John Oxley's La Coronel will seek her fourth stakes victory when she takes on a field of eight competitors in the $400,000 Sands Point Stakes (G2T) contested at 1 1/8 miles over Belmont Park's inner turf course Sept. 16.
After a promising 2-year-old season that included a 4 1/4-length win in the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland, the daughter of Colonel John finished second by a neck in her 2017 debut in the Florida Oaks (G3T) at Tampa Bay Downs March 11. She won the Appalachian Stakes Presented by Japan Racing Association (G3T) back at at Keeneland April 13 and the Edgewood Stakes Presented by Forcht Bank (G3T) at Churchill Downs May 5.
Trainer Mark Casse then set his sights on Royal Ascot, where La Coronel finished fifth in the Coronation Stakes (G1) June 23. In her return to North America, she finished fourth in the Lake Placid (G2T) Aug. 19 at Saratoga Race Course. Norman Casse, assistant and son of Mark, said the multiple graded stakes winner wasn't herself last time out.
"Going into the Lake Placid, we were a little bit concerned that we didn't have her 100% cranked. I think our fears were justified," Norman Casse said. "Probably she needed the race, and more importantly she really let the paddock overwhelm her a little bit over at Saratoga. We thought she got worked up."
Norman Casse said La Coronel was shipped to Belmont early to get her more comfortable with her surroundings before the race.
"She is going to school the next two days, get acclimated there, and should run much better on Saturday," he said Sept. 13.
Trainer Chad Brown will send out a trio of talented 3-year-old fillies in the Sands Point. Coming off a second-place finish in the Lake Placid is Uni, a chestnut daughter of More Than Ready who has made two appearances in the United States after she started her career in France, where she raced six times and won twice.
Brown also entered Peter Brant's Fifty Five, a consistent bay filly who has hit the board in all eight of her starts, including a third-place finish in the Lake George (G3T) last time out. She defeated La Coronel in the Florida Oaks.
Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence's Inflexibility is Brown's third entry. The Canadian-bred Scat Daddy filly returns to Belmont, where she broke her maiden May 4. Since then, she has run in three races at Woodbine, where she finished third in the Woodbine Oaks and Queen's Plate before she took the Wonder Where Stakes July 30.
Belmont Park, Saturday, September 16, 2017, Race 9Entries: Sands Point S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Bonita Bianca (NY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 116 Rudy R. Rodriguez 2/1 2 2Fifty Five (NY) Joe Bravo 118 Chad C. Brown 12/1 3 3La Coronel (KY) Jose Lezcano 118 Mark E. Casse 4/1 4 4Fault (KY) Flavien Prat 118 Michelle Lovell 15/1 5 5Chastise (KY) Luis Saez 116 Todd A. Pletcher 10/1 6 6Uni (GB) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 116 Chad C. Brown 3/1 7 7Empressof the Nile (KY) Dylan Davis 116 H. James Bond 20/1 8 8Vue Fantastique (FR) Manuel Franco 118 Fabrice Chappet 7/2 9 9Defiant Honor (KY) Nik Juarez 116 James J. Toner 5/1 10 10Inflexibility (ON) Javier Castellano 116 Chad C. Brown 6/1
