Bella Sofia Starts Anew in Vagrancy

Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot), last year's dominant GI Longines Test S. victress, will make her 4-year-old debut as the 123-pound highweight and probable odds-on favorite in Saturday's five-horse GIII Vagrancy H. at Belmont.

Opening her account with an eye-popping 11 1/4-length rout going six furlongs over this track last May, the $20,000 OBS June bargain buy was second in the Jersey Girl S. a month later before cruising to a 6 1/2-length allowance victory here July 11. Pressing the pace in the Test Aug. 7 at Saratoga, the dark bay ran away to a dazzling 4 1/4-length score and followed that up with another easy, open-length triumph in the track-and-trip GII Gallant Bloom H. She couldn't quite carry that momentum into the Breeders' Cup, retreating to fourth in the GI Filly & Mare Sprint, but returns with a trio of bullet works over this track for trainer Rudy Rodriguez and drew advantageously in the outermost stall.

“We're just trying to get her back and see if she is the same filly as last year,” Rodriguez told the NYRA notes team. “We thought the key was to get her started back here at Belmont. She's been training very good. She looks bigger and stronger, so we just hope she's at least the same as–and hopefully a little better than–last year.”

Miss Brazil (Palace Malice) looks to spring the upset in her second start as a 4-year-old. A facile winner of the Ruthless S. last February at Aqueduct, the $170,000 Keeneland September purchase added stakes placings in the Busher Invitational S. and Jersey Girl before closing her sophomore campaign with a disappointing fifth in the GIII Victory Ride S. The Tony Dutrow pupil returned off a nine-plus month layoff with an allowance/optional claiming success Apr. 22 at Aqueduct.

Rounding out the field are six-time stakes winner Frank's Rockette (Into Mischief), last-out GIII Distaff H. runner-up Kept Waiting (Broken Vow) and longshot Assertive Style (Nyquist), who was claimed by Flying P Stable and Tom Morley for $80,000 out of a runner-up finish sprinting on the Fair Grounds turf Mar. 25.

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‘Real Sense Of Pride’: Victim Of Love Rebounded From Colic Surgery To Win Vagrancy

Tommy Town Thoroughbreds' Victim of Love edged clear to a 2 1/4-length score in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares at Belmont Park.

Trainer Todd Beattie said it was an emotional victory after nearly losing the mare to colic following her third-place effort last summer in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga.

“I actually was a tick choked up in the interview yesterday after the race,” said Beattie. “She puts such an effort out and when she came back she was breathing hard. She just gives it to you and so many horses don't always give that effort, but she's not that way. Although that was fairly easy for her, she put in a big effort.

“She coliced last year at Saratoga after she was third in the Grade 1,” continued Beattie. “I had to go to surgery with her at Rood and Riddle and we had to nurture her back. When you nurture one back and they get all the way back there to where they left off the year before, that gives you a real sense of pride.”

The 5-year-old Speightstown mare, piloted by Joel Rosario, successfully defended her title in the 71st running of the prestigious sprint by stalking the early speed of Sadie Lady before taking command at the stretch call.

“Joel gave her a hell of a ride. You couldn't draw it up any better than that,” said Beattie. “She has tactical speed and he knew with the slow pace to go ahead and move a little earlier than you normally would. She put a good effort in.”

Victim of Love won last year's renewal off a three-month layoff and entered Saturday's title defense from a nine-week respite, garnering an 88 Beyer.

“She was fresh and the filly had really been doing good,” said Beattie. “She's been on an upswing and the time away from the game freshened her up a little bit. I had hoped to have a prep, but a race at Maryland three weeks out didn't go.”

A native of Antigo, Wisconsin, hometown of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas and the late horseman Clyde Rice, Beattie said he prefers to live in a small town and train from his private facility at Penn National.

“We have 50 stalls, a couple Equicizers and seven paddocks,” said Beattie. “I grew up in northern Wisconsin in the same town as Wayne Lukas and Clyde Rice and we raced bush races in Wisconsin. As soon as I graduated and could get paid to do this, I came out here and went to work for Clyde.”

Beattie is arguably best known for campaigning the multiple graded stakes winner Fabulous Strike, who won five graded events for the conditioner on the NYRA circuit, including the 2007 Grade 1 Vosburgh.

The veteran conditioner said as much as he enjoys and respects winning big races in New York, he looks forward to heading home.

“When I cross that Hudson, I have a lot of respect for those guys there,” said Beattie. “You have to come with a runner. We make darn sure we're coming with something that can run some.

“I'm 100 percent country boy,” added Beattie. “I don't do real well in the city. I appreciate the fact that I ship in and then see it in the rearview mirror and I get to go home at night to my little farm in the mountains.”

Beattie said Victim of Love's win was well received by the local racing community.

“Penn National is a real big draw in the countryside. Everyone follows her closely,” said Beattie. “My phone blew up with everyone calling and congratulating me. They all feel part of it.”

Beattie's wife, Amanda, is a key member of the team and gallops many of their horses, including Victim of Love. He said he values his wife's honest assessment of their stock.

“She's a real accomplished rider and rides this filly a lot. Last year at Saratoga she did all the riding there and is a good road team person,” said Beattie. “My wife might say things that some people wouldn't say. She's an accomplished rider and it comes with a lot of wisdom. Every day you get up and work on the horses, you learn something new.

“We were both thinking she was going to lay a good one down,” he added. “We were concerned about the time off, but we felt she was going to lay it down. She's doing really good this morning, too. She ate all of her feed and looks good. I'm really happy with her.”

The accomplished Beattie owns a career record of 1,739 career wins from 8,156 starts for purse earnings of more than $27 million, but he said he prefers to keep his operation small.

“I'm a horse lover and I like working around the horses,” said Beattie. “I had times where I had a lot of horses and really didn't like it. I had 100 horses at one time and I didn't like it at all. I ended up being a business manager rather than a horse trainer. I like to train horses. I ride every day myself and I like to work among the horses. That's how I was raised.”

Boasting a record of 18-6-3-3 with purse earnings of $408,199, Victim of Love has demonstrated remarkable consistency in the female sprinter division. The well-bred 5-year-old is out of the graded-stakes winning Awesome Again mare Spacy Tracy and is a full-sister to graded stakes winner Benner Island and multiple stakes-winner High North.

“I'm sure she'll be going into their broodmare band when the time comes. They're looking for horses like her,” said Beattie.

Beattie, true to his horseman roots, said he is not quite ready to commit to a potential next start in the Grade 3, $300,000 Bed O' Roses on June 4 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

“I'd rather have her tell me how she's doing and then come up with a plan for her,” said Beattie. “They all go a little better if you're really aiming for a spot rather than having the horse to tell you that you'd better pick a spot. We'll wait for her to tell the coach to look for a spot.”

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Come Dancing Back On Home Court For Vagrancy

Come Dancing (Malibu Moon), a five-time stakes winner in New York, returns to the Empire State after making her last two starts elsewhere as the likely favorite in the GIII Vagrancy H. in Belmont. Winner of the GIII Distaff H. and GII Ruffian S. last spring, the dark bay checked in second to champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) in this venue’s GII Ogden Phipps S. last June. Returning to winning ways with a dominant score in the GI Ballerina S. at Saratoga in August, she followed suit with a decisive score in the GII Gallant Bloom H. at Belmont a month later and finished off 2019 with a sixth in the GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint S. Nov. 2. Come Dancing made her last start under the name of Hall of Fame legend D. Wayne Lukas, fading to last in the GI Apple Blossom H. at Oaklawn Apr. 18, but has since returned home to the barn of Carlos Martin. Come Dancing enters off a pair of bullet works in Elmont, most recently breezing five panels in :57 4/5 June 15.

“We wanted to just keep her fresh,” Martin said. “It didn’t look like she was out of a canter. She was just so smooth. It’s just one of those things where the track is extremely fast and she came out of it great.”

A close runner-up in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint, Chalon (Dialed In) was second in both the GIII Bed O’Roses S. and GII Honorable Miss H. last term, but returned to winning ways in the Roamin Rachel S. at Parx Sept. 2. She was fourth when last seen in Keeneland’s GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. Oct. 5.

Dual graded winner Royal Charlotte (Cairo Prince) looks to return to the winner’s circle in this spot. Capturing the GII Prioress S. at Saratoga Aug. 1, the gray was off the board in the GII Raven Run S. at Keeneland Oct. 19 and was subsequently shelved for the season. She finished second as the favorite in her seasonal bow in the mud in Belmont’s Harmony Lodge S. June 5.

Also exiting the Harmony Lodge is the Bob Baffert-trained Mother Mother (Pioneerof the Nile), who finished fourth in that test and stuck around town for this one. Third in the GI La Brea S. Dec. 28 at Santa Anita, she won the Kalookan Queen S. there next out Jan. 12 and was second to La Brea winner Hard Not to Love (Hard Spun) in the GII Santa Monica S. Feb. 15. Mother Mother was fourth, but promoted to third in the GIII Desert Stormer S. in Arcadia May 17 prior to her last out effort here.

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Talented Sprinter Come Dancing On Her Toes Ahead Of Saturday’s Vagrancy

Blue Devil Racing Stable's Grade 1-winner Come Dancing headlines Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Vagrancy, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Belmont Park.

The Vagrancy is one of four graded stakes on a loaded 11-race card, highlighted by the Grade 1, $250,000 Just a Game for fillies and mares going one mile on the Widener turf and also featuring the Grade 2, $150,000 True North, for 4-year-olds and up going 6 ½ furlongs; and the Grade 2, $250,000 New York at 1 ¼ miles on Belmont Park's inner turf.

Trained by Carlos Martin, the 6-year-old Malibu Moon mare will look to rebound after a rare off-the-board performance last out in an ambitious spot going two turns in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 18 at Oaklawn Park.

Come Dancing now returns to sprinting, where she excelled in 2019, highlighted by a dramatic come-from-behind win in the Grade 1 Ballerina in August at Saratoga Race Course. At the Spa, she was left at the break but rallied under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, posting a 3 ½-length score in the seven-furlong sprint.

That was part of a stellar season for the millionaire Come Dancing, who won 4-of-6 starts in 2019 for Martin, including Grade 2 wins in the Ruffian and Gallant Bloom, both at Belmont Park; and the Grade 3 Distaff at Aqueduct.

Come Dancing was prepared for her Apple Blossom effort by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, after which Martin said the talented dark bay was given some time to recuperate before returning to Belmont Park in May.

Castellano, who also rode Come Dancing to victory in the 6 1/2-furlong Gallant Bloom last September at Belmont Park in an off-the-board finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in November at Santa Anita Park, gets the call on Come Dancing again on Saturday, breaking from post 5.

“Javier is one of top jockeys in the world and brings in a lot of experience, that's for sure,” Martin said. “There are certain riders like Javier who are just winners. There are great riders all over the country, but in New York, we have the best in the world.”

Come Dancing enters Saturday with a month of solid work, fortified by two recent bullet workouts on the main track at Belmont: on June 15, going five furlongs in 57.94 seconds and on June 8, going a half-mile in 47 flat.

“We wanted to just keep her fresh,” Martin said. “It didn't look like she was out of a canter. She was just so smooth. It's just one of those things where the track is extremely fast and she came out of it great.”

Lael Stables' 6-year-old Chalon, a winner of seven of 18 career starts, will make her 2020 debut. In her last start, going six furlongs in October at Keeneland, the Dialed In mare finished off the board. Trained by Arnaud Delacour, she will leave from post 3 with Jose Ortiz aboard.

Also looking for redemption is Gainesway Stable's Mother Mother, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who last out on June 5 at Belmont Park finished a disappointing fourth in a 6 ½ furlong sprint. One of the youngsters in the field, the 4-year-old has three victories in 13 career starts. The Pioneer of the Nile filly will be ridden by Joel Rosario from post 2.

Looking for redemption in the Vagrancy will be First Row Partners and Parkland Thoroughbreds' Royal Charlotte, who finished three-quarters of a length back to Honey I'm Good in a runner-up effort in the six-furlong Harmony Lodge on June 5 at Belmont Park in her seasonal bow.

“I wish I had a little more time,” said trainer Chad Brown. “I felt she could've won if she would've gone more to the outside on that wet track. It was a good prep for her.”

Royal Charlotte has five wins in eight career starts, including four consecutively in 2019 when she dominated races from 6-to-6 ½ furlongs, capped last July 4 by a convincing four-length win in the 6 ½-furlong Grade Victory Ride on the July 5 Stars and Stripes Day card at Belmont.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will be aboard Royal Charlotte Saturday, drawing the inside post.

Rounding out the seven-horse field are Jakarta [post 4; Luis Saez], Victim of Love [post 6; Jose Lezcano] and Pacific Gale [post 7; Junior Alvarado].

The Vagrancy is named for the bay mare out of Valkyr by Man o' War, who in 1942 was Champion 3-Year-Old Filly and also the Champion Handicap Mare. Bred and owned by Belair Stud and trained for most of her career by the legendary “Sunny” Jim Fitzsimmons, Vagrancy enjoyed a season for the ages in 1942, winning nine stakes races that included the Coaching Club American Oaks, the Pimlico Oaks, the Delaware Oaks, the Alabama, Gazelle and Test against other 3-year-olds, and the Beldame Handicap and Ladies Handicap against older fillies and mares. Vagrancy raced 42 times in her career, hitting the board in 31 of her starts.

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