Come Dancing the Belle of the Ball in Gallant Bloom

There will be plenty of room on the dance floor Sept. 22 when a graceful equine named Come Dancing will continue her cha-cha toward an Eclipse Award in the $300,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap (G2) for fillies and mares at Belmont Park.

Only four rivals turned out to face the 5-year-old sprinter in the 6 1/2-furlong race, which is somewhat understandable since she has won three of her four 2019 starts, with the lone loss coming in the 1 1/16-mile Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) at the hands of the leading older female on dirt, Midnight Bisou.

"She's been something special since day one," trainer Carlos Martin said. 

Except for Come Dancing's one race beyond a mile, 2019 has been a waltz for the daughter of Malibu Moon  bred by owner Marc Holliday of Blue Devil Racing Stable. Her trio of victories, each at seven furlongs or a mile, saw her whirl and twirl to the winner's circle by a combined 18 lengths. It's a body of work that has established her as one of the favorites to win the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) and raised the notion of her taking a final bow as an Eclipse Award winner before she leaves the stage to begin a career as a broodmare next year.

"There were a lot of little setbacks along the way, and it's bittersweet that she's coming into her own now," Martin said. "She would probably come back stronger at 6, but she's done enough. If she can go into the sunset and win an Eclipse Award, I'll know we've done a great job with her."

Martin has surely choreographed a brilliant campaign for the Kentucky-bred. In her 2019 debut, she notched her first graded stakes win, romping by 7 3/4 lengths in the seven-furlong Distaff Handicap (G3). An equally facile 6 3/4-length victory in the one-mile Ruffian Stakes (G2) followed before she went off as the 4-5 favorite in the Ogden Phipps but could not fend off Midnight Bisou in the stretch and wound up 3 1/2 lengths back in second.

Given about 2 1/2 months off after that, she returned with the most visually impressive performance of her 12-race career as she overcame trouble at the start and still managed to motor to a 3 1/2-length triumph in the seven-furlong Kettle One Ballerina Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course and become a grade 1 winner.

"She did everything like a champion," Martin said about the Ballerina.

Mindful of how well the daughter of the Tiznow mare Tizahit performed in the Ballerina after 11 weeks of rest, Martin toyed with the idea of training her up to the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita Park Nov. 2. Yet her recent works convinced him to give her a farewell race at her home base of Belmont Park and provide her with another opportunity to pad her record in advance of the World Championships before she is bred to Quality Road  in 2020.

"After the Ballerina, I thought we'd stay with the program where we give her some time off until the Breeders' Cup and get her in there fresh. But she was doing so well, and knowing it will be her last start at Belmont Park, I changed my tune. I thought it would be best to run and still give her (six weeks) to the Breeders' Cup. That might make it the perfect prep for the Breeders' Cup," Martin said. "She's only run four times this year, so she's relatively fresh. I've been very cautious watching her training, and the signs are good. I'm 90% sure she'll run because I don't see much downside to running. If we win the Gallant Bloom, even if we lose at the Breeders' Cup, there's a chance she could still be the champion of the division."

With seven wins in 12 starts, Come Dancing has earned $881,700 for her connections. 

She will carry the high weight of 125 pounds and break from post 3 under Javier Castellano.

The main threat figures to be Brittlyn Stable's homebred Minit to Stardom, who is coming off a frontrunning 1 1/2-length victory in the Honorable Miss Handicap (G2) July 24 at Saratoga. 

A 4-year-old Louisiana-bred daughter of Star Guitar , she has won her past three starts and owns a career mark of six wins and three seconds in 10 starts. Her only sub-par performance came in the 2018 Longines Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga when she finished sixth at 7-2 odds.

Minit to Stardom was assigned 120 pounds and has post 5 with jockey Alex Cintron.

Rounding out the field are Majestic Reason; the New York state-bred Carrera Cat, who is making her graded stakes debut and won the Union Avenue Stakes for state-breds in her previous start; and Jc's Shooting Star, who was third in the Union Avenue.

There are also two stakes for New York state-breds on Sunday's 10-race card. The $125,000 Ashley T. Cole Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile turf stakes and the $125,000 John Hettinger Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile turf stakes for fillies and mares.