Undefeated New York-bred Victorious by a Nose under Joel Rosario. (Susie Raisher)
Christian Abdo
Bret Jones’ Libby Lloyd made a strong first impression with a debut win at Saratoga Race Course and looks to build upon the dominant performance in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Frizette, a one-turn mile for juvenile fillies, at Belmont Park.
The Frizette is a part of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Dozen series for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland. The nominated winner of the Frizette will receive a credit of $30,000 toward entry fees, with second and third places receiving credits of $15,000 and $7,500, respectively. The Frizette also offers qualifying points to the top-five finishers on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.
Trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, who took this event in 2017 with Separationofpowers, Libby Lloyd drew off in her lone start by 10 lengths in a six-furlong maiden on August 15 at the Spa.
There, the Into Mischief bay took early command through a quarter-mile in 22.37 seconds over the fast dirt, extending her lead at each point of call to prove much-the-best in a final time of 1:10.80. The performance earned a co-field best 78 Beyer Speed Figure.
“We were hopeful. She trained quite well and we were hopeful that she would win, I’ll tell you that,” Brown said. “The way she did it, we were more than pleased with that.”
Libby Lloyd [post 4, Flavien Prat] has breezed back five times, most recently covering a half-mile in 47.65 in her first ever work over the Belmont Park main track.
“She looks good,” Brown said. “I got her to Belmont a little bit earlier because my gut told me to get her a work over this track. That filly excelled on the main track at Saratoga in her training, not as much on the training track, so when they closed the main track, I felt keeping her on a bigger track is better for her to train. I brought her to the main track at Belmont, and she breezed beautifully. I was really pleased with it.”
Bred by the Estate of Brereton C. Jones, Libby Lloyd is out of the Brown-trained Grade 2-placed Proud Citizen mare Indian Pride – a half-sister to Canada’s 2010 Horse of the Year Biofuel. She is named after owner Bret Jones’ mother, Elizabeth Lloyd Jones, and is a half-sister to Grade 1-placed stakes-winner Publisher.
Winning Move Stable, Sabby Racing, IEE Racing, Sanford Robbins and Silverwood Stables’ New York-bred Velora [post 7, Manny Franco] is a perfect 2-for-2 and the lone stakes winner in the field.
Trained by Linda Rice, Velora tries open company off a 2 1/4-length score in the six-furlong state-bred Seeking the Ante on September 4 at Saratoga. There, the Yaupon dark bay stalked in a close second position under Jose Ortiz through the half-mile in 46.13, edging clear under a drive to defeat stakes-placed Prime Aurora in a final time of 1:10.56.
The performance earned a career and co-field best 78 Beyer, improving from a debut 64 when defeating state-bred maidens by 4 3/4 lengths over that same course and distance.
Bred by Vineyard Racing, Velora, a $300,000 purchase at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, is out of the winning Scat Daddy mare Scadadle – a half-sister to stakes-winner Zipp On By. Her third dam, Secret Soul Mate, is a half-sister to Grade 1-winning millionaire Vision and Verse and Grade 1-placed Distorted Legacy.
CJ Thoroughbreds and breeder John Ropes’ Revenge of the Sis [post 1, Edgard Zayas] debuted with a third in the one-mile Sorority at Monmouth Park. Trained by George Weaver, the Girvin dark bay rallied from 10 lengths back in last-of-9 after a slow start to an eventual 6 3/4-length defeat to Emphatic, who is undefeated and nominated to the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland.
Revenge of the Sis, a $500,000 purchase at the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is a full-sister to the Weaver-trained Grade 1-winner Dorth Vader out of the stakes-placed Yonaguska mare Hardcore Candy.
“I think Dorth Vader had a little more gate speed. Revenge of the Sis is a little slower out of the gate, at least so far, but they’re similar mentally,” Weaver said. “Those are big shoes to fill, so we’ll just see. It’s early days.”
HorseOlogy Racing, Copper Thoroughbreds, John Grossi’s Racing Corp and Reed Margaret Stars Aligned Racing Stable’s Girls Wear Pearls [post 3, Jose Morelos] steps up in class from a third-out graduation in her dirt debut on August 22 at Del Mar. Trained by Jena Antonucci, the Hard Spun bay traveled a prominent trip to capture the 5 1/2-furlong maiden by one length after making two prior starts over the same distance on the Spa’s Mellon turf in July.
“She doesn’t have to gun it, she has sat off the pace and made nice closing runs on the grass,” Antonucci said. “Out in California, that happened organically, so it’ll be up to her to break and relax and learn to stretch.”
Girls Wear Pearls, a $125,000 purchase at the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of the winning Graydar mare Pearl Heist, is a half-sister to active dual stakes-placed turf sprinter Beach Heist for trainer Will Walden.
“The biggest reason we had started her on the grass was her half-sister that Will Walden has is a nice little turf filly, and Hard Spuns can go both ways, so it was just a little easier on her getting going on the grass,” said Antonucci. “We weren’t ever totally convinced she had to be a grass horse – everyone was obviously excited with the win and we had a lot of good jockey feedback, so I think she will relax and stretch out just fine.”
R. Lee Lewis and Lexi Lewis’ Rum Twist [post 6, Paco Lopez] graduated third-out by 5 3/4 lengths going seven furlongs on September 5 at Saratoga. Trained by Mark Hennig, the Mandaloun bay earned a co-field best 78 Beyer, improving from a second to Grade 1-placed Angel of Kirk in her July debut there ahead of a fourth to Grade 1-winner Summer Starlet in August.
Rum Twist, a $260,000 purchase from the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, is out of the winning Congrats mare Rumandice and her second dam, Grade 3-placed Chasethegold, is a half-sister to Grade 1-winners Daredevil and Albertus Maximus.
Rounding out the field are maiden winners She’s a Twelve [post 2, Dylan Davis] for conditioner Kelly Breen and Dotsy [post 5, Kendrick Carmouche] for trainer John Grabowski.
The Frizette is slated as Race 9 on Saturday’s 11-race card, which includes Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” events in the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne [Juvenile] in Race 8, Grade 2, $250,000 Pilgrim [Juvenile Turf] in Race 11, Grade 2, $250,000 Miss Grillo [Juvenile Fillies Turf] in Race 7, and Grade 3, $200,000 Futurity [Juvenile Turf Sprint] in Race 10. The card is supported by the Grade 3, $200,000 Matron in Race 6. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern.
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