Bellafina Plays a Road Game in Carousel Stakes

Athletes at every level can struggle while playing on the road. 

Apparently, that can also hold true for equine athletes.

A case in point is 4-year-old filly Bellafina.

The daughter of Quality Road  owned by Kaleem Shah, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith has started 13 times in her career and has been unplaced three times. All in all, that's a remarkable record considering she has raced in nine grade 1 stakes.

The hitch is that all three off-the-board finishes have come in races outside the friendly confines of California. In her only other start beyond the borders of the Golden State, she was third.

Doing the math, that means when she's playing a home game, she has six wins and three seconds from nine starts.

In road games, she's 0-for-4. 

That enigma will come into play April 25 when the suspension of racing at Santa Anita Park will take Bellafina to Arkansas, where the three-time grade 1 winner will make her first start at 4 as she faces seven fillies and mares in the $125,000 Carousel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

"I really don't believe it has anything to do with traveling because she's an absolute pro and handles all of that well," California-based trainer Simon Callaghan said. "It's that she was running in top races not at her best distances. I think she's more of a sprinting filly, and every time she traveled, except for the Test (G1) at seven-eighths, she ran a mile and an eighth or a mile and a sixteenth.

"All things considered, we probably would have stayed at Santa Anita and raced there, but at the moment going to Oaklawn seemed like the right thing to do."

Each of those four journeys outside California brought Bellafina to one of the sport's major races for fillies. She was fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing, fifth in the 1 1/8-mile Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, and fourth, again at Churchill Downs, in the Tito's Handmade Vodka Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at 1 1/16 miles.

In her lone sprint on the road, she had the misfortune of running into a buzz saw named Covfefe, who was ultimately crowned as a dual champion of the 3-year-old filly and female sprinter divisions. Bellafina finished third, 9 1/4 lengths behind Covfefe, in the Longines Test Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

The competition Saturday in Arkansas will not be as salty as those grade 1 events, but the six-furlong Carousel will not be a stroll in the park, either, with the grade 1-winning Mia Mischief and grade 1-placed Amy's Challenge in the field.

"Her last two races were fantastic, even though she was second. This is a slightly easier spot than those, but it's definitely not an easy spot," Callaghan said about Bellafina's first start since Dec. 28.

A dual grade 1 winner at 2, Bellafina closed her 3-year-old season by finishing three-quarters of a length behind Covfefe in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) and 2 1/4 lengths behind Hard Not to Love in the La Brea Stakes (G1). Both runner-up finishes by the earner of $1.4 million came at Santa Anita Park. Bred by JSM Equine out of the Malibu Moon  mare Akron Moon, she was purchased from the Wavertree consignment at The Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Florida select 2-year-olds in training sale.

Bellafina will break from the rail with Joe Talamo aboard. The mare who looms as her main rival will be at the other end of the field in post 8.

Unlike Bellafina, Mia Mischief feels right at home at Oaklawn, where she has three wins and two seconds in five starts for trainer Steve Asmussen. She was second in last year's Carousel and returned from a 4 1/2-month break March 20 with a 2 1/4-length score in a six-furlong allowance optional claiming race at the Hot Springs, Ark., track.

The winner of the 2019 Humana Distaff Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs in her start following the Carousel, Mia Mischief was bought last year for $2.4 million from the ELiTE consignment at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky fall mixed sale, by Stonestreet Stables, which elected to keep the now 5-year-old daughter of Into Mischief  in training with Asmussen.

Oaklawn's leading rider, Ricardo Santana Jr. (48 wins), will be aboard the $1,140,234 earner, who will carry 122 pounds and concede five pounds to Bellafina and Amy's Challenge.

Novogratz Racing Stables' Amy's Challenge also has an enviable record at Oaklawn with a mark of 3-2-1 from seven tries, including two wins by a combined 14 lengths in 2019 listed stakes for trainer McLean Robertson.

Her 2020 record at Oaklawn is not as dazzling, but the Artie Schiller mare is coming off a game loss by a neck to Midnight Fantasy in the Feb. 29 Spring Fever Stakes at Oaklawn, where she waited for room at the quarter pole and settled for second under Alex Canchari. Canchari and Amy's Challenge drew post 6.

Carl Moore Management's Midnight Fantasy, a Midnight Lute  filly who won the 5 1/2-furlong Spring Fever in her most recent start, is trained by Joe Sharp and will be ridden by Martin Garcia from post 2.

Lawrence Roman's What a Fox, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Bernardini  who was third in the Spring Fever, will also return Saturday and landed post 4 for jockey David Cohen and Robertino Diodoro, Oaklawn's leading trainer (49 wins).

Hronis Racing's Lady Suebee will be turning back in distance for trainer John Sadler as she will be making her first start in a dirt race at less than a mile since May 26, a period covering six starts. The daughter of First Defence was last seen Feb. 17 finishing fifth in Oaklawn's Bayakoa Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles.

Tyler Baze has the riding assignment from post 7.

The Carousel will be the 10th race, with a scheduled post time of 5:16 p.m. CT.

Entries: Carousel S.

Oaklawn Park, Saturday, April 25, 2020, Race 10

• STK
• 6f
• Dirt
• $125,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 5:16 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Bellafina (KY)	Joseph Talamo	117	Simon Callaghan	8/5
2	2Midnight Fantasy (LA)	Martin Garcia	122	Joe Sharp	5/1
3	3Sunny Dale (PA)	Joel Rosario	122	Jerry Hollendorfer	6/1
4	4What a Fox (KY)	David Cohen	122	Robertino Diodoro	8/1
5	5Classy Act (KY)	Adam Beschizza	122	Joe Sharp	15/1
6	6Amy's Challenge (KY)	Alex L. Canchari	117	McLean Robertson	4/1
7	7Lady Suebee (KY)	Tyler Baze	117	John W. Sadler	20/1
8	8Mia Mischief (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	122	Steven M. Asmussen	9/2