Clement, Brown Pair Off in Noble Damsel

It looks like double trouble for the other four trainers in Belmont Park’s Sept. 24 Noble Damsel Stakes (gr. IIIT) as trainers Christophe Clement and Chad Brown each have two entrants for the one-mile event for older fillies and mares.

The race is worth $200,000 and a graded stakes win, which none of the eight runners have on their resume just yet.

Either of Clement’s runners could take the Noble Damsel without raising an eyebrow. The French-bred Stormy Victoria was a close fifth behind Lexie Lou in Woodbine’s Nassau Stakes (Can-IIT) back in May and was second to the good Lady Lara in Saratoga Race Course’s De La Rose Stakes Aug. 6. She has made two other starts in North America since shipping from France, both wins on the turf at Belmont in allowance optional claiming races.

On the hedge is the Clement-trained Akatea, wearing Joe Allen’s familiar green and white silks. She cuts back a bit to a mile here from her three starts this year in the U.S. and also won at the allowance optional claiming level at Belmont this summer.

Brown will send out the dangerous Zindaya, who was trained by Clement last year. She’s 1-1-1 in three starts this year, all six-figure ungraded stakes at Belmont and Saratoga. Racing this season for e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, agent Mike Ryan paid $550,000 for her last year at the Keeneland November sale.

Brown also has the steady Mrs McDougal, a Medaglia d'Oro   filly that took on the best last time out in Saratoga’s Diana Stakes (gr. IT) and was hardly embarrassed finishing seventh, beaten 4 1/4 lengths by the Brown-trained Dacita(Chi), Recepta, and Rainha Da Bateria, who won last weekend’s Canadian Stakes (Can-IIT) at Woodbine.

Adding to the double theme is state-breds, as two of the four remaining runners are New York-breds. The Tea Cups likes the distance but was ninth in her only graded stakes appearance. The 7-year-old Mah Jong Maddnes returns off nine days rest for trainer John Morrison. Very Un Stable’s homebred daughter of Freud won the Mount Vernon Stakes for state-breds on the turf in 2014 and was second in the Mount Vernon in May 2015.