Bellafina Aims to Build in Great Lady M. Stakes
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Bellafina wins he Desert Stormer Stakes May 17
After snapping a six-race losing streak in her previous race, Bellafina will try to build on that success July 4 when the 4-year-old daughter of Quality Road starts in the $200,000 Great Lady M. Stakes (G3) at Los Alamitos Race Course.
Owned by Kaleem Shah and Coolmore-affiliated owners Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, Bellafina enters Saturday's 6 1/2-furlong race for fillies and mares off a one-length victory in the Desert Stormer Stakes (G3), a six-furlong test May 17 at Santa Anita Park, which pushed to record to 7-for-15 with earnings of more than $1.5 million.
Video: Desert Stormer S. (G3)
Last year Bellafina put together a three-race win streak of graded stakes at Santa Anita capped by a 5 1/2-length score in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Anita Oaks (G1). This year trainer Simon Callaghan has started her in a pair of sprints, opening the season April 25 in the six-furlong Carousel Stakes at Oaklawn Park ahead of her Desert Stormer victory.
Bellafina, the 4-5 morning-line favorite with regular rider Flavien Prat aboard, will start from the rail in the expected field of seven.
Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer will send out KMN Racing's Sneaking Out, who enters off a fifth-place finish in the Winning Colors Stakes (G3) May 30 at Churchill Downs. A 4-year-old Indian Evening filly, Sneaking Out won last year's Evening Jewel Stakes vs. state-bred competition at Santa Anita. Last year she also finished second in the Summertime Oaks (G2) there and placed in two other stakes.
The California-bred has won four of 10 starts and has earned $311,441.
Amuse cuts back in distance and goes from turf to dirt in her second start of the year for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella after finishing third in an allowance-level race June 14 at one mile. The 5-year-old Medaglia d'Oro mare showed the way before weakening in the final eighth of a mile in her first start in more than 14 months.
Owned by a partnership that includes Claiborne Farm, Perry Bass II, Ramona Bass and Adele Dilschneider, Amuse has won two of six starts and has earned $85,511.
Runner-up to Bellafina when nearly 43-1 in the Desert Stormer, Hang a Star will be seeking her third lifetime win in the Great Lady M. Campaigned by the same owner-trainer combination—Seltzer Thoroughbreds and Ian Kruljac—that won this race in 2016 with eventual female sprint champion Finest City, Hang a Star has banked $108,311 in seven starts.
Zusha will shorten up for her first race since finishing a distant fifth in the Beholder Mile (G1) March 14. Trained by Gary Mandella for Rafael Steinbruch, the 5-year-old daughter of Congrats and the Storm Cat mare Icy Tea has won two of 20 races and banked $218,893. LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, Saturday, July 04, 2020, Race 8Entries: Great Lady M S. (G2)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Bellafina (KY)
Flavien Prat
124
Simon Callaghan
4/5
2
2Artistic Diva (IL)
Victor Espinoza
119
Juan Leyva
6/1
3
3Sneaking Out (CA)
Martin Garcia
119
Jerry Hollendorfer
4/1
4
4Donut Girl (CA)
Geovanni Franco
119
Brian T. Cunningham
30/1
5
5Hang a Star (KY)
UMBERTO RISPOLI
119
Ian Kruljac
6/1
6
6Amuse (KY)
Drayden Van Dyke
119
Richard E. Mandella
8/1
7
7Zusha (KY)
Tiago Josue Pereira
119
Gary Mandella
8/1
