Wildwood's Beauty, Bellera Meet in Musical Romance

William Stiritz's Wildwood's Beauty, a runner-up in three consecutive races, including back-to-back graded-stakes during the Championship Meet, hopes to find the cure for her recent "seconditis" in the $100,000 Musical Romance Stakes on May 16 at Gulfstream Park.

The seven-furlong stakes for Florida-breds has a field of nine fillies and mares.

Wildwood's Beauty was beaten by Pink Sands and Sally's Curlin, respectively, in the Jan. 25 Inside Information Stakes (G2) and March 14 Hurricane Bertie Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream. The 4-year-old Kantharos  filly has pleased trainer Scott Becker with three works on Gulfstream's main track since the Hurricane Bertie.

"Everything's been right on par, as it has been all year. She hasn't missed a beat. Everything's good and she's doing great," Becker said. "She ran her race the last couple times and made her normal move, but she just got beat by a couple of very nice horses. Both of those horses came from the back of the pack to win those races, which doesn't happen all the time there, but she ran big both times."

Consistency has been Wildwood's Beauty's calling card, with five wins and seven seconds from 13 starts. Six of those runner-up finishes have come at Gulfstream, where she beat older horses in last fall's seven-furlong Sheer Drama Stakes for her lone score in seven tries on the surface.

"We were looking at going to a couple of other graded races before everything got shut down, but I'm happy to be able to run here again now, at a distance and track where she's run well before," Becker said. "There's some good ones in there, and they're capable of running well in open company, too."

Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride Wildwood's Beauty for the first time from post 3.

Mathis Stable, Madaket Stables, and Doheny Racing Stable's Comely Stakes (G3) winner Bellera has also displayed consistency with four wins and two seconds from seven starts for trainer Todd Pletcher. She finished second in her debut and only effort at Gulfstream last May against older horses.

The seven-furlong sprint was also the last time the 4-year-old Bernardini  filly has run shorter than 1 1/16 miles. Her only time off the board came in the Turnback the Alarm Handicap (G3) last fall at Aqueduct Racetrack when she lost rider Jose Lezcano after getting squeezed at the start.

"She's a filly that we feel is probably best at two turns, a mile and an eighth, but being a Florida-bred, we figured with limited opportunities this was our best option," Pletcher said. "We figured we'd give it a try and see what she can do."

Bellera has put together a two-race win streak but hasn't been out since a three-quarter-length victory in the Jan. 19 Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct. She capped her sophomore season with a 1 3/4-length score over previously undefeated Arrifana in the Nov. 29 Comely. Both races came at 1 1/8 miles.

Luis Saez will ride Bellera from post 2.

"I like the way she's training. She's coming into the race in good order. We just hope that seven furlongs isn't too short for her," Pletcher said. "We shortened up her last couple works and tried to put some kind of sharp half-miles into her, and I like the way she's coming into it. She's certainly training like she's ready to go."

Trainer Mark Casse will send out Two Sixty and Oceans of Love. Live Oak Plantation homebred Oceans of Love has not started in six months but takes a two-race win streak into her season and stakes debut.

Gary Barber's Two Sixty has raced twice this year, both at Tampa Bay Downs, winning the seven-furlong Gasparilla Stakes and finishing fifth in the one-mile-and-40-yard Suncoast Stakes on Feb. 8. The 3-year-old daughter of Uncaptured is 2-for-4 at Gulfstream.