Top Three From Shuvee Meet Again in Beldame

Just more than two months ago Farrell, Wow Cat, and Verve's Tale were separated by a neck and a head in the Shuvee Stakes (G3) at Saratoga Race Course.

After that memorable July 29 race where Farrell edged Wow Cat by a neck, with Verve's Tale just a head behind the runner-up, those three horses will meet again in the $400,000 Beldame Stakes (G1) Oct. 6 at Belmont Park. The trio will be trying the same 1 1/8-mile distance, but at Belmont it's a one-turn race as opposed to Saratoga's two turns.

Saturday's winner will secure a milestone win as none of the eight fillies and mares entered has earned a previous North American grade 1 victory.

Coffeepot Stables' Farrell will be racing at Belmont for the first time and will try to bounce back from a fifth-place finish in the Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) Aug. 25 at Saratoga. The 4-year-old Malibu Moon  filly opened a clear advantage and held on in the Shuvee, but in the Personal Ensign she tracked horses early before fading.

Trained by Wayne Catalano, Farrell earned a grade 1 placing this year when she led the La Troienne Stakes presented by TwinSpires.com at Churchill Downs into the stretch before being passed late by Blue Prize. 

Like Farrell, Peter Brant and Stud Vendaval's Wow Cat also followed her Shuvee effort with a start in the Personal Ensign, where she earned a grade 1 placing by finishing third after racing fifth early. Still, the daughter of Lookin At Lucky  was well behind runner-up Elate and winner Abel Tasman.

Wow Cat earned a pair of group 1 wins last year in Chile before her U.S. campaign this year, which has seen her earn placings in the Shuvee and Personal Ensign for trainer Chad Brown.

With 21 starts, Charles Fipke homebred Verve's Tale boasts the most experience in the race. The 5-year-old Tale of Ekati  mare will be making her first start since the Shuvee, but the grade 3 winner has put together an impressive string of works at Belmont for trainer Barclay Tagg, who has enjoyed a fast start to the current meeting.

While Verve's Tale brings the experience, the promising Come Dancing will make her graded stakes debut after winning four of her first six starts, including a six-length score in the restricted Royal Delta Stakes Sept. 9 at Belmont in her first start beyond seven furlongs. The 4-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon is campaigned by Blue Devil Racing Stable and trained by Carlos Martin.

"She's running against some really good fillies. It's not an easy race, but it's a grade 1, so it's a good opportunity, especially being at home," Martin said. "It's definitely worth a chance, I think. I'm confident that our filly is going to show up again like when I stretched her out last time. I know she had everything her way, but she's really doing good at the right time."

Entries: Beldame S. (G1)

Belmont Park, Saturday, October 06, 2018, Race 8

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $400,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:25 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Dreamcall (KY)	Joel Rosario	123	Steven M. Asmussen	12/1
2	2Teresa Z (KY)	Joe Bravo	123	Anthony R. Margotta, Jr.	10/1
3	3Divine Miss Grey (KY)	Junior Alvarado	123	Danny Gargan	7/2
4	4Come Dancing (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	123	Carlos F. Martin	6/1
5	5Verve's Tale (KY)	Manuel Franco	123	Barclay Tagg	9/2
6	6Wow Cat (CHI)	Jose L. Ortiz	123	Chad C. Brown	5/2
7	7Berned (KY)	Dylan Davis	123	H. Graham Motion	8/1
8	8Farrell (KY)	Channing Hill	123	Wayne M. Catalano	5/1