Top Turf Mares Among 130 Entries in Belmont Park Opener

After nearly 2 1/2 months, the long wait in New York is nearing an end.

The eagerly awaited resumption of racing in the Empire State came into crystal clear focus May 29 with the draw of the June 3 opening day card at Belmont Park and the filling of a 10-race program with a showdown between two of the sport's top female turf stars.

"It's finally here," said Terry Finley, the founder and CEO of West Point Thoroughbreds and a board member of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. "I'm sure the people in the racing office had a smile on their face when they got the phone call with the first entry this morning. Good for them. Now we have a chance to get everybody back to work, and there's a lot of optimism every which way."

The card, which will be conducted with only essential personnel in the facility, attracted a total of 130 entries, which averages out to 13 per race.

On a day that will herald the first afternoon of racing in New York since March 15, the races were divided evenly with five on turf and five on the main track. There will be two allowance races and two maiden special weight races, including one for 2-year-olds that ushers in a policy banning the use of race-day Lasix in juvenile races.

"There's a lot of work to do between now and then, but it's exciting to get back racing," said Martin Panza, the senior vice president for racing operations for the New York Racing Association. "We're appreciative of the hardship the owners and the trainers went through, and we're happy to be open and to get some purse money out to them."

The featured $100,000 Beaugay Stakes (G3T) attracted only six starters, but in Gary Barber's Got Stormy and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Rushing Fall, the 1 1/16-mile inner turf stakes features two Breeders' Cup-caliber starters.

"On paper, this race stacks up very good, and Rushing Fall will have to run her best against Got Stormy," said Bob Edwards, who races under the e Five banner. "These days, every race is loaded, which is great for racing, and you love to see it."

Got Stormy, a 5-year-old Get Stormy  mare trained by Mark Casse, was second in last year's TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) against international open company and also beat males in the Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course.

The more than $1.5 million earner will come into Wednesday's race off losses in her two 2020 starts, finishing a neck behind the winner in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T) at Santa Anita Park against males and fading to fourth against female rivals before that in the Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes (G3T) at Tampa Bay Downs.

"I don't know that I did a good job getting her ready for (the Endeavour)," Casse said. "She lost it at Tampa. It reminded me of when she was a 3-year-old. I don't know what it was, but she was just a wreck. 

"Her race in California, she has nothing to be ashamed of there. We flew her out and she competed against the boys at their house. They only beat her a neck."

Rushing Fall, a 5-year-old More Than Ready  mare with earnings of $2.013 million for trainer Chad Brown, has eight wins and two seconds in 11 starts. The lone unplaced start came in her most recent try, a fourth-place finish in last year's First Lady Stakes Presented by UK HealthCare (G1T) behind Uni, who went on to win the Mile and be named the champion turf female of 2019.

Since that Oct. 5 loss, Rushing Fall has thrived with time off in advance of her 2020 debut.

"When I saw her getting ready for this year at Stonestreet Farm, she looked great," Edwards said. "She had put on some weight and was dappled. She was everything you want to see in a horse, and we'll see if bringing her back pays off. Time off always does her well. She's a mare you have to limit because she runs so hard every time."'

Rushing Fall drew the rail for the Beaugay, and Got Stormy will break from post 3.

Brown also entered Peter Brant's Fifty Five, the champion New York-bred turf female of 2019. With earnings of $1,033,288, the 6-year-old Get Stormy mare will be making her 2020 debut and tackling open company for the first time since finishing fourth, a half-length behind winner Significant Form, in the Aug. 24 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa Stakes (G2T).

The Beaugay will also mark the United States debut of group 2 winner Call Me Love, who is owned by R Unicorn Stable and trained by Christophe Clement, who entered horses in six races on the card.

The field also includes Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable's Passing Out and Augustin Stables' Xenobia, who won the Athenia Stakes (G3T) last year.

The eighth race, a mile $68,000 allowance optional claimer, will feature the turf debut of Juddmonte Farms' Hidden Scroll. The 4-year-old homebred Hard Spun  colt created a furor on the 2019 Triple Crown trail when he won his Jan. 26 debut by 14 lengths on a sloppy track. Since then, even though he was favored in the Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1), he has one allowance win in five starts for trainer Bill Mott.

Panza said all nine of the races plus one extra race in the June 3 condition book were used and there was considerable interest in the extra races, which bodes well for the rest of the cards during the first week of the meet, which was scheduled to begin April 24 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a shutdown of racing in the state.

"The entries went good after not running for 2 1/2 months," Panza said. "There's also some good races to bring back for the rest of the week."

Racing will continue through June 7 with a 1:15 p.m. ET post time, then returns June 11 with a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule for the remainder of a 25-day meet that ends July 12 and includes a stakes each day. The highlight of the delayed meet will be the June 20 Belmont Stakes (G1).

"Now we're in a position that we have to balance everything safely, and I'm sure we will," Finley said. "Everyone wants to stay safe and sound. It's still a situation in which we have to keep our guard up."

Entries: Beaugay S. (G3T)

Belmont Park, Wednesday, June 03, 2020, Race 9

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Inner turf
• $100,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 5:36 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Rushing Fall (KY)	Javier Castellano	124	Chad C. Brown	6/5
2	2Fifty Five (NY)	Joel Rosario	122	Chad C. Brown	5/1
3	3Got Stormy (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	124	Mark E. Casse	7/5
4	4Call Me Love (GB)	Junior Alvarado	122	Christophe Clement	12/1
5	5Passing Out (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	Claude R. McGaughey III	15/1
6	6Xenobia (IRE)	Manuel Franco	120	Jonathan Thomas	10/1