Sweet Melania Rolls in Wonder Again in 2020 Bow
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Sweet Melania cruises in the Wonder Again Stakes at Belmont Park
Robert and Lawana Low's Sweet Melania, a grade 2 winner at 2, easily held four rivals at bay in her 2020 debut, the $145,500 Wonder Again Stakes (G3T) at Belmont Park. One of many top runners from the first crop of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah , Sweet Melania covered the mile on firm turf in a swift 1:34.23 as Highland Glory rallied late to edge Antoinette for the place spot by a half-length.
Sweet Melania was a top runner last year for trainer Todd Pletcher, breaking her maiden at Saratoga Race Course going 1 1/16 miles on the turf before dropping a neck decision to Crystalle in the P. G. Johnson Stakes in late August. At Keeneland, she was a commanding 5 1/2-length winner of the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes (G2T). She finished the year with a third-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) at Santa Anita Park.
"We planned on giving her a little time off after the Breeders' Cup, and things went kind of crazy for a while," Pletcher said, referring to the COVID-19 crisis. "We didn't know where she would come back. We knew a distance like a mile was what we were looking for, so when this race came out, we pointed toward this."
Sweet Melania broke alertly Saturday from post 2 under regular rider Jose Ortiz and was able to dictate the field all the way around. The opening quarter-mile went in :24.15 as she was tracked by Antoinette, with Speaktomeofsummer along the rail, followed by Highland Glory and Selflessly. The order remained the same through a half-mile in :47.62. The tempo quickened as they went through three-quarters in 1:10.99. As Selflessly made a bid from the back of the pack, Sweet Melania gave the field a slip and opened a 3 1/2-length advantage in early stretch. She was a handy winner by 1 1/2 lengths with a final quarter mile in :23.24.
"She relaxed well, and we started picking it up little by little," Ortiz said. "At the three-sixteenths pole, she gave me a nice kick. She's a nice filly."
(L-R): Jose Ortiz takes Todd Pletcher through the race after winning aboard Sweet Melania
Consigned by Gainesway, agent, Sweet Melania was a $600,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase for the Lows by West Bloodstock. The chestnut filly is out of Sweet N Discreet, by Discreet Cat, and was bred in Kentucky by St Elias Stables. In foal to Liam's Map , Sweet N Discreet was sold to Greg Goodman's Mt. Brilliant Farm for $1.6 million last year at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's breeding stock sale in Lexington.
Bred and raced by E. Paul Robsham Stables and trained by Pletcher, Sweet N Discreet won the 2014 Florida Sunshine Millions Distaff Stakes and placed in the Sabin Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park. She is a full sister to grade 2 winner Discreet Dancer and a half to grade 2 winner Travelin Man. Her immediate family includes the quick grade 2 winner Bite the Bullet and Love Me True, the dam of highweight Ruler of The World and champion Duke of Marmalade.
American Pharoah, the leading first-crop sire of 2019 by progeny earnings, ranks third among second-crop sires this year behind Constitution and Tonalist . American Pharoah, by the late Pioneerof the Nile, stands at Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky. His fee is listed as private. American Pharoah's Ocean Atlantique won the May 31 Prix de Suresnes at Deauville.
"I'm sure there will be some options for her, and we'll try to stretch her out a little more," Pletcher said. "I'm not sure that she wants a mile and a quarter, but I think she's classy enough to where she can get a mile and an eighth."
Sweet Melania, the 6-5 favorite, paid $4.60 and $2.80 (no show wagering). Highland Glory returned $3.60, and the $1 exacta (2-3) paid $8.