Aqueduct: Majestic Oops looks to turn tables on Randomized

Majestic Oops looks to turn the tables on dual Grade 1-winner Randomized in Friday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame, a nine-furlong test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up, at Belmont at the Big A. 

Trained by Dan Ward, Majestic Oops won three of her last five starts, adding a pair of graded placings including a three-length runner-up effort to Randomized in the 1 1/16-mile Molly Pitcher (G3) on July 19 at Monmouth Park. There, the 5-year-old Majestic Harbor bay stalked the pace and launched a three-wide bid to chase the pacesetting Randomized, which earned Majestic Oops a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form. 

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Majestic Oops validated that performance when cutting back to seven furlongs in the Ballerina (G1) last out Aug. 23 at Saratoga, rallying for a six-length third to the favored Hope Road at odds of 13-1. 

“The Molly Pitcher was a tough test, a half-million dollar race against some Grade 1-winning horses, and she ran really well,” Ward said. “We were going to wait out the time until the Beldame, but the Ballerina was right in the middle and she got a good race that served its purpose. It was seven-eighths, between races, with five weeks until the Beldame.” 

Majestic Oops’s  trio of wins this year includes the one-mile Dig A Diamond in April at Oaklawn Park and the 1 1/16-mile listed Lady’s Secret in June at Monmouth. She is 9: 3-3-1 this year, coinciding with her time with Ward, among a 31: 7-11-4 career record that has amassed $596,559 in earnings. 

“She wasn’t bothered by hot weather, but I think now that it is cooler outside, she’s doing better,” said Ward, a former assistant to Hall of Famers Jerry Hollendorfer and Bobby Frankel. “She comes off the track bouncing, jumping, all of that. I think cooler weather will help her form. Her numbers have been going up and we got a good sprint prep right in the middle now.” 

Randomized was a distant sixth last out when fading from the lead in the nine-furlong Personal Ensign (G1) on Aug. 23 at the Spa. Trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, the 5-year-old Nyquist bay entered that race off the aforementioned Molly Pitcher. 

Randomized was previously fifth in a title defense in the Ogden Phipps (G1) in June at the Spa after a pacesetting third in her seasonal debut in the La Troienne (G1) in May at Churchill Downs. 

In 2023, Randomized wired the Beldame versus elders and she utilized similar frontrunning tactics when capturing the Grade 1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales and restricted Wilton at the Spa earlier that year. 

Randomized boasts a field-best $1.7 million in earnings via a 14L 6-2-2 record. A $420,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale, Randomized is out of the unraced Elusive Quality mare French Passport, a half-sister to the Brown-trained, multiple graded-stakes-winning millionaire Smooth Air and graded-stakes winner Overdriven.

Grade 1-placed was a distant fourth to Grade 1 winner Leslie’s Rose last out in the nine-furlong Shuvee (G2) on July 18 at Saratoga. Trained by Mark Hennig, the 4-year-old Gun Runner chestnut was making her fourth start of the year after a three-length second to Malibu Beauty in the 1 1/16-mile Obeah on June 14 at Delaware Park. 

“She’s doing super,” Hennig said. “After that race at Saratoga, we figured we would regroup and point to a race in September. We are giving her a shot. Let’s see if she can earn her way somewhere. At a mile and an eighth, you know she can lay fairly close.” 

As a sophomore, Gun Song hit the board in seven of nine outings, including close seconds in the Mother Goose (G2) over course and distance in October after a narrow defeat to subsequent horse of the year Thorpedo Anna in the Cotillion (G1) at Parx Racing. 

Gun Song, out of the graded stakes-winning Mr. Greeley mare Nicole H, was purchased for $400,000 at the 2023 OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training. She has banked $778,220 through a 15L 4-5-2 record, highlighted by a win in last year’s Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico. 

Rounding out the field is Grade 1-placed sophomore Margie’s Intention, who was third last out in the 10-furlong Alabama (G1) on August 16 at the Spa for dual Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, and three-time winner Just Music for conditioner Linda Rice. 

The Beldame is a part of the Breeders' Cup dirt dozen series for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar. The nominated winner of the Beldame will receive a credit of $30,000 toward entry fees for the Distaff, with second and third places receiving credits of $15,000 and $7,500, respectively.