Braverthanubelieve rolls in the NYSS Fifth Avenue, NYRA Photo
Keith McCalmont
Tristar Farm’s Braverthanubelieve closed stoutly under Hall of Famer Joel Rosario to capture Saturday’s $500,000 Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series, a seven-furlong sprint for eligible New York-sired 2-year-old fillies, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by John Ortiz, the Honest Mischief dark bay remained undefeated in two starts, rallying past Daniella Marie and Hot Currency inside the final sixteenth to score by 1 1/4-lengths in her stakes debut.
Last year, progeny of Honest Mischief won both of the rich $500,000 NYSSS events with Stone Smuggler taking the Fifth Avenue and Sacrosanct capturing the Great White Way.
Ortiz said he told owner Glenn Lostritto that the talented Braverthanubelieve was ready to continue that trend while making her stakes debut despite having only just graduated in a six-furlong sprint for New York-bred fillies on November 22 here.
“That’s how high I thought about her,” Ortiz said. “ As good as she was training, I was like, ‘let’s go to the maiden, win, lose or draw, we were going to come here anyways.’ This was marked, planned and well-executed.
“We believed this filly was very special from the beginning,” Ortiz added. “She came to us at Saratoga and gave us a workout that we knew was not just a New York-bred, this was a competitive racehorse. She did get sick on us, we gave her the right time, brought her back correctly. She jumped right back into training like she never missed anything.”
Fancy Lights broke alertly and showed the way through splits of 22.56 seconds and 45.71 over the fast main track under pressure from Hot Currency with Daniella Marie in close watch to the outside.
Braverthanubelieve, who had stalked from fourth position, was tipped out late in the turn and came rolling with a wide run as Hot Currency and Daniella Marie took over from a retreating Fancy Lights. A gritty stretch battle ensued with Hot Currency and Daniella Marie dueling head and head with the former finally gaining command inside the final furlong, but there was no denying the sustained run from Braverthanubelieve, who took over inside the final sixteenth and stopped the clock in a final time of 1:23.92.
Rosario said he felt comfortable throughout aboard Braverthanubelieve.
“She actually moved really well,” Rosario said. “We were just waiting for the right time and I had to kind of get after her a bit. The other couple kept moving in front, but the whole time, it looked like I had horse. She ran a big race.
“The pace was good, and I was sitting in a good spot,” Rosario added. “I said, ‘hopefully when I ask her, she responds,’ and she did.”
It was 3 1/4-lengths back to Daniella Marie in third with Unmiztaken, Fancy Lights, Lifeisbutadream,Kaz Farm Girl, Greyjoy, Oh and Galileans Girl rounding out the order of finish. Hip Hop Dancer, Honest Reason and She’s Country were scratched.
Flavien Prat said the Linda Rice-trained runner-up Hot Currency was game in defeat to put away the Chad Summers-trained Daniella Marie.
“She ran a good race,” Prat said. “The winner made a late move and got us, but she ran great.”
Braverthanubelieve, out of the winning Teuflesberg mare Hundred Acre Wood, was a prominent winner of her debut over sloppy and sealed footing here, posting a half-length win that earned a 67 Beyer Speed Figure.
Bred in the Empire State by Paul Michael Giacopelli MD, Braverthanubelieve banked $275,000 in victory while improving her record to 2-2-0-0. She returned $18.18 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with an eight-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely in Race 7 and the $150,000 Garland of Roses in Race 6. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races presents live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
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