Consumer Spending takes the Wonder Again (G2) June 9 at Belmont Park (Ryan Thompson)
By Keith McCalmont – NYRA Press Office
ELMONT, N.Y.— Trainer Chad Brown will saddle four significant starters in search of a record-extending sixth score in Sunday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Beaugay, a 1 1/16-mile Widener turf test for older fillies and mares, at Belmont Park.
Brown will send out Consumer Spending [post 2, Manny Franco] and Marketsegmentation [post 3, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] for owner Klaravich Stables, as well as Peter Brant’s Veronica Greene [post 6, Joel Rosario] and Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, First Row Partners and Michael J. Caruso’s Kalifornia Queen [post 5, Flavien Prat].
The four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer, who has won a record seven straight Belmont spring/summer meet titles, has previously captured the Beaugay with Waterway Run [2014], A Raving Beauty [2018], Homerique [2019], Rushing Fall [2020] and last year with Rougir.
Consumer Spending, a 4-year-old More Than Ready gray, rallied to capture the 1 1/16-mile Memories of Silver at Aqueduct Racetrack and nine-furlong Grade 2 Wonder Again at Belmont last year as part of a four-start campaign. She was last seen finishing fourth in the Grade 2 Lake Placid on August 20 at Saratoga Race Course.
Marketsegmentation, a 4-year-old American Pharoah bay, boasts a consistent record of 5-3-1-1 – all in turf starts traveling 1 1/16-miles. She returned off a two-month layoff to win an optional-claimer on New Year’s Eve at Gulfstream Park ahead of a close third behind returning rival Surprisingly in the Grade 3 Endeavour on February 4 at Tampa Bay Downs. Last out, she closed from seventh to take the Sand Springs by a neck on April 1 at Gulfstream.
Veronica Greene enters from a visually-appealing 1 1/2-length score in a one-mile turf allowance on April 8 at the Big A, rallying from 13 lengths off the pace to secure the win. The 4-year-old Tapit bay graduated at fourth asking in September at Bemont at the Big A ahead of a third-place finish in the Winter Memories in November to close out her sophomore season.
The 6-year-old veteran Kalifornia Queen, a Group 2-winner in her native Germany, sports a ledger of 16-3-2-5 for purse earnings of $290,378. The Lope de Vega chestnut won her lone start over the Belmont turf here last year, closing to capture a 1 1/16-mile optional-claimer by 1 1/2-lengths.
Phipps Stable’s Kentucky homebred Surprisingly [post 8, Junior Alvarado] has won 4-of-8 starts led by a score in the Grade 3 Endeavour two starts back at Tampa for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.
Last out, the 4-year-old Mastery filly finished a close third in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Hillsborough, landing just 1 1/2-lengths back of the victorious Grade 1-winner Shantisara.
“I thought her win at Tampa was a good race,” McGaughey said. “Even her race back the next time was a good race. She just got stuck in on the inside and couldn’t get out until too late. She finished well. I thought about taking her down to Churchill Downs and running her in the Modesty, but it’s a lot easier to put the bridle on her and lead her down the street than ship her all the way to Kentucky.”
McGaughey said the strong Florida efforts and a first crack over the sweeping turns at Belmont should benefit Surprisingly.
“She’s run on any kind of turf course, but I do think she’ll like this big Widener turf course here where they’re not spinning around as fast,” McGaughey said.
The well-bred bay is out of the McGaughey-trained Arch mare Vagabond, who is a half-sister to graded-stakes winner Great Island.
“It’s always special to try and win one for the Phipps family,” McGaughey said. “It’s a great pedigree on the bottom side, some of which we’ve had. Vagabond had some little problems that got in her way or she would have been better than her record shows. I think she’s going to make a really nice broodmare.”
Bobby Flay’s Kentucky-homebred Contemporary Art [post 4, Jose Ortiz] will look to make the grade for four-time Beaugay-winning trainer Christophe Clement.
“It’s a little ambitious but we have an owner who loves to compete in stakes in New York, so why not,” Clement said. “She’s beautifully bred and she’s done well. She’s a well-made filly with a lot of quality.”
The 4-year-old Dubawi bay, out of the graded-stakes winning Fastnet Rock mare Cover Song, made her first three starts for Brown led by a second-out graduation last June here traveling nine furlongs over firm footing. She completed her sophomore campaign in August with a pacesetting fourth in the Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational.
Contemporary Art made her Clement debut a winning one, closing from seventh to capture a 1 1/16-mile optional-claimer over firm Gulfstream turf on March 26 besting next-out allowance winner Fuente Ovejuna.
Clement said Contemporary Art could lay a little closer on Sunday.
“You get a little more pace at Gulfstream, so it’s easier to do it [close] over there, but I think she’s versatile enough that Jose will be able to do what he wants,” Clement said.
The Estate of Robert Amendola’s Evvie Jets [post 1, Eric Cancel] has finished first or second in each of her last seven starts, including wins over the Big A turf in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel in October and the Plenty of Grace last out on April 16.
Trained by Mertkan Kantarmaci, the 5-year-old Twirling Candy mare led gate-to-wire in the one-mile Plenty of Grace to secure the neck win while racing from a five-month layoff.
Rounding out the field is stakes-winner Finest Work [post 7, John Velazquez], who was last seen finishing fourth in the Forever Together in November at Aqueduct for trainer George Weaver.
The Beaugay is slated as Race 3 on Sunday’s card, which also features the $150,000 License Fee in the Race 9 nightcap. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.
