Concrete Rose, Newspaperofrecord Meet Again at Belmont
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Photo: Ryan Thompson
Concrete Rose after winning the Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs
Rain can dampen anyone's Fourth of July holiday, but, in particular, the connections of 3-year-old filly Concrete Rose are hoping that forecasts calling for scattered thunderstorms July 6 in Elmont, N.Y., do not amount to much at all.
Concrete Rose, owned by Ashbrook Farm and BBN Racing and trained by Rusty Arnold, has four wins in five starts, with three of the victories coming in graded stakes. The lone blemish on her résumé is an eighth behind Newspaperofrecord in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) at Churchill Downs while racing on yielding turf for the first time.
Though she has won on turf courses listed as good, her experience in the bog at Churchill illustrates why there will be smiles if the skies remain sunny for the Twirling Candy daughter's rubber match with Newspaperofrecord at Belmont Park in Saturday's $750,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T), the demanding 1 1/4-mile opening leg of the New York Racing Association's Turf Tiara series that attracted nine 3-year-old fillies.
Concrete Rose and Newspaperofrecord met for a second time beneath the Twin Spires when Arnold's filly registered a convincing 3 3/4-length victory over her rival in the May 3 Edgewood Stakes Presented by Forcht Bank (G3T) on a course labeled as good.
"She had one bad race, and there were a lot of reasons for that," Arnold said after the Edgewood. "We ran her back pretty quick, she's matured a lot at 3, and ran a good race. I would have preferred for it not to have rained. But this turf is really fresh, we've only run on it three days. We got in on it in a lot better spot than last fall."
After closing her 2-year-old campaign at the Breeders' Cup, the Kentucky-bred opened 2019 with a half-length victory in the Florida Oaks (G3T) at Tampa Bay Downs that put her on edge for her sharp effort in the Edgewood.
"She's improved from 2 to 3, but we had a little edge on Newspaperofrecord last time out," Arnold said. "We got a race in at Tampa, and Newspaperofrecord was coming off a longer layoff, so the edge went to us. Now, (Newspaperofrecord) has two races into her and we have two races in us, so it's a different ballgame now."
After she RNA'd for $19,000 at the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Concrete Rose sold for $20,000 to JW Bloodstock from the Lane's End consignment to the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She then went to David Ingordo for $61,000 from the White Pine Thoroughbreds consignment to the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
Bred by Ron Patterson, the daughter of the Powerscourt mare Solerina will be racing beyond 1 1/16 miles for the first time.
Klaravich Stables' Newspaperofrecord gave away an edge in conditioning in the Edgewood, where she made her 3-year-old debut for trainer Chad Brown and suffered her first loss in four career starts. The speedy daughter of Lope de Vega set the pace in the Edgewood, reeling off a :47.87 opening half-mile while on a clear lead but could not withstand Concrete Rose's stretch bid and finished second as a 1-5 favorite.
The frontrunning Breeders' Cup winner returned in the 1 1/8-mile Wonder Again Stakes (G3T) at Belmont, where she was a 1-9 choice and again set the early pace with an opening half in :48.58 on firm turf but was caught late by stablemate Cambier Parc and settled for second once again.
Bred by Times of Wigan and consigned by Goldford Stud at the 2017 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Newspaperofrecord sold for $278,019 to Klaravich Stables and has already earned $795,750.
OXO Equine's Cambier Parc, a $1.25 million buy at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from Gainesway's consignment, will also welcome firm going.
After Cambier Parc finished fourth on a muddy main track in her Nov. 3 debut at Aqueduct Racetrack, Brown switched the Medaglia d'Oro filly to grass, and she won a maiden race and the Herecomesthebride Stakes (G3T) on firm going at Gulfstream Park. She was then fourth, beaten 6 1/2 lengths by Concrete Rose, on good turf in the Edgewood before rebounding with her third win in five starts in the Wonder Again.
Bred in Kentucky by Bonne Chance Farm, she is out of 2007 Canadian Horse of the Year Sealy Hill, a daughter of Point Given.
Brown, who has won the Belmont Oaks five times the past seven years, will also be represented by Peter Brant's Cafe Americano, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro who is 2-for-2 off allowance optional claiming and maiden turf wins. Bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm, she was purchased by Brant's White Birch Farm for $625,000 from the St George Sales consignment at the 2017 Keeneland September sale.
The field includes four 3-year-olds who are making their first U.S. start, including Tadakazu Obama's Jodie, who is grade 2-placed in Japan. Trained by Hirofumi Toda, she was last seen finishing 14th in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1) at 1 1/2 miles but was third before that, beaten just a half-length, in the Sankei Sports Sho Flora Stakes (G2) at 1 1/4 miles on the turf.
"She ran 2,000 meters at Tokyo Racecourse in a group 2 and finished third, so I don't have any issue with the distance," Toda said through an interpreter about the daughter of Daiwa Major, who owns two wins in nine starts and figures to be among the early leaders Saturday. "She is very good at racing left-handed, as it is here at Belmont, and that is more important than the distance."
The European contingent includes Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Mrs. John Magnier's Coral Beach, a daughter of Zoffany who was a group 3 winner at 2 but is winless in three 2019 starts for trainer Aidan O'Brien.
From the same connections, O'Brien is also sending out Just Wonderful, a Dansili filly who was a group 2 winner at 2 and fourth—7 3/4 lengths behind Newspaperofrecord—in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Yet in three 2019 starts, she has finished no better than sixth.
Olendon is a recent purchase by Wonder Stables, Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, Chris Mara, and Rob Masiello who was second—a length behind Siyarafina—in the Saxon Warrior Coolmore Prix Saint Alary (G1) at Longchamp May 26 while racing 1 1/4 miles.
The daughter of Le Havre will race Saturday under the name of trainer Pascal Bary, but Kumin said after the race she will be transferred to Brown and continue racing in the United States.
The Belmont Oaks will be the seventh race of the day and can seen on NBC with an approximate post time of 4:30 p.m. ET.
The other two legs of the Turf Tiara are the $750,000 Saratoga Oaks Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course and the $750,000 Jockey Club Oaks Sept. 7 back at Belmont.
Belmont Park, Saturday, July 06, 2019, Race 7Entries: Belmont Oaks Invitational S. (G1T)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Olendon (FR)
John R. Velazquez
121
Pascal F. Bary
9/2
2
2Newspaperofrecord (IRE)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
121
Chad C. Brown
5/2
3
3Coral Beach (IRE)
Michael Hussey
121
Aidan P. O'Brien
15/1
4
4Concrete Rose (KY)
Julien R. Leparoux
121
George R. Arnold, II
3/1
5
5Cafe Americano (KY)
Javier Castellano
121
Chad C. Brown
12/1
6
6Just Wonderful (KY)
Wayne Lordan
121
Aidan P. O'Brien
6/1
7
7Jodie (JPN)
Miyabi Muto
121
Hirofumi Toda
20/1
8
8Dyna Passer (KY)
Joel Rosario
121
Thomas Albertrani
30/1
9
9Cambier Parc (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
121
Chad C. Brown
4/1
