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More Than Ready’s Pleasant Passage Goes Gate-to-Wire in Miss Grillo

Front-running Pleasant Passage dug in resolutely Saturday to honor her recently deceased sire and stamp her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Up in time to belie longer than 15-1 odds on debut at Saratoga Aug. 21, she employed opposite tactics here under new pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr., taking her five rivals along through fractions of :23.81, :49.77 and 1:14.98 over the yielding going. Free Look took a run at her to try and secure a ninth Miss Grillo trophy for Chad Brown, but Pleasant Passage stiff-armed that rival to the wire as favored P.G. Johnson S. winner Be Your Best was left with too much to do after a poor start.

“The way the track is playing, and I knew there wasn't much speed in the race,” said Ortiz, fresh off a victory in the GI Woodward S. one race earlier with Life Is Good (Into Mischief). “The assistant trainer [Anthony Hamilton] told me, 'She's going to be forwardly placed because that's how she's been training.' So I tried to warm her up good… There wasn't too much speed in the race and I knew if I could be in front that would be good for me. It worked out well because I made the lead easily. On the backside, she was nice and relaxed. When I asked her to go, she responded and she was there for me.”

This was the first-ever Miss Grillo win for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who said, “She ran well in her first start from a little off the pace coming up the rail. She was very professional. Today, there wasn't any speed in the race and she had trained sharp off her last race. Irad let her do her thing when she broke and he rode a good race on her.”

Saturday, Belmont at the Big A
MISS GRILLO S.-GII, $200,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-1, 2yo, f,
1 1/16mT, 1:45.25, yl.
1–PLEASANT PASSAGE, 120, f, 2, by More Than Ready
                1st Dam: Peaceful Passage, by War Front
                2nd Dam: Flying Passage, by A.P. Indy
                3rd Dam: Chic Shirine, by Mr. Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Emory
Hamilton (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.
$110,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $167,750. Werk Nick
Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Free Look, 120, f, 2, Tapit–Wild Mint, by Medaglia d'Oro.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($300,000 Ylg '21
KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-KatieRich Farms (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown. $40,000.
3–Be Your Best (Ire), 122, f, 2, Muhaarar (GB)–Kamakura, by
Medaglia d'Oro. 'TDN Rising Star' 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
O-Michael J. Ryan; B-St. Croix Bloodstock (IRE); T-Horacio De
Paz. $24,000.
Margins: 3/4, 2, 3/4. Odds: 9.60, 1.65, 1.20.
Also Ran: Alluring Angel (GB), Im Just Kiddin, Georgees Spirit.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs.

Pedigree Notes:

Pleasant Passage is the 53rd graded winner and 130th stakes winner in the Northern Hemisphere for her prolific sire, who has sired two prior winners of the Juvenile Fillies Turf. She is the four graded winner and 16th stakes winner of what are sure to be many more for broodmare sire War Front.

The winner hails from the super deep female family developed by Emory Hamilton and her family's King Ranch. Her dam is a half to MGSW/MGISP Hungry Island (More Than Ready), and further down the page is another standout by More Than Ready in the form of MGISW Verrazano. Other highest-level winners from the family include this year's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup hero Olympiad (Speightstown); Preservationist (Arch), who has first yearlings; third dam Chic Shirine (Mr. Prospector) and her champion sister Queena, Serra Lake (Seattle Slew), Somali Lemonade (Lemon Drop Kid), et al.

Pleasant Passage's yearling half-brother by Kitten's Joy was purchased by Legion Bloodstock on behalf of Hoolie Racing for $150,000 at the recently concluded Keeneland September sale. Peaceful Passage, whose one career win from six tries came going 1 1/2 miles on the Kempton all-weather, was bred to Mendelssohn for 2023.

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Sail By Upsets Miss Grillo With Stalking Trip

Sail By and Junior Alvarado bided their time in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 2, stalking an early pacesetter to score the filly's first graded stakes victory. Sail By gave chase to Charlee O out of the gate, with the pair opening several lengths on the rest of the field before Sail By settled back behind her rival. Charlee O proved a stubborn foe, maintaining her early lead through the final turn of the 1 1/16 miles and digging in when Sail By came up to challenge. Sail By dug in and passed to the outside of Charlee O with a furlong to go and held off late kicks from Kinchen (IRE) and McKulick (GB), who finished second and third.

McKulick was the favorite at 2-5.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.21. Fractional times were :23.59, :49.40, and 1:14.46.

Leah Gyarmati trains Sail By for owner/breeder Jeff Treadway. The filly came to the race off a third-place finish and front-running effort in the P.G. Johnson Stakes on Sept. 2 and a second in the Colleen Stakes before that.

Sail By is by Astern (AUS) and out of the Johar mare Fly By. She was bred in Kentucky.

Sail By paid $23.60, $8.70, and $3.00.

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Brown Duo Of McKulick, Kinchen Top Miss Grillo

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle a formidable duo in McKulick and Kinchen for Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for juvenile fillies, at Belmont Park.

A pair of Grade 1, $500,000 stakes highlight Saturday's card at Belmont with the Woodward for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn 1 1/8 miles on Big Sandy; and the Champagne for 2-year-olds running one mile in a prestigious race, affording a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile to the winner. The lucrative card is bolstered by the Miss Grillo along with the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the grass.

Brown, who recently secured his 100th graded stakes win at Belmont Park, is vying for his ninth Miss Grillo score following past success with Maram [2008], Watsdachances [2012], Testa Rossi [2013], Lady Eli [2014], New Money Honey [2016], Significant Form [2017], Newspaperofrecord [2018], and Selflessly [2019].

Klaravich Stables' McKulick and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Kinchen worked five-eighths in company Sunday over the Belmont inner turf in 1:02.09.

“We're very pleased with her,” Brown said regarding McKulick. “It was a very good work.”

The filly is named for the late Mary McKulick, a longtime office manager and bookkeeper for Brown and the first person the trainer hired when he launched his operation in 2007.

McKulick, by Frankel and out of the Makfi mare Astrelle, graduated on debut in a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden on August 8 at Saratoga with Irad Ortiz, Jr. up. The victory garnered a field-best 73 Beyer Speed Figure.

Kinchen, by Lope de Vega and out of the Galileo mare Miss Nouriya, rallied to finish second in her August 29 debut at 1 1/16 miles on the Saratoga inner turf under Tyler Gaffalione.

Exiting post 3 in her maiden voyage, Kinchen was off slow and took up an inside position. Gaffalione angled the filly three-wide into the stretch run before dropping back inside and then shifted outside again to split rivals inside the final sixteenth, missing by three-quarters of a length to Miss Grillo rival Hail To.

“I felt if she could have got out to the clear, she probably would have won. The break dictated to settle – which most of my horses will do – and she kicked on nicely,” Brown said. “She just found herself with some traffic inside and she probably would have been a little braver if we could have got her clear, but that happens in maiden races. We'll turn the page and hopefully she gets a better trip in this.”

Kinchen is named in honor of the late Ralph Kinchen, father of America's Day at the Races analyst Jonathon Kinchen.

Ortiz, Jr. will pilot McKulick from the outermost post 6, while Gaffalione has the call aboard Kinchen from post 4.

Woodslane Farm's Hail To, a full sister to multiple Grade 1-winner Sadler's Joy, lit up the tote board when breaking her maiden at second asking at 20-1 odds for trainer Tom Albertrani. The Kitten's Joy chestnut, out of the Dynaformer mare Dynaire, settled in fifth position under Ricardo Santana, Jr. before rallying six-wide down the lane to best Kinchen.

Hail To has breezed four times since her maiden score, including a half-mile work in 50.03 on Big Sandy on Tuesday. Santana, Jr. retains the mount from post 3.

Tracy Farmer's Philly Eagles was a half-length victor in a maiden weight-for-age contest going seven furlongs on June 26 at Doncaster with Alice Haynes as her conditioner.

The daughter of Havana, now in the care of Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, was slated to make her North American debut in the P.G. Johnson on September 2 at Saratoga but scratched when the race came off the turf.

The Irish-bred bay breezed five-eighths in 1:01.75 on September 19 over the Belmont inner turf in preparation for her belated debut. Dylan Davis has the call from post 5.

Treadway Racing Stable's multiple stakes placed Sail By graduated in June at first asking in a six-furlong maiden special weight on the Belmont turf. The Astern bay, bred in Kentucky by Jeff Treadway, followed with a runner-up effort in the five-furlong Colleen on August 1 at Monmouth Park. She enters from a pace-setting third in the P.G. Johnson, contested at seven furlongs on a fast main track.

Junior Alvarado retains the mount from the inside post.

Rounding out the field is Judy Hicks' homebred Charlee O, a maiden winner at first asking sprinting six furlongs over the Belmont turf on July 11. The Tourist bay followed with a sixth in the 5 1/2-furlong Bolton Landing, contested over yielding Saratoga turf on August 18.

Manny Franco has the call from post 2.

The Miss Grillo is slated as Race 4 on Saturday's 11-race card. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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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Maxfield Has Final Woodward Prep For Walsh; Pletcher Breezes Several Stakes Contenders

A number of star equines breezed Saturday morning at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., in preparation for next weekend's lucrative card that will feature seven graded races worth $2.3 million in purse money.

A pair of Grade 1s highlight the Saturday, Oct. 2, card with the $500,000 Woodward for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn 1 1/8 miles on Big Sandy; and the $500,000 Champagne for 2-year-olds running one mile in a prestigious race, affording a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile to the winner. The Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo will see juvenile fillies running 1 1/16 miles on turf that day, along with the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the grass.

Sunday, Oct. 3, will continue the high-level action, with the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at one mile on the main track with a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies up for grabs. The day will also include the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles on the turf and the Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya at 1 3/8 miles in a turf route for fillies and mares 3-and-up.

Godolphin's Maxfield registered his final breeze for the Woodward on Saturday, covering a half-mile in 48.55 seconds on the main track.

Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s, the five-time graded stakes-winning millionaire completed his half-mile move at 8:45 a.m. marking the quarter-mile in 24.71 and galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.10 and up six furlongs in 1:14.81 under Jose Ortiz, who has piloted Maxfield to five of his seven lifetime victories.

“It was a very good work,” said Maxfield trainer Brendan Walsh. “We just wanted to give him a feel for the track. He did all of his serious work in Saratoga. It was just a routine half-mile. He galloped out really well. We're all set for the Woodward.”

Maxfield, a dark bay 4-year-old son of Street Sense, enters the Woodward off a runner-up effort to Knicks Go in the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 7, at Saratoga. Maxfield arrived at the Whitney from wins in the Alysheba on April 30 and the Stephen Foster on June 26, both Grade 2 events at Churchill Downs.

Maxfield will be targeting his first Grade 1 victory since winning the Breeders' Futurity in October 2019 at Keeneland.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher also worked a slew of horses in pursuit of graded stakes action next weekend.

Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable and Gainesway Stable's Wit, second in the Grade 1 Hopeful last out on September 6 at Saratoga, and Robert and Lawana Low's decisive maiden winner My Prankster worked in company at 7:45 a.m. over the Belmont training track in preparation for the Champagne.

Wit and My Prankster breezed through splits of 25.25 and 37.25, before completing their five-furlong breeze in 1:01.84.

“It was a good solid work for them both,” said Pletcher, who eyes his seventh Champagne conquest. “They're pointing for the same race, so I thought it made sense to work them together. They make good workmates, they were head-and-head throughout.

“My Prankster was very impressive in his maiden win,” Pletcher added. “His gate work I thought was impressive before he first ran, he's not a horse that is an overzealous work horse. If you hadn't seen that gate work, you might not have expected the debut he had, but he's a pretty laid back colt. It's always a big stretch to go from a one start maiden to a Grade 1 stake, but we've had some success doing that.”

Pletcher worked three-time Grade 1-winner Malathaat at 9:30 a.m. on the Belmont training track in company with graded stakes-winner and fellow Curlin daughter Spice Is Nice, who completed their four-furlong works in 49.46.

Shadwell Stables' Malathaat is scheduled to train up to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff and was a last out winner of the Grade 1 Alabama on August 21 at Saratoga. Earlier this year, she won the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland en route to a victory in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.

Robert and Lawana Low's Spice Is Nice, a winner of the Grade 3 Allaire DuPont Distaff in May at Pimlico, will target the Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame on October 10.

“Everything has gone according to plan with Malathaat,” Pletcher said. “This was her second half-mile breeze since the Alabama and we'll go five eighths next week and start to pick things up a bit. There's quite a bit of time in between races, so hopefully we'll have her ready.”

Pletcher also worked Spendthrift Farm's Following Sea, a dual Grade 1-placed sophomore son of Runhappy, who will face elders next out in the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh on October 9 at Belmont – a “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Following Sea went a half-mile in 49.23 over the Belmont training track. He finished a distant third to Jackie's Warrior and stable mate Life Is Good last out in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 28 at Saratoga. In his only start over Big Sandy, Following Sea bested winners going 6 ½ furlongs on June 3.

“He went well,” Pletcher said. “He seemed to run really well in his allowance win here at Belmont, so that's part of the reason why we chose the Vosburgh.”

Pletcher said Robert and Lawana Low's Classy Edition emerged from her Joseph A. Gimma triumph on Friday in good order. While the daughter of Classic Empire is likely for the $250,000 Maid of the Mist against fellow New York-breds on October 30, Pletcher did not rule out a start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“She's been very impressive in both starts, so I think we have to consider open company,” Pletcher said. “The Maid of the Mist comes [one week] before the Breeders' Cup so we'll target that race. But if she's doing so well that we can't resist, we'll talk about it.”

Pletcher also stated that Classy Edition could target the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle on December 4 at Aqueduct.

Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister's promising Champagne aspirant Jack Christopher, trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, breezed five-eighths in company with sophomore maiden winner Pipeline in 1:00 flat Saturday on the main track.

Jack Christopher, a Munnings chestnut who was purchased for $135,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, registered a 92 Beyer for a his 8 3/4-length debut score in a six-furlong maiden special weight on August 28 at Saratoga.

John Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock Services' Pipeline, by Speightstown and out of the Empire Maker mare Vivo Per Lei, graduated at fourth asking in a seven-furlong maiden tilt on September 4 at Saratoga. The bay colt's 3 1/4-length score matched a career-best 97 Beyer.

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.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the fall 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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