Nest Lays Over Four Older Rivals in Beldame

Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Michael House's Nest  has established her superiority in the sophomore filly division over much of this year. Now the talented three-time grade 1 winner will face a new task of taking on older fillies and mares in the 84th running of the $250,000 Beldame Stakes (G2) Oct. 9 at the Belmont at the Big A meet. 

Boasting a 6-2-1 record in nine starts and earnings of $1,735,550, Nest enters the 1 1/8-mile test off a pair of dominant efforts at Saratoga Race Course in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) July 23 and the Alabama (G1) Aug. 20. 

Nest's pair of triumphs in Saratoga's most prestigious races for sophomore fillies came following a game effort against males in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), where she finished second behind stablemate and fellow Repole Stable color bearer Mo Donegal  . Prior to the Belmont, she was second, beaten two lengths by Secret Oath  in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), and captured the Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland by 8 1/4 lengths. 

Nest will seek to be the sixth Beldame victress for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who last won the race in 2013 with Princess of Sylmar. Pletcher currently shares the winningest record in the Beldame with mentor and fellow Hall of Famer and mentor D. Wayne Lukas, with five wins apiece. 

"She's run well against the boys and all the best fillies of her generation, but first time against elders is always a challenge," said Pletcher. "She showed a lot of talent and class in her races against 3-year-olds, and we would expect her to handle the step up."

Pletcher said he had considered training Nest up to the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 5 at Keeneland. 

"We weren't a hundred percent sure if we wanted to give her another start between the Alabama and the Breeders' Cup, but we felt that 11 weeks was a bit too much," Pletcher said. "Hopefully, she runs well here, and it sets her up well for the Distaff."

The Beldame will be Nest's first start at Aqueduct since her juvenile season finale when she captured the Demoiselle Stakes (G2) by a neck over Venti Valentine . 

Irad Ortiz Jr., the pilot in all of Nest's six career victories, retains the mount from post 1. 

Among the elders looking to challenge Nest is OXO Equine's Travel Column , who will race 1 1/8 miles for the first time since finishing fifth in last year's Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. A dual graded stakes winner, she emerged from a nearly 13-month layoff to capture a seven-furlong allowance optional claiming event on June 29 at Churchill Downs in her first start for Hall of Famer Bill Mott. The triumph was her first start since a distant fifth in the Acorn Stakes (G1) last June at Belmont Park when she was trained by Brad Cox. She enters from a distant fourth in the Ballerina Handicap (G1) Aug. 28 at Saratoga going seven furlongs.

"She has (won) going a mile and a sixteenth, but she still hasn't won at a mile and an eighth," said Mott, a three-time Beldame winner. "It might have been at a time where she was tailing off a little bit. She only ran the distance once and had one race after that."

Other starters include Andrew Rosen's First to Act ; Medallion Racing, Charles H. Deters, Parkland Thoroughbreds, and Mike Olszewski's The Grass Is Blue ; and The Elkstone Group's Hybrid Eclipse .

Entries: Beldame S. (G2)

Belmont at the Big A, Sunday, October 09, 2022, Race 3

• Grade II
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 1:47 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Nest (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	120	Todd A. Pletcher	1/5
2	2First to Act (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	123	Claude R. McGaughey III	4/1
3	3Hybrid Eclipse (KY)	Manuel Franco	123	Brittany T. Russell	20/1
4	4The Grass Is Blue (KY)	Jevian Toledo	123	H. Graham Motion	20/1
5	5Travel Column (KY)	Javier Castellano	123	William I. Mott	6/1