Flay's Pizza Bianca Returns in Sands Point at Aqueduct

It's been an eventful 12 months for Pizza Bianca .

Last November, the daughter of Fastnet Rock  gave celebrity chef and owner/breeder Bobby Flay his biggest thrill in racing by taking the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T). 

Then in June, the 3-year-old filly enabled Flay to cook up a grand old time in a top hat and morning coat at Royal Ascot as she ran in the Coronation Stakes (G1) and finished eighth.

Since that trip overseas, it's been a quiet time for her, which will finally come to an end Oct. 15 when she returns from a four-month absence and faces eight rivals (not including a main track only entrant) in the $200,000 Sands Point Stakes (G2T) for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"She had a break after Ascot. We brought her back and gave her some time," said trainer Christophe Clement, who notched his first Breeders' Cup victory thanks to Pizza Bianca's heroics a year ago. "I tried to get her ready for Saratoga, but she needed more time than that. She's doing well and we're excited to get her back."

A homebred daughter of the Galileo  mare White Hot, Pizza Bianca experienced some growing pains in turning 3 as she finished second in the listed Memories of Silver Stakes at Aqueduct while making her 2022 debut, losing by a little less than a length to Consumer Spending , who was sixth in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

She then captured the May 20 Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in her prep for the trip across the Atlantic Ocean.

In her career, Pizza Bianca has raced six times with three wins and earnings of $717,635, and will race beyond 1 1/16 miles in Saturday's 1 1/8-mile stakes.

Clement will also send out Canisy  for the Blue Devil Racing Stable of New York Racing Association chairman Marc Holliday. The Point of Entry   filly was fifth in the Sept. 17 Jockey Club Oaks Invitational Stakes (G3T) at 1 3/8 miles while making her graded stakes debut.

"She's training well. We tried running her long last time, and we're cutting her back in distance which should be more to her liking," Clement said. 

The balanced field also includes Michael Nentwig, Michael Dubb, Beast Mode Racing, John Rochfort, and trainer Rob Falcone Jr.'s Spirit And Glory , a daughter of Cotai Glory coming off a victory in the Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs.

Gary Broad's Vergara  and Andrew Rosen's Skims , who finished 1-2, respectively, in the Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks, will resume their rivalry Saturday. Vergara, a daughter of Noble Mission  trained by Graham Motion, dueled for the lead throughout the 1 5/16-mile stakes and prevailed by a head over Skims, a Frankel  filly trained by Shug McGaughey.

Trainer Chad Brown will chase a fourth straight Sands Point win and fifth in the last six years with Dubb, The Elkstone Group, Louis Lazzinnaro, and Michael Caruso's Eminent Victor . The Mr. Z   filly was a troubled fifth in the Lake Placid Stakes (G2T) after losing by a nose in the Lake George Stakes (G3T).

Entries: Sands Point S. (G2T)

Belmont at the Big A, Saturday, October 15, 2022, Race 9

• Grade IIT
• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $200,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 4:58 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Skims (GB)	John R. Velazquez	118	Claude R. McGaughey III	5/1
2	2Vergara (KY)	Joel Rosario	118	H. Graham Motion	9/2
3	3Eminent Victor (KY)	Manuel Franco	118	Chad C. Brown	3/1
4	4Canisy (KY)	Javier Castellano	118	Christophe Clement	8/1
5	5Spirit And Glory (IRE)	Dylan Davis	118	Robert N. Falcone, Jr.	8/1
6	6Hail To (KY)	Jose Lezcano	118	Thomas Albertrani	12/1
7	7Golden Rocket (NY)	Jose Antonio Gomez	118	Patricia Farro	20/1
8	8Lady Baffled (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	118	H. Graham Motion	20/1
9	9Pizza Bianca (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	Christophe Clement	5/2
10	10Baby Man (KY)	Jose Antonio Gomez	118	Rudy R. Rodriguez	1/1