Belle Gallantey Wire to Wire in Beldame
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Former claimer Belle Gallantey continued her grade I success Sept. 27, taking the $400,000 Beldame Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park in an impressive wire-to-wire romp .
The 5-year-old daughter of After Market rebounded from a sixth in the Aug. 22 Personal Ensign Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga Race Course, that disappointment coming after she broke through July 12 to take the Delaware Handicap (gr. I) for her first stakes score.
The Beldame was the second stakes victory for trainer Rudy Rodriguez on Belmont's Super Saturday card. He took the $400,000 Kelso Handicap (gr. II) with Vyjack one race prior.
"It's very, very special," Rodriguez said. "We're working very hard with these kinds of horses, and thank God they did it. I don't know what to tell you. I'm speechless."
Racing for Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stable, and Gary Aisquith, Belle Gallantey easily managed her rivals from the start, breaking alertly from the outside post 7 to set opening fractions of :24.18 and :47.51 while clear by about two lengths under jockey Jose Ortiz.
"I told Jose, 'You've got the outside and you've got the option to see what everyone else is doing, so take it from there. If they leave you alone, take it,' ” Rodriguez said. “I think she's a pretty versatile filly where she can sit and come from behind. When they left them alone and they went [the first quarter] in :24.18, I was very happy. She's a very nice filly and she showed it today."
Stopchargingmaria, favored at 3-2, tracked along in second and looked poised to make a move as three-quarters went in 1:11.20, but could not make a dent in Belle Gallantey's advantage. Coming down off the turn en route to clocking a 1:35.03 mile, the eventual winner drew off to an 8 1/4-length victory. She completed the Beldame's 1 1/8 miles around one turn in 1:47.55.
"She's improved a lot since Rudy has had her,” Ortiz said. “He has to get all the credit, and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to ride her.
"I just put my hands down and was a passenger. As soon as I went to the lead she relaxed really well. Rudy told me she was 100%, and I always trust him. When we went to the quarter pole I had a lot of horse, so I knew I had it."
"She really took off in the stretch," Rodriguez remarked. "She's nice. She's been very fun to have around."
Belle Gallantey returned $11.40, $4.90, and $4.40 at odds of 9-2 while Stopchargingmaria paid $3.40 and $3. Endless Chatter was third, worth $5, while Stanwyck, Fiftyshadesofhay, Toasting, and Oasis At Midnight completed the order of finish.
"The winner is tough when she gets things her way on the front end," said Todd Pletcher, trainer of Stopchargingmaria. "We tried to stay as close as we could without totally taking our filly out of her game, but we just kind of kept chasing the whole way."
The winner, who carried 123 pounds, was bred in Kentucky by Pam and Martin Wygod out of the Old Trieste mare Revealed. Her third dam is champion Meadow Star. Belle Gallantey was a $10,000 purchase by Mike Puhich at the 2010 Keeneland September yearling sale when consigned by Lane's End for her breeders, and pinhooked for $30,000 at the Pegasus Thoroughbreds 2-year-olds in training sale when sold to Stuart Carmichael and Peter Tom.
Belle Gallantey made her first three starts for Carmichael, Tom, and Glen Todd at Hastings Park in 2011. She was then purchased by North American Thoroughbred Racing Company to run at Santa Anita Park, where she was first claimed by S.A.Y. Racing and trainer Doug O'Neill for $20,000.
The hard-knocking mare made 11 starts for those connections until she was picked up by Bob Hess Jr. and Roddy Valente, who took her from California to run at Saratoga. Two starts later she went to David Cramer and Karl Grusmark, and by early 2013 she had changed hands once again, to Sunny Meadow Farm and Mitchell Freidman.
On Dec.19, Belle Gallantey finished dead last in a field of four going six furlongs on the inner dirt track at Aqueduct Racetrack. That's where she was claimed for $35,000 by Dubb and Rodriguez, for whom she has won five of seven starts—including the two grade I victories. The Beldame extended her record to 10-12-7 from 43 outings, pushing her career earnings to $1,111,270.