Randomized Seeks Bounce-Back Effort in Beldame

So far, 2025 has been a 50-50 year for the 5-year-old mare Randomized .

Klaravich Stables' daughter of Nyquist   is a multiple grade 1 winner, but she has turned in four efforts that can be categorized as two dull tries and two sharp ones.

Most recently, the dull Randomized turned out as she finished sixth by nearly 25 lengths in the Aug. 23 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1). It was highly reminiscent of her second start of the year when she was fifth and beaten 28 1/2 lengths in the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1), a race she won in 2024.

In her other starts for trainer Chad Brown, the 2023 Alabama Stakes (G1) winner was third by three-quarters of a length in the La Troienne Stakes (G1) and won the Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3) by 3 lengths.

Which Randomized shows up for the Sept. 26 $250,000 Beldame Stakes (G2) for fillies and mares at Aqueduct Racetrack should determine whether the mare bred by Cove Springs in Kentucky moves on to the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) for the second time.

The 1 1/8-mile Beldame, a Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen race with credits toward Distaff starting fees for the first three finishers, attracted only five starters, with Randomized, runner-up in the 2023 Distaff, the lone grade 1 winner.  As part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen Bonus Series, the Beldame awards $30,000 to the winner, $15,000 to the runner-up, and $7,500 to the third-place finisher to apply toward entry fees for the Distaff Nov. 1.

Heading the competition is Majestic Oops , who was second in the Molly Pitcher at 1 1/16 miles. After that, she was third by 6 lengths in the 7-furlong Ballerina Stakes (G1).

"The Molly Pitcher was a tough test, a half-million-dollar race against some grade 1-winning horses, and she ran really well," trainer Dan Ward said. "We were going to wait out the time until the Beldame, but the Ballerina was right in the middle and she got a good race that served its purpose. It was seven-eighths, between races, with five weeks until the Beldame. I think cooler weather will help her form. Her numbers have been going up, and we got a good sprint prep right in the middle now." 

Owned by Medallion Racing, Evan Trommer, Agave Racing Stable, and Sheila Regan, the California-bred daughter of Majestic Harbor  will be seeking her initial graded stakes win.

R. Lee Lewis' Gun Song  won the George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) last year and was narrowly beaten later in the year by eventual Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna  in the Cotillion Stakes (G1).

She is exiting a fourth by 16 lengths in the July 18 Shuvee Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course for trainer Mark Hennig.

"She's doing super. After that race at Saratoga (Shuvee), we figured we would regroup and point to a race in September. We are giving her a shot. Let's see if she can earn her way somewhere. At a mile and an eighth, you know she can lay fairly close," Hennig said about the Gun Runner   filly.

The field also includes WinStar Farm and Tom Mueller's Margie's Intention , winner of this year's Black-Eyed Susan and third in the Alabama, and owner/trainer Linda Rice's Just Music , who was fifth in a Saratoga allowance optional claimer last time out.

Margie's Intention, Gun Song, and Majestic Oops are all cross-entered in the Delaware Handicap (G3) Sept. 28 at Delaware Park.