Waya Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

My Sister Nat Repeats As Winner Of Waya Stakes

My Sister Nat lived up to her status as the post time favorite, won her second straight edition of the Grade 3 Waya Stakes with a sweeping outside move on Sunday at Belmont Park.

The 6-year-old French-bred Acclamation mare placed mid-pack by jockey Jose Ortiz, breaking from the outside post, as Always Shopping took the early lead on the rail, followed closely by Call Me Love. Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. guided Always Shopping through an opening quarter in :25.63 seconds, and the pair stretched out their early lead through the first turn of the 1 3/8-mile race.

Always Shopping had gotten loose by 1 1/2 lengths after the opening half-mile in :52.01 seconds, while British-born Call Me Love and longshot Lovely Lucky trailed as the closest competition and My Sister Nat remained unhurried near the back of the pack. The lead trio continued to separate from the rest of the field throughout the back straightaway, and they entered the final turn through three-quarters in 1:17.52.

The top three remained unchanged through the bend, but Ortiz started calling upon My Sister Nat, who started gaining position on the outside, and was battling for second as the field turned for home. My Sister Nat drew even with Always Shopping under a vigorous hand ride, and blew past the pacesetter when Ortiz drew his crop. The mare drew clear, and crossed the line 2 1/2 lengths ahead of a late-moving Orglandes, who finished a neck ahead of Always Shopping for the runner-up spot.

My Sister Nat stopped the clock in 2:15.37 over a firm turf course, and she paid $3 to win as the post time favorite.

Sunday's race was My Sister Nat's first win since last year's Waya, which was held in August at Saratoga Race Course. She'd been on the cusp of graded success several times between wins, finishing third or better in five graded stakes races, including a runner-up effort in last year's G1 Flower Bowl Stakes.

The Waya improved My Sister Nat's record to four wins in 20 starts, and earnings of $825,672. Chad Brown trains the mare for owner Peter Brant. She was bred in France by Ecurie Des Monceaux.

View the full race chart here.

Stakes Quotes Courtesy of NYRA Press Office

Dan Stupp, assistant to Chad Brown, winning trainer of My Sister Nat (No. 7, $3.00*) and runner-up Orglandes (No. 7): “She's a very nice and very honest mare. She's had a very consistent career. She shows up every time with her run. Sometimes pace dynamics don't work out in her favor, and we get a little unlucky but Jose [Ortiz] always rides her well and she always shows up. It's nice to see her put in another strong effort.

“They were going a little slow early on, but she was also comfortable and had quite a bit of run, so she was able to overcome that pretty easily.”

On runner-up Orglandes: “She won out in California [Grade 3 Red Carpet at Del Mar] last year. She was one that we always had some high hopes for this year. We just got sidetracked with some minor stuff. It's nice to see her get back on track. We thought she would have a solid campaign and hopefully we can move forward off this race.”

Jose Ortiz, winning jockey aboard My Sister Nat (No. 7): “In this kind of race they usually go slow. It felt like they went 50 and 51 but I was following who I thought was the right horse [No. 6 Beautiful Lover] and around the three-eighths pole I put her in the clear and she gave me such a great feeling. She just was handling the course really well. She gave me a great kick from the three-eighths pole to the wire, and she kept running.

“It's big to have a win right before the Breeders' Cup. I don't know if we're going or not but we've been running against better horses. I think her last race [third in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational] was very good, we ran well and got beat by the right horse [War Like Goddess].”

Irad Ortiz, Jr., jockey aboard runner-up Orgalndes (No. 4): “I got squeezed a little bit out of the gate, so it cost me to get a better position, but that's racing.”

On improved effort from her previous two starts: “She likes the hard turf, that might have made the difference.”

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My Sister Nat To Defend Her Title In Sunday’s Fasig-Tipton Waya

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out defending champ My Sister Nat along with Orglandes in Sunday's Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya, an 11-furlong inner turf test for fillies and mares, at Belmont Park.

The Fasig-Tipton Waya, slated as Race 8, is part of a lucrative 10-race card that includes the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette [Race 9], a one-turn mile for 2-year-old fillies offering a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies; and the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim [Race 4], a 1 1/16-mile turf test for juveniles. First post on Sunday is 1 p.m. Eastern.

Brown will seek his fifth career Waya win and third straight following scores with Goldy Espony [2015], Guapaza [2016], Fools Gold [2019] and My Sister Nat, who captured the 2020 renewal traveling 12-furlongs on the inner turf last August at Saratoga to secure her first win in North America.

A Group 3 winner at Longchamp in her native France, the Peter Brant-owned 6-year-old Acclamation bay joined Brown in 2019 and made her first three starts against optional claiming company before finishing a late-closing second beaten a neck in the Grade 3 Long Island at Aqueduct.

Following her Waya score, My Sister Nat closed to finish second last year in both the Grade 2 Glens Falls at the Spa and the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont, finishing a head short of Civil Union.

My Sister Nat enters from a closing third in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl on September 4 at Saratoga where she encountered traffic trouble behind stablemate American Bridge while rallying from last-of-6 to finish 2 1/4-lengths back of War Like Goddess.

Brown said the talented bay, who has hit the board in 3-of-4 starts this year, is training well towards her title defense.

“I certainly love the way she's training and I don't think she got a good trip last time. I felt this filly could have been a lot closer at the finish,” Brown said. “She kind of ran into the other horse we ran [American Bridge], who was sort of in her way when she wanted to make her move on the inside and it really cost her a couple lengths of momentum. At least she could have been closer and made it a little bit more of a race at the end.”

Although My Sister Nat has yet to win on the Belmont turf [6-0-2-3], Brown said he expects a good showing.

“She really runs good here. She's had a couple unlucky trips,” Brown said. “She got beat a head in the Flower Bowl, arguably one of her best races. I love her on Belmont's course.”

Brown said a good effort Sunday could propel My Sister Nat to a start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Del Mar.

“If she can go over there and really put in a strong performance and her number comes back legitimate and it looks like she has a shot in there, I'd love to make her final start in the Breeders' Cup, if we can,” Brown said.

Bred in France by Ecurie de Monceaux, My Sister Nat is out of the Galileo mare Starlet's Sister, who produced 2018 Champion Turf Mare Sistercharlie as well as 2019 Group 1 French Derby winner Sottsass.

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael J. Caruso's Orglandes, a 5-year-old Le Havre bay, will make her third start of the campaign following sixth-place finishes in both the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay in May at Belmont and the Grade 2 Glens Falls in August at the Spa.

Last year, the French-bred mare won 2-of-3 starts, including a score in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap in November at Del Mar.

Brown said Orglandes has demonstrated a return to form recently in her morning training.

“Orglandes is a horse that really didn't come back into form this year. I've been disappointed with her,” Brown said. “She's come back this last month and is rounding back into form in her works after I thought maybe we had lost the year with her. I gave her a little breather and I really like the way she's turned it around in her works.”

Brown said a good effort Sunday could see Orglandes target the Grade 3, $400,000 Long Island, a 12-furlong turf test on November 27 at the Big A.

“She got to contend with a layoff now and going that far, but I'm just looking for a positive effort with her, something I can use to the end of the year to get me into the Long Island,” Brown said.

Jose Ortiz will pilot My Sister Nat from the outermost post 7, while Orglandes will emerge from post 4 under Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Christophe Clement will saddle a pair of formidable contenders in R Unicorn Stable's Call Me Love and Moyglare Stud Farm's Beautiful Lover.

Call Me Love, a 5-year-old chestnut daughter of Sea the Stars, won the Group 3 Premio Verziere Memorial Aldo Cirla at San Siro and the Group 2 Premio Lydia Tesio at Capannelle in 2019 in Italy.

Transferred to Clement for her 4-year-old season, Call Me Love hit the board in both the Grade 3 Beaugay at Belmont and the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga last year, before securing her first North American stakes triumph in the 12-furlong River Memories on July 11 at Belmont.

Call Me Love enters from a distant seventh in the Grade 3 Glens Falls.

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Beautiful Lover, a 5-year-old Arch bay, captured the 2019 Boiling Springs at 1 1/16-miles on the Monmouth turf in the care for former conditioner Chad Brown. Transferred to Clement for her current campaign, the multiple graded-stakes placed dark bay finished fifth in the Distaff Turf in March at Tampa Bay Downs ahead of a neck win last out over next-out winner Miss Teheran in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming event June 27 on the Belmont turf.

Out of the Quiet American mare American Skipper, Beautiful Lover is a half-sister to New York-bred graded-stakes winning millionaire Zivo.

Manny Franco will pilot Call Me Love from post 5, while Joel Rosario will guide Beautiful Lover from post 6.

Repole Stable homebred Always Shopping, a 5-year-old Awesome Again mare trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, is a graded-stakes winner on dirt and turf.

The versatile bay captured the nine-furlong Grade 2 Gazelle in 2019 on the Big A main track and added a victory in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Orchid in March on the Gulfstream Park turf.

Always Shopping will stretch out from a two-month layoff out of a fifth-place finish in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Matchmaker on July 17 at Monmouth Park.

“We shortened her up in distance where she's not at her best and we're bringing her back at a mile and three eighths. Hopefully, she can regain her best form,” Pletcher said.

Ricardo Santana, Jr. has the call from post 2.

Rounding out the field are Lovely Lucky [post 1, Dylan Davis] and Sister Otoole [post 3, Luis Saez].

The Waya is named in honor of Peter Brant and George Strawbridge Jr.'s champion turf mare, who was a four-time Grade 1 winner in the United States. Waya was a multiple stakes winner in her native France before moving to the United States, where she won six of her nine starts, including against males in the Grade 1 Man o' War in 1978, and was named Champion Older Mare the following year.

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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Mean Mary May Target Waya, Joe Hirsch At Belmont In October

Alex Campbell, Jr.'s Mean Mary is 2-for-2 competing in graded stakes races at Belmont Park and could look to extend that streak in the fall, with trainer Graham Motion saying the 5-year-old Scat Daddy mare is a possibility to return to the Elmont-based track.

After running second to winner Santa Barbara in the Grade 1 Beverly D. on August 14 at Arlington Park, Motion said Mean Mary is a possibility to compete in the $300,000 Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Waya for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 3/8 miles on the turf on October 3. But Motion also left open the possibility that she could face males in the $500,000 Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic held at 1 1/2 miles on October 9.

“She's good. I do plan to point her to the races at Belmont in October,” Motion said. “I would say both options are on the table.”

Mean Mary overcame challenging circumstances to finish as the Beverly D. runner-up, breaking through the gate and needing to be re-loaded. She still served as the pacesetter and finished strong enough to outkick Lemista by a neck.

“I definitely think it had an effect on her and her style. I thought she was courageous to run on and be second,” Motion said. “It's just disappointing because she didn't run her 'A' race.”

A closer effort to that A-grade race was her gate-to-wire triumph in the Grade 2 New York on the eve of Belmont Stakes Day June 4, when she held off next-out winner Thundering Nights by a nose to win the 1 1/4-mile contest and earn triple-digit speed figures for the third time in her career, garnering a 101 Beyer.

The win helped Mean Mary repeat in the prestigious stake, as she cruised to a 5 1/2-length score in the 2020 edition of the New York in her Belmont debut.

She followed with a thrilling second to Rushing Fall in the 2020 Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga, finishing a neck short in the elusive quest to give Motion his first win in the stakes, but still earned a personal-best 102 Beyer.

Starting her current campaign after ending 2020 with a seventh in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Keeneland, Mean Mary won the Grade 3 Gallorette in May at Pimlico in returning from a five-month freshening before going on to the New York and Beverly D.

While Mean Mary could be running in a stakes at a NYRA track, stablemates Ziyad and Invincible Gal will be skipping potential starts at Saratoga this upcoming week.

Wertheimer and Frere's Ziyad, who was targeting the $120,000 John's Call on Wednesday, will skip that start in favor of additional rest. His previous start was a sixth-place effort in the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup on June 4.

“Unfortunately, I can't make that race with him, which is disappointing,” Motion said. “I haven't been happy with him the last week or so; I didn't feel good about doing it. He also got sick, which was part of the problem. He needs more time.”

The British-bred Ziyad, who arrived from Europe last fall and transferred into Motion's care, capped his 2020 with consecutive third-place finishes in the Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland and the Grade 3 Red Smith at Aqueduct, respectively. The now 6-year-old Rock of Gibraltar gelding made his seasonal bow in a sixth-place Grade 1 Man o' War finish in May at Belmont before the Belmont Gold Cup.

Invincible Gal, who was possible for the $120,000 Riskaverse on Thursday at Saratoga, will likely target another race closer to where she is training at Motion's base in Fair Hill, Maryland, her conditioner said.

“She probably won't go there,” Motion said. “She's doing fine, but I just think there are probably other spots for her without going back up there.”

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41 Years After His Waya Was Champion Mare, Brant Wins Race Named In Her Honor With My Sister Nan

Peter Brant's My Sister Nat notched her first North American victory in a graded stakes race named after her owner's 1979 Champion Older Mare when taking the 21st running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Waya going 1 1/2 miles over the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trained by Chad Brown, My Sister Nat was placed in three of her five starts since moving to the United States and arrived at the Waya off a runner-up finish to Mean Mary in the Grade 2 New York on June 27 at Belmont Park.

“It's definitely special,” Brown said of winning the Waya for Brant. “It's a race we've been targeting since he got back in the game. She just went into the Hall of Fame last year, the great Waya. That was really great to win this.”

My Sister Nat broke a touch slow out of the gate under jockey Jose Ortiz, and settled last of the six runners along the rail as stablemate and last year's Waya victor Fools Gold took the field into the first turn through an opening quarter-mile is 25.46 seconds.

As the tightly packed field made their way into the clubhouse turn through a half-mile in 50.72, Fools Gold maintained her one-length advantage while My Sister Nat moved up into fifth and remained on even terms with Olympic Games down the backstretch.

Ortiz angled My Sister Nat out two paths heading into the far turn and gave his mare her cue approaching the quarter-pole as Fools Gold continued to command the pace. My Sister Nat found herself on even terms with favorite Mrs. Sippy who launched her bid to her inside. Just outside the sixteenth-pole, My Sister Nat put a head in front and prevailed by a neck over Mrs. Sippy in a final time of 2:30.26 over a firm turf. Fools Gold finished another 1 1/4 lengths back in third.

Beau Belle, Olympic Games and Quiet Dignity completed the order of finish. Main track only entrant Another Broad was scratched.

“We saved ground in the first two turns and in the third turn I started looking for a place to go,” said Ortiz. “Chad always tells me in three-turn races to save ground in two and in the third do whatever you want. I started working my way out and I'm glad it worked out.”

The win was a fourth Waya victory for Brown, who saddled Goldy Espony (2015), Guapaza (2016) and Fools Gold (2019) to previous triumphs.

“In these types of races, there's not a lot of pace. I thought Jose came to the paddock with a really good plan,” said Brown. “He said he was going to try and stay closer and he was able to find the one during the race to follow which I thought was smart. We didn't change her style, but we stayed with the pack this time and didn't let her fall too far back. Jose deserves a lot of credit for that.”

Returning $6.90 for a $2 win bet, My Sister Nat earned $82,500 in victory while enhancing her lifetime earnings to $341,672.

A Group 3 winner at Longchamp in her native France, My Sister Nat made her first three starts against optional claiming company before running in the Grade 3 Long Island on November 30 at Aqueduct where she was a late-closing second beaten a neck.

“I have to thank Peter for keeping her in training,” Brown said. “She's a half to Sistercharlie and it would have been easy to retire her. We found that last year it took all the way to the end of the year for her to really acclimate. We got her in a three-turn race at the end of the year in the Long Island at Aqueduct and she should have won but she got in a lot of trouble. In only her second three-turn race, we saw what she can do, and we're going to try and keep her in races like this.”

Bred in France by Ecurie de Monceaux, My Sister Nat is a bay mare by Acclamation out of Starlet's Sister, who produced 2018 Champion Turf Mare Sistercharlie as well as last year's Group 1 French Derby winner Sottsass.

Live racing returns on Sunday with a 10-race card which features the $85,000 Alydar for 4-year-olds and upward going 1 1/8 miles over the main track. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

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