Karak Steps it Up a Notch in Matron Stakes

Breeze Easy's promising filly Karak will take her stakes-winning form to the next level Oct. 5 when she headlines a field of six juvenile fillies in the $150,000 Matron Stakes (G3T) at Belmont Park. 

Trained by Wesley Ward, the daughter of Karakontie  will look to sustain Ward's prolific record with 2-year-olds, entering a race restricted to her own gender for the first time in her career. Karak debuted successfully over Belmont's Widener turf course in May, beating a field of males by three lengths before shipping overseas to contest the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot, where she also faced open company. While she faded to finish 15th in the Windsor Castle over soft ground, the bay promptly rebounded upon returning stateside by taking the Aug. 3 Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park by 2 1/2 lengths.

"She's been doing really good between races; her works at Keeneland have been great," Ward said. "Her race at Ascot happened right after a downpour, the heavens opened up, and it was a soft, soft turf. I definitely think she's going to appreciate a firmer turf. We're ready."

Karak will break from post 5 under Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Impressive debut winner Alms will go out for trainer Michael Stidham and Godolphin. The bay filly by the late City Zip also made her debut over Belmont's Widener turf Sept. 19 and showed a potent late kick to win by 3 3/4 lengths.

"We had liked her early on," Stidham said. "She had shown a lot of talent in the mornings, which is the reason we shipped her to Belmont. We thought she was above average, so we took a shot and she ran really well. When you get horses like her, you have to get results, so we're happy."

Jose Lezcano will partner with Alms and the pair will break from the rail.

Trainer Mike Maker will send out a pair of New York-bred fillies, A Freud of Mama and Time Limit, who will venture outside of the state-bred ranks for the first time in their careers. The former, a William Butler homebred, didn't show much in her debut at Saratoga Race Course but turned in a much more professional effort at second asking Sept. 13 at Belmont where she took a maiden heat by 1 1/2 lengths while adding blinkers.

Three Diamonds Farm's Time Limit is the more experienced of the Maker stablemates, having made four starts thus far in her career. While the filly has yet to try turf, the daughter of Bustin Stones  nearly won the Seeking the Ante Stakes Aug. 23 at Saratoga but most recently finished a distant fourth in the Joseph A. Gimma Stakes Sept. 18 at Belmont.

Pure Wow and Classy Sadie will complete Saturday's field.

Entries: Matron S. (G3T)

Belmont Park, Saturday, October 05, 2019, Race 6

• Grade III
• 6f
• Inner turf
• $150,000
• 2 yo Fillies
• 3:05 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Alms (KY)	Jose Lezcano	120	Michael Stidham	1/1
2	2A Freud of Mama (NY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	120	Michael J. Maker	8/1
3	3Time Limit (NY)	Manuel Franco	120	Michael J. Maker	10/1
4	4Pure Wow (KY)	Luis Saez	118	John P. Terranova II	10/1
5	5Karak (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	122	Wesley A. Ward	7/5
6	6Classy Sadie (NY)	Eric Cancel	120	Gary C. Contessa	15/1