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

Photo by 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. 
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

Photo by NYRA/Susie Raisher