Following two graded stakes runner-up finishes to Civil Union, My Sister Nat finished ninth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf on November 6 at Keeneland in her last start.

Stupp recalled My Sister Nat's performance in the Grade 3 Long Island in November 2019 at the Big A, where she made up considerable ground only to miss a neck to Si Que Es Buena.

“When I first started working for Chad, she ran that huge race at Aqueduct where she just missed,” Stupp recalled. “After the race, we knew we were going to have a nice filly for next year. She continued to progress last year, just missing in the Grade 1 [Flower Bowl on October 3 at Belmont Park]. She's got a nice year ahead of her, she's just a late-blooming horse. She doesn't look like her sister. She's developed very nicely, it's just taken her awhile.”

While My Sister Nat seeks a return to winning form, Orglandes will look to pick back up where she left off after shipping to southern California for the Grade 3 Red Carpet on November 28 at Del Mar. The daughter of Le Havre made up considerable ground when traveling the 11-furlong distance to make a winning move in between horses in mid-stretch to win by a half-length.

A dual winner in her native France, Orglandes earned her first trip to the winner's circle in North America when travelling nine furlongs over the inner turf course on October 9 at Belmont Park.

“That race last year in California got us excited for the year ahead,” Stupp said. “She'll certainly be competing in the top stakes for older fillies on the grass throughout the year.”

Manny Franco has the call on My Sister Nat from the outermost post 6, while Orglandes will leave from post 3 under Eric Cancel.

Al Shira'aa Farms Mutamakina also will make her 2021 bow looking to build on her triumph in the Grade 3 Long Island on November 28 at Aqueduct.

The 5-year-old daughter of Nathaniel originally was campaigned in France by trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias, for whom she placed in two Group 2 events, including to eventual Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass. She made her North American debut on October 31 over a yielding outer turf course at Belmont Park in the 12-furlong Zagora, where she was a troubled third for trainer Christophe Clement.

Saving ground in third along the hedge, Mutamakina was shuffled back around the far turn in the Zagora but made up considerable ground in the stretch to finish third, beaten a half-length to winner Luck Money.

Mutamakina's Long Island effort again displayed stalking tactics, where she maintained position around the far turn and confronted pacesetting stablemate Traipsing in the final strides to secure her first stakes win in North America by three-quarters of a length.

“She's a very top class mare,” said four-time Sheepshead Bay winner Clement. “It's ambitious running her there first time out, but she's been doing very well. She ran a very good race in her North American debut, even though she got beat.”

Jockey Jose Lezcano will ride Mutamakina from post 2.

Repole Stables' Always Shopping will attempt to parlay her newfound affinity for turf marathon events when breaking from post 4 with Joe Bravo in the irons.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, the daughter of Awesome Again out of graded stakes winner Stopshoppingmaria won the Grade 3 Gazelle on dirt at Aqueduct during her sophomore campaign in 2019, but a decline in winning form prompted her connections to give turf a try.

After a three-length win in the 1 1/8-mile Via Borghese in December at Gulfstream Park, she successfully stretched out to 1 ½ miles in the Grade 3 La Prevoyante at Gulfstream in January, winning by the same margin. Always Shopping arrives off a close second place finish in the Grade 3 Orchid on March 28 at Gulfstream.

“She always breezed well on the dirt and when her progression sort of plateaued, we made the change to turf and it appears to have paid off,” said Pletcher's Belmont-based assistant Byron Hughes.

Rounding out the field is Godolphin's Antoinette, for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

The homebred daughter of Hard Spun made her 2021 debut a triumphant one when maintaining command the whole way around and drawing off to a 2 ¼ length win in the Grade 3 The Very One on February 27 at Gulfstream Park going 1 3/16 miles. Antoinette displayed similar frontrunning tactics when capturing the Saratoga Oaks Invitational on August 8 at the Spa, which she won by a half-length.

Through an 11-4-1-4 record, Antoinette boasts the field's highest bankroll with earnings of $608,750.

Like fellow Sheepshead Bay contender Magic Attitude, Antoinette also qualifies for both the “New York Turf Bonus” and the “Flower Bowl Bonus.”

Breaking from post 5, Antoinette will be piloted by Edgard Zayas.

The Sheepshead Bay is slated as Race 10 on Belmont's 11-race Saturday program, which also features the Grade 3, $200,000 Westchester at one mile over the main track and the Grade 2, $200,000 Fort Marcy for older horses going nine furlongs over the inner turf. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the spring/summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Micheline Scores First Graded Triumph In Hillsborough Stakes

Making her first starting since a second-place finish to Harvey's Lil Goil in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II at Keeneland last Oct. 10, Godolphin LLC's homebred Micheline recorded her first graded stakes victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Ridden for the first time by Luis Saez and trained by Michael Stidham, the 4-year-old filly by Bernardini out of the multiple G1 winning Include mare Panty Raid, was clocked in 1:47.19 for 1 1/8 miles on firm turf. She paid $11.20 for the victory.

Morning Molly finished second, with New York Girl third and La Signore and Miss Teheran dead-heating for fourth in the field of 10. Magic Attitude, the 3-1 favorite, breaking from the inside post, had some early traffic troubles, didn't get untracked until late and was never a factor.

Myhartblongstodady went to the front under Daniel Centeno, setting fractions of :24.23, :48.80 and 1:12.41 for the first six furlongs. Morning Molly raced in second, with Micheline, who broke from the outside post position, just behind the top pair and in the clear to the outside.

Approaching the stretch, Morning Molly turned up the heat on the front runner, but Saez and Micheline had them both measured, swinging to the outside and moving to the lead in the stretch. Passing the mile marker in 1:35.74, they cruised to the victory, Micheline's fifth in 13 starts.

“That was the spot I was trying to get, and we got lucky,” said Saez. “She broke good and we were right there. At the half-mile pole, when I started asking her, she started to pick it up, and when we got to the straight everything was about battling, and she did that pretty well. She gave me her kick and it was super. Watching her replays, I knew she could win this race, and it's great when everything comes together so well.”

Micheline broke her maiden in Monmouth Park's Sorority Stakes at 2 in 2019, adding a late December allowance victory at Tampa Bay Downs. As a 3-year-old she won Gulfstream's Honey Ryder and the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs.

“She is definitely a fighter,” Stidham's assistant, Ben Trask, said after the Hillsborough. “She is kind of a silly filly – she's a bad stall walker, so she lives in a little tent behind the barn. She is definitely a unique filly with a lot of talent. I was a little concerned with the outside post and whether she would overcome it. Luis put her in a great spot the whole time and when he called on her, she was there.”

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Delacour Hoping Magic Attitude Displays Her ‘Explosive Turn Of Foot’ In Hillsborough

Early last year, Tampa Bay Downs trainer Arnaud Delacour received rave reviews about Magic Attitude, a regally-bred filly who at the time was preparing to make her first 3-year-old start in the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux at Longchamp in Paris.

The daughter of renowned sire Galileo, out of Group 1-winning Margot Did, did not disappoint, notching her first stakes score by 2 lengths. Soon after, owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson purchased Magic Attitude privately on Delacour's recommendation, with the intention of sending her to the conditioner's stable in the United States to compete under their Lael Stables banner.

What transpired was indeed magical: a Grade 1 victory in her first North American start on Sept. 19 in the Belmont Oaks Invitational on the grass.

On Saturday, a freshened, more mature filly will try to launch an even better 4-year-old campaign in the Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes at a mile-and-an-eighth on the Oldsmar turf course at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Hillsborough is one of five stakes on Saturday's $1-million Festival Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South card, headed by the Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby for 3-year-old Triple Crown hopefuls.

Magic Attitude is one of two Lael Stables-owned and Delacour-trained fillies set to compete on Festival Day 41. The other, 3-year-old filly Be Sneaky, will make her turf debut in the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks at a mile-and-a-sixteenth.

Entries were taken and post positions drawn today for all five of Saturday's stakes races.

Delacour says Magic Attitude, who will be ridden for the first time by Julien Leparoux, is approaching the Hillsborough in top condition.

“She breezed a half-mile Tuesday (in 49 3/5 seconds), and I'm very happy how she came out of the work,” Delacour said. “We're excited about running her Saturday, but we still have to play it by ear because she is better on firmer turf (there is a possibility of rain Saturday).”

After racing twice against Group 1 competition under the Jackson colors in France while trained by Fabrice Chappet, with a second-place finish in the Prix Saint-Alary, Magic Attitude arrived in Delacour's barn in late July. The timing couldn't have been better: the Belmont Oaks Invitational, normally run in July, had been pushed back to Sept. 19 because of COVID-19, giving the conditioner time to sharpen Magic Attitude's edge.

After trailing early, the Great Britain-bred Magic Attitude took off in the stretch, sweeping to victory against her four rivals under Javier Castellano to earn the coveted Grade 1 victory – the third of Delacour's career, and his first for the Jacksons. Magic Attitude followed that up with a strong third-place performance in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes Presented by Dixiana, also for 3-year-old fillies, on Oct. 10 on good turf at Keeneland.

Magic Attitude received a well-deserved rest before Delacour returned her to training in mid-December at Classic Mile Park in Ocala, where she got in a couple of breezes on Classic Mile's turf before shipping to Tampa Bay Downs in mid-February.

Delacour can't be sure how Magic Attitude will respond to running against older horses for the first time, but he is optimistic.

“She needs to step up, but I think she'll be ready,” he said. “She has an explosive turn of foot and great acceleration for about a sixteenth of a mile, which you like to see from a turf filly.”

Florida Oaks entrant Be Sneaky is a homebred for the Jacksons, by top U.S. sire Into Mischief out of their turf stakes-winning mare Bella Castani. Yet to race on grass, Be Sneaky is 1-for-3, with a second-place finish here in the Suncoast Stakes on Feb. 6 in her most recent start.

Hector Diaz, Jr., will ride Be Sneaky.

“We've always had it in the back of our minds to run this filly on the turf, but at this stage, it's a guessing game,” Delacour said. “She was a little aggressive (in the Suncoast), and we hope she can settle better on the grass and track the speed rather than setting the pace.”

The 45-year-old Delacour was successful switching surfaces at Tampa Bay Downs last year with another Lael Stables homebred, (then)-5-year-old mare Jehozacat. After winning the Wayward Lass Stakes on dirt, she returned three weeks later to win the Grade 3 Lambholm South Endeavour on the grass.

Delacour is seeking his first triumphs in both the Hillsborough and Florida Oaks, but his record of achievement with Lael Stables horses is enviable. He has trained such homebred standouts for the Jacksons as Jehozacat and Grade 3 winners Divining Rod and No Dozing, as well as Grade 2 winner Hawksmoor, also the 2019 Lambholm South Endeavour winner; 2018 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint runner-up Chalon; and multiple-Grade 3 winner Ageless.

“I'm very privileged to train for the Jacksons because of the quality of their stock and their confidence in our training program,” said Delacour, who has been with the couple almost 10 years. “They are great ambassadors for our sport, and they have put together a wonderful team of people that works together for one common goal.

“They take a progressive, step-by-step approach and never rush their horses. It doesn't matter what kind of race you're shooting for – you're trying to get them fit enough to compete, move on and use the race as a stepping stone for the rest of the season.”

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