Lady Eli remains undefeated on big day at Belmont

Lady Eli celebrated Independence Day by keeping her undefeated streak alive with an impressive win in the $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park on July 4, 2015.

Coming out of the final turn four-wide under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Lady Eli rallied from seventh place in the 14-horse field of 3-year-olds, took over the lead in the final furlongs of the race and crossed the finish a 2-3/4-length winner over Itsonlyactingdad, while Outstanding (Ire) finished third, three-quarters of a length behind the second-place finisher.

Lady Eli, with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. riding, remained undefeated with an impressive win in the $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park on July 4, 2015. (Photo by Coglianese Photos)

"I had a perfect trip," said Ortiz. "We expected to have the best horse in the race, so that's why we saved ground the first half of the race. But after that, I know nobody noticed us, so I just took her out and looked behind, and before the half mile, I knew I had a lot of horse. Nobody put pressure on me and she took off."

Lady Eli ran the 1-1/4-mile turf race on the inner turf track rated firm in 1:59.27.

In the race, Lady Eli broke from the second gate and took up a position mid-pack close to the inside, while up front Lady Zuzu held the lead and led the field, with Pine Needles following closely behind.

Going into the first turn, Oritz moved Lady Eli to the outside to get her into a better position in the field, which would benefit her as the race progressed.

The field held steady going down the back stretch and into the final turn with Lady Zuzu leading the field through fractions of 22.93, 47.23, and 1:11.71.

Coming out of the final turn and heading into the stretch, Ortiz Jr. angled Lady Eli four-wide, then moved her a little further out to begin her charge to the front.

Meanwhile, Pine Needles took up the lead in the turn, with Lady ZuZu following close behind with thoughts of trying to recapture the lead further along, but that would not happen.

Soon, Lady Eli began to show she was the class of the field as she slowly caught up to the race leaders, passed them, and continued to widen her lead until crossing the line 2-3/4 lengths ahead of Itsonlyactingdad, who came from 10th place in the field to get up for the second-place finish.

Finishing third was Outstanding, followed by Santiero Italia, Strict Compliance, Consumer Credit, Sharla Rae, Miss Chatelaine, Pine Needles, Spanish Queen, Olorda (Ger), Lady Zuzu, Daring Duchess and Gypsy Judy.

"I was feeling a lot better once we got off the first turn and I saw Irad got outside, which is what I wanted to do," said winning trainer Chad Brown. "I didn't know how he was going to do it with the two-post, but I figured if the pace was quick enough – which it was – there'd be some separation and he could do it. That was our game plan and that was what happened once she got outside… I knew it wouldn't be the trip that got her beat."

Owned by Sheep Pond Partners, Lady Eli, a 3-year-old by Divine Park-Sacre Coeur, by Saint Ballado, now has six wins in as many starts, and $,449,800 in career earnings.

With the win under her belt, Brown spoke proudly of his filly and what she has accomplished.

"As we stretch out our turf horses, you wonder if they're going to lose their turn of foot," said winning trainer Chad Brown. "The term 'breathes different air' gets thrown around a lot when someone has a very good horse, and I've been lucky to have some great turf fillies and mares, but this one 'breathes different air' for sure. She certainly has the most devastating turn of foot I've ever worked around."

As for the race run by second-place finisher, Itsonlyactingdad, trainer Todd Pletcher said, "I was really pleased. I thought our filly ran really well. She kind of got squeezed from both sides leaving the gate and it caused her to get shuffled back a bit. I thought she closed really well. We were second best."

Lady Eli came into the race off a win in the Appalachian Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland on April 12, 2015.

Since the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes was a Breeders' Cup "Win & You're In" race, Lady Eli earned an automatic spot in the Breeders' Cup Filly &Mare Turf (G1T) on Oct. 31 at Keeneland. She was the winner of the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) last year.

As to possible upcoming races prior to the Breeders' Cup, Brown said, "We'll have to take a look at (the schedule). We have the Lade Placid (G2) at Saratoga (Aug. 14) if we wanted to keep her against straight 3-year-olds fillies. We also have the Beverly D (G1) (at Arlington Park on Aug. 15) if we want to look at bigger goals and run her against older fillies and mares. We could also wait until the Breeders' Cup (to run her against older), because we have the Queen Elizabeth (G1) right at Keeneland (on Oct. 10), where the Breeders' Cup is being held. Her next major is the Queen Elizabeth. How we get there, we'll have to talk about it."

In other races at Belmont on a great day of stakes races…

* Speightster spoiled the return of Texas Red, who missed the Triple Crown season because of injury, in the $500,000 Dwyer Stakes (G3).

With jockey Jose Lezcano riding, Speightster stalked race leader Hollywood Angel early on before taking the lead near the quarter pole and going on to a 2-1/2 length win over Texas Red, who came from sixth to get up for second place.

Finishing third in the seven-horse field in a race for 3-year olds was Tommy Macho.

Speightster, who is by Speightstown-Dance Swiftly, by Danzig ran the one-mile dirt race on a track rated fast in 1:35.13.

Owned by WinStar Farm and trained by Bill Mott, Speightster remained undefeated with three wins in three starts and $368,800 in career earnings.

* Effinex, who was ridden by jockey Junior Alvarado, held on for a head victory over Tonalist in an exciting finish in the $500,000 Suburban Handicap (G2). Coach Inge finishing third, just behind the second-place finisher.

Effinex, a 4-year-old by Mineshaft-What a Pear, by E Dubai, ran the 1-1/4-mile race for 4-year-olds on the dirt in 2:01.55.

Owned by Tri-Bone Stables and trained by James Jerkens, Effinex now has six wins, one second, two thirds and $782,250 in earnings in 16 career starts.

* Force the Pass, who was ridden by jockey Joel Rosario, scored a 3-3/4-length win in the $125 million Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) over Canndal (Fr), while Startup Nation finished third in the race for 3-year-olds.

Force the Pass, who is by Speightstown-Social Queen, by Dynaformer, ran the 1-1/4-mile turf race in 2:01.16.

Owned by Richard Santulli and trained by Alan Goldberg, Force the Pass now has four wins, two seconds and $1,030,084 in earnings in six career starts.

* Private Zone, who was ridden by Martin Pedroza, went gate-to-wire to win the $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes (G3) by 3-1/4 lengths over Cleary Now.

Finishing third in the five-horse field for 3-year-olds and up was Stallwalkin' Dude, with Green Gratto fourth and C. Zee fifth.

Private Zone, who is by Macho Uno-Auburn Beauty, by Siphon (Brz), finished the seven-furlong dirt race in 1:22.57.

Owned by Good Friends Stable and trained by Jorge Navarro, 6-year-old Private Zone now has nine wins, eight seconds, three thirds and $2,233,120 in earnings in 29 career starts.

(Information provided by EquiBase.com, BloodHorse.com, NYRA.com, and PedigreeQuery.com.)