Lady Eli Heads Brown's Belmont Oaks Hand

Trainer Chad Brown has a strong chance to notch his second victory in as many runnings of the $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational (gr. IT) July 4 at Belmont Park, in which he will send out three horses led by the undefeated Lady Eli.

The 1 1/4-mile turf event for 3-year-old fillies is part of Belmont's second annual Stars & Stripes Day, which will also feature the $1.25 million Belmont Derby Invitational (gr. IT) and four other graded stakes. The Oaks, a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" qualifier to the $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, will be televised live by NBC, with coverage starting at 5 p.m. ET.

Owned by Sheep Pond Partners, Lady Eli enters the Belmont Oaks on a five-race win streak dating back to her Aug. 25 debut at Saratoga Race Course. The daughter of Divine Park   was brilliant as a 2-year-old, taking the Miss Grillo (gr. IIIT) at Belmont and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (gr. IT) in addition to her debut score.

As a sophomore, she has been equally dominant. Making her seasonal debut in the Appalachian (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland, Lady Eli crushed her competition by 2 1/2 lengths and then won the local prep for the Belmont Oaks, the May 31 Wonder Again Stakes, by a convincing half-length after being bottled up for much of the stretch.

The Oaks will mark the toughest and longest test for Lady Eli, who has never raced beyond 1 1/8 miles.

"There's always some pressure when you have an undefeated horse. You'd like to keep it going," said Brown, who won the inaugural running of the Belmont Oaks in 2014 with Minorette. "She's given us every indication in the morning that she's going to continue to run her 'A' race, but as she goes on, the races are always going to get harder. I'd anticipate this being the most difficult race she's been in, but she seems like she's up for it. She continues to improve."

Lady Eli will break from post 2 and will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., who has been aboard the dark bay filly in all five of her career starts.

Brown will also saddle Consumer Credit, most recently third in the May 30 American Oaks (gr. IT) at Santa Anita Park, and Strict Compliance, winner of three in a row, including the Penn Oaks on the same day at Penn National in her latest outing.

"Consumer Credit showed, in her last race, that she has the ability to stretch out to a mile and a quarter. She's coming into the race in good form," Brown said. "Strict Compliance is lightly raced. She's in good form, a little bit of a later-developing filly than the other two, but I'm confident she can handle the distance. It's going to be a big class test for her, but she can get the mile and a quarter and it's a big purse. She deserves a shot."

Junior Alvarado will be aboard Consumer Credit from post 7, while Strict Compliance will have the services of Javier Castellano from post 14.

Lady Eli's chief competition may come from West Coast invader Spanish Queen, who captured the American Oaks by half-length in her most recent start. Two starts ago, the daughter of Tribal Rule took the Honeymoon (gr. IIT) at Santa Anita and she has only one blemish on her record, a second-place finish in the Providencia (gr. IIIT). Spanish Queen will break from the 6 hole with regular rider Brice Blanc aboard.

Sentiero Italia will make her stakes debut Saturday in an exceedingly difficult spot, but the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained filly has made steady improvement since her March 11 debut at Gulfstream Park.

"To be honest, we didn't like her early on, but she got better and better, and then when she ran, we liked her," said McLaughlin, who trains Sentiero Italia for Godolphin Racing. "She had trouble (in her debut) and was a funny seventh, but galloped out strong. She ran much better than we thought she should."

Sentiero Italia took a giant leap forward in her next start, a 1 1/8-mile grass affair at Aqueduct Racetrack April 19. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro   went straight to the front that day and pulled away to win by 1 1/4 lengths, beating a few next-out winners in the process, including Trophee, a half-sister to two-time Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fra-I) winner Treve.

In her subsequent and most recent start, the McLaughlin trainee continued to progress, this time winning an allowance race at Belmont by two lengths and again handily defeating a next-out winner, Kitten's Roar, who took an optional claimer June 24 at Belmont by 1 1/2 lengths.

"The circumstances were different in her second start," McLaughlin said. "We sent her to the lead going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct and there was no pace. Last time we took her back. I don't know going forward. Right now I'd like her to be covered up, but if there's not much pace, we'll be close. Lady Eli might want us to be there setting the pace. We'll see.

"She's training great and she's won two in a row. It's a big step up to a grade I, but we feel like she belongs and it's worth a try. She's a very talented filly."

Sentiero Italio will be ridden by Luis Saez, and the pair will depart post 11.

Trainer Christophe Clement, who finished second and third in last year's edition of the Oaks, will send out two runners: Pine Needles and Miss Chatelaine.

The Clement pair is exiting the Wonder Again, in which Pine Needles finished third after setting the pace and Miss Chatelaine closed to finish sixth.

"It's a bit ambitious, but they're both training forwardly and you don't often get a chance to run in a grade I for this much money," Clement said. "They will stay a mile and a quarter no problem; that's one thing I'm very comfortable with. It's just a matter of if they're fast enough."

A pair of European runners will venture stateside to take on America's best turf fillies including Olorda, a group III winner in France trained by Michael Figge, and Outstanding, a stakes winner in Ireland trained by Aidan O'Brien.

"Olorda is doing really good, she's relaxed," said the filly's exercise rider, Gerlinde Muhlbichler. "We were kind of worried, since she's traveling alone for the first time and she's only ran five times, so she's still a baby, but she likes the track."

Olorda, who was purchased privately by Martin Schwartz after finishing third in the group I Pour Moi Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary, will be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez from post 8.

Outstanding, a bay filly who has won her last two races, will break from post 10 with Colm O'Donoghue aboard.

Rounding out the field is Sharla Rae, fifth in the American Oaks; Itsonlyactingdad, fourth in the Wonder Again; Gypsy Judy, third in the Penn Oaks; Daring Duchess, who won a first-level allowance race in her most recent start; and Lady Zuzu, second in the grade III Regret last out.