Havre de Grace may have earned herself a trip to the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) next month when she absolutely dominated her four rivals in the Beldame Stakes (gr. I) this afternoon at Belmont Park.
Under Ramon Dominguez, the 2-5 favorite -- who was coming off of a victory in the The Woodward Stakes (gr. I) last month at Saratoga -- broke quickly and settled into third as last year's Beldame winner Life At Ten opened up a clear advantage down the backstretch. Sitting in second was longshot Banker's Buy, with Royal Delta in fourth and Satan's Quick Chick trailing the field. Banker's Buy quickly dropped out of contention, leaving Havre de Grace and Royal Delta to wear down Life At Ten on their own. They did so quickly, with Havre de Grace coasting past on the far outside and Royal Delta shooting through on the rail. But Life At Ten suddenly found another gear and coasted away once more, opening up a two-length lead. But around the turn Havre de Grace and Royal Delta bid together and put away the defending Beldame winner once and for all.
Entering the homestretch, Havre de Grace put away her younger rival with ease and began to draw off under absolutely no urging. Royal Delta gamely gave chase, but simply had nothing more to give. Havre de Grace hit the wire eight, perhaps even ten lengths in front while stopping the clock in 1:49 3/5. Royal Delta was much the best of the rest, while Satan's Quick Chick, Banker's Buy, and Life At Ten completed the order of finish.
One race prior, Uncle Mo turned in perhaps the greatest performance of his career in the Kelso Handicap (gr. II). Facing only three rivals, he quickly took the lead and led all the way in gate-to-wire fashion. What was most impressive was the way in which he won the race. He set solid fractions of :23 2/5, :45 flat, and 1:09 1/5 before coasting home three lengths in front to stop the clock -- over a muddy track -- in 1:33.89. Spectacular. Jackson Bend made a strong move to threaten on the turn, but just couldn't match strides with the superstar and settled for second, 8 1/2 lengths clear of Jersey Town. Golddigger's Boy trailed the field.
The next race on the card is the Jockey Club Gold Cup, where Stay Thirsty is currently the even-money favorite of the 5-2 entry of Flat Out and Birdrun. However, Flat Out is the favorite in the pick-4 pool and only slightly behind Stay Thirsty in the pick-3 pool, so I expect that the odds will even out shortly.
-Keelerman
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