Be Your Best, Free Look Meet Again in Miss Grillo

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Be Your Best, Free Look Meet Again in Miss Grillo
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Jockey Jose Ortiz celebrates a victory from Be Your Best in the P. G. Johnson Stakes at Saratoga

Michael J. Ryan's Irish homebred Be Your Best  will vie for her second stakes score and first at the graded level for trainer Horacio De Paz in the $200,000 Miss Grillo (G2T), a 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for juvenile fillies Oct. 1 at the Belmont at the Big A meet. 

The Miss Grillo is one of two Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" qualifying races on Saturday's lucrative card at Aqueduct Racetrack, offering the winner a berth into the Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) in November at Keeneland. Also featured on the card are the $500,000 Champagne Stakes (G1), a one-turn mile qualifier for the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), and the two important races that are not qualifiers, the $500,000 Woodward Stakes (G1) and $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint (G3T).

Be Your Best, a daughter of Muhaarar , is 2-for-2, having won her debut against maidens and then the P.G. Johnson Stakes going the Miss Grillo distance Sept. 1 at Saratoga Race Course.


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"She placed herself forwardly in the P.G. Johnson and the main thing we got out of her maiden win was Jose's confidence in her," said De Paz. "He put her on the rail (last time) and waited for something to open up. To be able to kick clear is something that shows she moved forward from her first race. It was nice to see." 

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Jose Ortiz will return to the irons from post 6. 

Klaravich Stables' Free Look  will face her familiar rival again and hope to build upon a strong last-out maiden score Sept. 4 at Saratoga as she makes her stakes debut for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. Free Look, who finished third on debut behind Be Your Best, earned her maiden win despite some trouble at the start.

Brown said the daughter of Tapit   is "doing good and training fine." 

Flavien Prat has the call from post 2. 

Also looking to add to a last-out Spa maiden score is Georgees Spirit , a daughter of Mor Spirit   co-owned by trainer Jorge Abreu with Robert Photos and Sportsmen Stable. The dark bay was last seen taking a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight Sept. 1 in her turf debut, closing from seventh to kick on down the lane and score a gutsy half-length victory in 1:05.25. The win was a great improvement from her debut when an even sixth in an off-the-turf sprint July 21 at the Spa. 

Georgees Spirit will stretch out considerably from her first two outings, something Abreu is looking forward to. Abreu also will saddle Lawrence Goichman's Alluring Angel , who was last seen finishing a close second in the Ainsworth Untapable Stakes Sept. 13 at Kentucky Downs.

Completing the field are two last-out maiden winners in Chester and Mary Broman's New York-bred Im Just Kiddin  and Emory Hamilton's Pleasant Passage . 


Entries: Miss Grillo S. (G2T)

Belmont at the Big A, Saturday, October 01, 2022, Race 8

  • Grade IIT
  • 1 1/16m
  • Turf
  • $200,000
  • 2 yo Fillies
  • 4:39 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Georgees Spirit (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Manuel Franco 120 Jorge R. Abreu 10/1
2 2Free Look (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Flavien Prat 120 Chad C. Brown 9/5
3 3Pleasant Passage (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 120 Claude R. McGaughey III 8/1
4 4Alluring Angel (GB) Jose Lezcano 120 Jorge R. Abreu 9/2
5 5Im Just Kiddin (NY) Joel Rosario 120 John C. Kimmel 12/1
6 6Be Your Best (IRE) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Horacio De Paz 6/5