Wedding Toast Coasts in Beldame, Distaff on Tap

Wedding Toast (above) was one of several big winners on Saturday's card at Belmont Park, which featured two Breeders' Cup Challenge Series "Win and You're In" races. (Photo by Adam Coglianese/NYRA)
Wedding Toast added yet another win to her improving résumé and her sparking record at Belmont Park when the 5-year-old Street Sense mare easily won the $400,000 Beldame Stakes on Saturday in her final prep for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Wedding Toast took the lead right out of the starting gate with Hot Stones in second and Curalina racing a close third. Setting early fractions of :24.11 and :47.57 with Hot Stones close behind, Wedding Toast inched away as the field entered the turn before Hot Stones and Curalina moved up to challenge with Catch My Drift launching a bid on the outside.
By the time the field entered the stretch, however, Wedding Toast and jockey Jose Lezcano were done playing games with the field and the duo pulled away to a commanding lead.
Curalina and Catch My Drift had a brief battle for second, making it look like that position might be in question, but that also was quickly decided by Curalina, who secured second place by five lengths, 3 ¼ lengths behind winner Wedding Toast. Catch My Drift was third with Call Pat fourth.
Wedding Toast covered the 1 1/8-mile distance in a time of 1:47.67 for her fourth career stakes win at Belmont. Three of her four career graded stakes victories came at Belmont, including the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes in June.
Wedding Toast went off as the race favorite at odds of 3-to-5 and gave trainer Kiaran McLaughlin his first win in the Grade 1 Beldame. Owned by Godolphin Racing, Wedding Toast has only finished off the board once in 12 starts with eight wins and more than $1.4-million in earnings after this victory.
WEDDING TOAST COASTS IN BELDAME

Video courtesy of NYRA
If two-time champion Beholder targets the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Wedding Toast looks to be one of the favorites in the Distaff, even though her lone start at the track was the only time she has finished outside the top three in a race.
“As good form as she’s in, she'll be able to handle two turns [in the Breeders' Cup Distaff]. She’s won at two turns,” McLaughlin said. “I don't say it very often, but I asked him [Jose Lezcano] not to give her a hard race if he didn't have to because she looked that good on paper. We have a big race in five weeks. Couldn't have asked for better, it really went perfect."
Wedding Toast paid $3.30 to win with the exacta with Curalina in second returning $4.30. 
Big Blue Kitten Shines in Joe Hirsch
Big Blue Kitten had punched his ticket to the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf in the United Nation Stakes earlier this year, but he made an extra reservation Saturday for the starting gate at Keeneland on Oct. 31 when he won the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, another "Win and You’re In" race for the Turf.
Stablemate Shining Copper took the lead right out of the gate as expected and opened up a large lead as the field galloped down the stretch for the first time as Big Blue Kitten was in the back of the field, about 17 lengths behind the leader. Big Blue Kitten had only one horse beat as they raced down the backstretch with Shining Copper not looking like he was going to let anyone catch him.
But as the field entered the far turn, Shining Copper’s lead was cut down to less than half a dozen lengths with Big Blue Kitten ranging up the outside of the field and taking over the lead near the top of the stretch. Big Blue Kitten opened up three lengths on the field but fellow Chad Brown trainee Slumber was able to cut the lead down to three-quarters of a length by the time they crossed the finish line. Twilight Eclipse finished another hard-luck third, which has been the theme of his career over the last few years.
Big Blue Kitten broke the course record for 1 1/2 miles at Belmont Park with a time of 2:23.39 when winning his fourth Grade 1 race. The win was the first in this race for trainer Brown and jockey Joe Bravo.
Owned and bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Big Blue Kitten has only made one appearance in the Breeders’ Cup, finishing eighth in 2013. 
BIG BLUE KITTEN ON TARGET FOR BREEDERS' CUP

Video courtesy of NYRA
Rock Fall Keeps His Win Streak Alive
In a competitive edition of the $400,000 Vosburgh Stakes in which the top four were separated by only about a length, Rock Fall punched his ticket to the TwinSpires.com Breeders’ Cup Sprint in a blazing time of 1:08.70.
Rock Fall was three wide along the backstretch, just about a length off the leading Wildcat Red through an opening quarter in :22.23. As the field exited the turn in the six-furlong race, jockey Javier Castellano gave Rock Fall a little more rein and the colt responded by accelerating, but it wasn’t enough to kick clear of the field.
Stallwalkin’ Dude continued to push Rock Fall from the outside down the stretch with the slow-starting Salutos Amigos making gigantic strides on the outside to catch the leaders and pull even with Stallwalkin’ Dude, who had dropped about a half-length behind Rock Fall. Salutos Amigos wasn’t the only late runner coming on, however, as Palace snuck up the rail to finish only about a length behind Rock Fall.
A photo was needed to separate the second- and third-place finishers and Salutos Amigos earned the place spot with Stallwalkin’ Dude relegated to third. Palace completed the superfecta.
Rock Fall, who stepped up to the graded stakes level at Belmont in the Truth North Stakes in June, has now won seven straight races including two Grade 1 races. His résumé this summer and fall puts him among the leaders of the male sprinter division and makes him one of the favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint to be held on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
Rock Fall went off at race-favorite odds of 2-to-5 in the Vosburgh and paid $2.80 to win.
ROCK FALL GAME IN VOSBURGH

Video courtesy of NYRA
La Verdad Gets Her Revenge
A year after finishing second in the $300,000 Gallant Bloom, La Verdad avenged that loss with a front-running victory in this year’s edition of the race.
After a first quarter fraction of :22.76 and a half-mile in :45.04, regular jockey Jose Ortiz confidently sat on the 5-year-old mare until the stretch, where he let her know it was time to run. Three other horses bunched up behind her and for a moment it looked like Wavell Avenue might have a chance to get to the leader. But La Verdad didn’t need to fight too hard to prevent her four race win-streak from coming to an end, beating Wavell Avenue by a half-length. Dame Dorothy finished third.
La Verdad paid $3.10 for a $2 win ticket as the overwhelming Beldame favorite.
LA VERDAD TAKES GALLANT BLOOM

Video courtesy of NYRA
Isotherm Warms Up in Pilgram
Isotherm had his connections biting their nails on Saturday when he was involved in a three-way photo finish for the $200,000 Pilgram Stakes victory but he prevailed in a thriller to give sire Lonhro his first 2-year-old stakes winner in North America.
Isotherm had only two horses beat early in the 1 1/16-mile race with pacesetter Next Shares running a :24.21 first quarter. Isotherm swung wide on the turn and made giant strides to get to the leaders a few yards before the finish line to win by a quarter-length in a time of 1:41.98.
Azar was second with Ray’s The Bar another quarter-length back in third.
Isotherm paid $21.20 to win on a $2 ticket.
ISOTHERM POWERFUL IN PILGRIM

Video courtesy of NYRA