Waya Gives Coastana Another Chance at Graded Score

Following a strong third in her graded stakes debut, Belladonna Racing's Coastana  will take another shot in graded company Oct. 2 in $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya Stakes (G3T) at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet.

The 5-year-old daughter of Kitten's Joy, trained by Cherie DeVaux, enters the 1 3/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward off a third in the Flower Bowl Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course, where she was only 1 1/2 lengths behind the winner Virginia Joy .

A two-time winner during her 4-year-old campaign, Coastana broke her maiden at third asking in April 2021 going nine furlongs at Keeneland and defeated eventual multiple stakes winner Flippant . She finished second in her first start against winners, where she lost to next out grade 1-placed Higher Truth , but secured victory in her following start when stretching out to the Waya distance in a Saratoga inner turf allowance in August of last year.

Bred in Kentucky by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Coastana is out of the Pulpit mare Reachfortheheavens, making her a full sister to dual grade 1-winning millionaire Real Solution  . Belladonna Racing acquired her for $290,000 out of Eddie Woods' consignment at the Ocala Breeders' Sales June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

"With her being a full sister to Real Solution, it's in her pedigree," DeVaux said of her distance capabilities. "She's been unlucky throughout her career—with soundness issues or getting sick—to not have a better résumé. But she's in good form now so we're trying to take advantage of it."

DeVaux had worked with Real Solution while an assistant under trainer Chad Brown.

"She looks just like him," DeVaux said. "A smaller version of him, but they have the same markings and they're both pretty high energy. They're tough in a good way."

Jose Lezcano, the pilot aboard Coastana in the Flower Bowl, will retain the mount from post 6.

Brown will saddle two in the Waya, Klaravich Stables' Capital Structure  and Peter Brant's Rocky Sky  in his fourth straight, and sixth overall, victory in this race.

Breaking from post 1, Capital Structure also is pursuing her first graded stakes victory. The 5-year-old daughter of Lope de Vega  comes into the race off a sixth in the All Along Stakes Sept. 10 at Pimlico Race Course, where her saddle slipped during the running of the race.

"That was unfortunate, so we'll draw a line through it," Brown said.

Two races back Capital Structure captured a 1 3/8-mile allowance optional claiming race at Saratoga, advancing from seventh-of-8 at the one-mile point of call to win by two lengths.

"We finally stretched her out in distance, and she was able to put it all together," Brown said. "She's a horse we've always liked, and she's never been able to get on track and turn into a stake horse, but we'll give her another chance here. I think (she wants to go long)."

Rocky Sky, by Rock of Gibraltar , is still in search of her first triumph in North America for Brant, who campaigned Waya with George Strawbridge Jr., the 1979 champion older mare, for whom the race is named. She enters off a pair of allowance level runner-up efforts at the Spa, most recently finishing second going 12 furlongs. Rocky Sky will break from the outside post 8 and be ridden by Manny Franco.

John Halley and Ciara Hogan's Flirting Bridge  will attempt to keep this year's pattern of consistency going for trainer Brendan Walsh. The 4-year-old daughter of Camelot  captured her North American debut, also her first start for Walsh, in a 1 1/16-mile first level allowance May 29 at Churchill Downs coming from last-to-first to win by 5 1/4 lengths over next-out winners Flown and Fairchild.

Flirting Bridge earned black type in her last two efforts when second as the favorite in the Dr. James Penny Memorial Stakes (G3T) July 12 at Parx Racing and a close third in the Canadian Stakes Presented by the Japan Racing Association (G2T) Aug. 21 at Woodbine. She will break from post 2 and be ridden by Flavien Prat.

Joseph Allen's homebred Flying Fortress  will make her stakes debut after displaying a newfound front-running style in her last out winning effort for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. The 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo   is a full sister to grade 2 winner Enola Gay. Last out, she won wire-to-wire going nine furlongs over the Colonial Downs turf Aug. 30. Three starts back in April, she made up 10 lengths to best first level allowance company at Laurel Park going one mile. Joel Rosario will ride Flying Fortress from post 5.