Laurelin in The Saratoga Oaks, Credit Chelsea Durand
Christian Abdo
Newstead Stables’ Grade 1-placed Laurelin will embark on her 4-year-old campaign in Sunday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Beaugay, a 1 1/16-mile outer turf test for older fillies and mares, at Belmont at the Big A.
Trained by Graham Motion, the daughter of Zarak started 5-for-5 before a pair of runner-up finishes to cap her sophomore season. Laurelin began her career with a trio of starts at Aqueduct, successfully debuting at 1 1/16 miles in October 2024 and following one month later with a half-length win in the one-mile Tepin over Five G, who subsequently won the Cash Run at Gulfstream Park.
Laurelin returned for her 3-year-old debut victoriously in the one-mile Listed Memories of Silver last April here, ahead of wins in the one-mile Penn Oaks and 1 3/16-mile Grade 2 Saratoga Oaks Invitational at their namesake ovals.
Next making her top-level debut, Laurelin was beaten 1 1/4-lengths by Lush Lips in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October at Keeneland. She exited to finish a half-length second to Grade 1-winner Fionn last out in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Jockey Club Oaks on November 15 here.
“I still think ultimately she probably is going to want to go a little farther, but there’s a lot of appeal to the Beaugay. She always runs so well up there,” said Motion, who won this event in 2011 with Daveron.
Laurelin worked a half-mile in 51.80 seconds, over the turf and around the dogs, in company with No Show Sammy Jo on Friday at Fair Hill. That workmate is a leading contender in this Friday’s 11-furlong Grade 3, $175,000 Sheepshead Bay here.
“It was a nice work. The time will come across as slow because they were around the cones on the turf course, way outside on the track, but they went really nicely,” Motion said.
The Irish-bred Laurelin [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche], a $169,488 purchase from Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale out of the winning Cape Cross mare Bari, is maturing nicely, according to Motion.
“She’s trained well. I was glad to give her the winter off. There’s no reason she shouldn’t come back better this year, in theory, being a year older,” Motion said. “She’s trained equally as well as last year. It’s always extra pressure when you go and win that many early. I don’t think I’ve ever had a filly start 5-for-5.”
Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown is in search of a record-extending eighth win in this event and sends out last year’s Beaugay victor Dynamic Pricing [post 1, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] and a relative newcomer in City Girl [post 2, Flavien Prat].
Brown’s past Beaugay scores also include Waterway Run [2014], A Raving Beauty [2018], Homerique [2019], Rushing Fall [2020], Rougir [2022] and Marketsegmentation [2023].
Klaravich Stables’ Dynamic Pricing, a Grade 1-winning daughter of Night of Thunder, seeks a title defense after winning this event last year by a half-length over Edict. The bay exited for her biggest career win, capturing the one-mile Grade 1 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing over yielding footing during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
Dynamic Pricing next ran third in the Grade 1 Dunkin’ Diana over nine panels of good Spa turf ahead of a one-length score in the one-mile Listed Perfect Sting in August there. She wrapped up her past campaign with an off-the board effort in the Grade 1 First Lady in October at Keeneland, returning this year with a close fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on April 11 there.
Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and Michael Kisber’s City Girl has made two stateside outings and starts for Brown. The 5-year-old City Light bay was a closing third in a 1 1/16-mile optional claimer in February at Tampa Bay Downs before capturing a similar tilt last out on March 29 there. Both performances returned 80 Beyers.
City Girl made her six previous starts in her native France for conditioner Louis Baudron, capped by a stakes runner-up effort in the Prix Caravelle Haras des Granges in April 2024 at Toulouse ahead of a nearly two-year layoff until returning at Tampa.
Rounding out the field is Gary Barber’s Grade 2-placed Mo Fox Givin [post 5, John Velazquez] for dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse – Casse and Barber teamed up for an upset win with Blackmail on Saturday here in the $150,000 Woodhaven – stakes-placed New York-bred Racing Colors [post 4, Dalila Rivera] for trainer Norman Follett and maiden winner Shore War [post 3, Jaime Rodriguez] for conditioner Amelia Green.
The Beaugay is slated as Race 8 and is one of three $175,000 Grade 3s on Sunday’s 12-race card, along with the Westchester [Race 7] and Vagrancy [Race 10]. The card adds the Listed $150,000 License Fee [Race 11] and first post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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