Judy the Beauty tops short field in Honorable Miss
July 30, 2015SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Wesley Ward brought the champion female sprinter Judy the Beauty back to the races this year primarily because the Breeders’ Cup is at Keeneland, where the 6-year-old mare has trained and excelled throughout her career. Judy the Beauty’s road to a repeat bid in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint will run through Saratoga, where she is expected to run twice, beginning with Wednesday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss Handicap at six furlongs. The Honorable Miss is a prep for the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 29.
Judy the Beauty is making just her second start of the year, her first being a neck loss to Dame Dorothy in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on May 2. “We got a little compromised by the weather because I left her at Keeneland all winter, and I couldn’t make [the Madison] at Keeneland in the spring so she ran on Derby Day,” Ward said. “Looking at the Breeders’ Cup, which is what we’re pointing for, I just thought, ‘Give her a little time, and go for these two races and into the Breeders’ Cup would be perfect spacing.’”
Judy the Beauty is scheduled to meet only four opponents in the Honorable Miss, chief among them La Verdad, a New York-bred multiple graded stakes winner. Last summer, La Verdad ran six times, winning five, before coming to Saratoga, where she finished fifth in the Honorable Miss and Ballerina. This year, La Verdad has won all three of her races by a combined 13 lengths. “Last year when we came to Saratoga, she was a little over the top,” trainer Linda Rice said. “This year, she’s in much better shape than what I had her last year, so we’ll hope for a different result.”
Completing the field are Street Story, second to Dame Dorothy in the Bed o’ Roses; Ultimate Shopper, an allowance winner at Gulfstream last out; and Enchantress, well beaten in three stakes this year. With a short field, the Honorable Miss is carded as the fourth race on the 10-race card which begins at 1 p.m. Eastern.
KEY CONTENDERS
Judy the Beauty (Last 3 Beyers: 92-95-95) Ward said Judy the Beauty has never been as sound as she is right now. “She’s coming into the race awesome,” he said. She has finished second in both her starts at at Saratoga, both in Grade 1 races, including a nose loss to Emma’s Encore in Prioress in 2012. “She ran some great races here and had a really nice work over the track,” Ward said. “We’re ready to go.” Joel Rosario, who has a win and three seconds in four rides aboard Judy the Beauty, gets the mount for first time in two years.
La Verdad (Last 3 Beyers: 101-101-94) Speedy filly has two graded stakes wins this year and had an easy time splashing to victory in New York-bred stakes. Worked a little slower than Rice would have liked last Saturday, going a half-mile in 48.65 seconds.