Belmont Oaks: Motion, Brown have 2 each in 9-filly field

A wide-open field of nine sophomore fillies will pursue Grade 1 glory in Saturday’s 45th running of the $500,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational going 10 furlongs over the inner turf course at Belmont Park.

The Belmont Oaks Invitational kicks off the Fillies Turf Triple series, which is followed by the 1 3/16-mile Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G3) on August 4 at Saratoga and the Jockey Club Oaks Invitational (G3) on Sept. 16 going 11 furlongs at Belmont at the Big A.

Graham Motion and Chad Brown each will send out a pair of formidable contenders Saturday, with the former saddling graded/group winners Mission of Joy (post 1, Tyler Gaffalione) and Speirling Beag (post 3, John Velazquez).

Dual graded-stakes winner Mission of Joy enters from a 1 1/2-length triumph in the Regret (G3) on June 3 at Churchill Downs, where she earned a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

This followed a troubled third in the Edgewood (G2) on May 5 at Churchill Downs, where the Kitten’s Joy chestnut clipped heels in upper stretch, was tipped out a path wide and managed to grab third place. She captured the Florida Oaks (G3) on March 11 at Tampa Bay Downs three starts back.

Mission of Joy spent the past few months training at Keeneland before shipping to Motion’s primary division at Fair Hill Training Center, where she breezed five furlongs in 1:01.80 on Sunday.

“She was unlucky at Churchill a couple starts back, but she sure made up for it last time,” said Motion. “She really had the worst of it when she stumbled that day. She came back well, and she shipped back from Kentucky in good order.”

Speirling Beag defeated males when a narrow winner of the Eyrefield (G3) in October at Leopardstown for her former trainer Jim Bolger. The daughter of Mastercraftsman made her sophomore debut for trainers Alessandro and Giuseppe Botti when fifth in the Prix Penelope (G3) going 1 5/16 miles at Saint Cloud in France.

Motion said he is hopeful for some cut in the ground for Saturday’s race.

“You wouldn’t mind it with her, obviously. She certainly looks like the type to handle that. But the distance is something that she’ll appreciate,” Motion said.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Chad Brown will seek his seventh Belmont Oaks conquest when he saddles undefeated stakes winner Aspray (post 7, Flavien Prat) and graded-stakes winner Prerequisite (post 5, Irad Ortiz Jr.).

Aspray, by Quality Road, made up 11 lengths to capture the last-out Hilltop going one mile on May 19 at Pimlico. The half-length conquest came after a pair of 2 1/2-length wins at Tampa Bay Downs, including an off-the-turf maiden victory and a triumph against winners on the turf.

Prerequisite made a swift ascension from maiden to graded-stakes winner as she enters her Grade 1 debut. The Upstart bay broke her maiden on May 7 at Belmont using stalking tactics before going gate-to-wire in the Wonder Again (G2) on June 11 – the traditional local prep for the Belmont Oaks. She will look to join Brown-trained alumna Lady Eli (2015) and New Money Honey (2017) as fillies to sweep the Wonder Again-Belmont Oaks double.

The Belmont Oaks will have a touch of European flavor with Aspen Grove (post 9, Oisin Murphy) making the journey across the pond for trainer James Stack.

The Justify bay earned group-winning status when breaking her maiden at 66-1 odds in the Newtownanner Stud Irish EBF (G3) in August going one mile over good ground at The Curragh. She has not raced since finishing last of-10 in the Irish 1000 Guineas (G1) on May 28.

Owner Craig Bernick said Aspen Grove’s Group 3 triumph gave him confidence that she could eventually stretch out in distance.

“Her win last year was going a mile as a 2-year-old. Usually, horses that can do that in Europe end up being 10-furlong horses,” Bernick said. “The trainer has always thought she would be a 10-furlong horse this year. This race is a natural place to try. I guess we’ll find out if she’s a Grade 1 or a Grade 3 horse on Saturday. There’s things to like about her and we’re fortunate to have Oisin Murphy to ride her as well.”

Trainer Horacio De Paz will saddle Be Your Best (post 6, Luis Saez), who seeks her first win since capturing last year’s P.G. Johnson in September at Saratoga. The Muhaarar bay made her 2023 debut when seventh in Keeneland’s Appalachian (G2) going one mile in April, but made amends with a late-charging second to Prerequisite in the Wonder Again.

Be Your Best breezed a half-mile in 51.65 seconds on June 30 over the Belmont training track.

“She came back good and is doing well. She had an easy, maintenance breeze. She was hitting the ground really well – light on her feet with a nice, steady pull at the end wanting to do more than what she did,” De Paz said. “She enjoys training, so we don’t want to overdo it. She ran pretty hard in her last race. The distance will probably suit her and it was nice to see her bring her form back. I’m looking forward to the next race.”

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse will strive for his first Belmont Oaks conquest since Catch a Glimpse in 2016 when he saddles Papilio (post 4, Javier Castellano).

The Ireland-bred daughter of Starspangledbanner was campaigned in her native country last year by Stack and made her North American debut when second in the Herecomesthebride (G3) on March 4 at Gulfstream Park. She enters off a troubled second-place finish in the Regret.

Papilio arrived at Casse Training Center in Ocala, Fla., in December and immediately made a strong impression on her conditioner.

“As soon as we started training her, we could tell she was special,” Casse said. “I'm a little worried about the distance, but I think if Javier can get her covered up that will help. In her last start at Churchill, we were blocked and had nowhere to go for a little while and the winner got away on us. We tried to run her down, but she had given up too much ground. With a different trip, it would have been an interesting race.”

Trainer Kenny McPeek will send out Freydis the Red (post 8, Junior Alvarado) after a nine-furlong maiden triumph at sixth asking on May 29 at Churchill Downs.

?The France-bred Saxon Warrior chestnut broke her maiden by 4 1/4 lengths after finishing behind Be Your Best as well as graded stakes-placed Free Look and Sabalenka through the maiden ranks.

Completing the field is Strikingly Spun (post 2, Jose Ortiz), who enters off a strong runner-up effort against elders at allowance optional claiming level on June 11 at Belmont Park for trainer Joe Sharp. The Hard Spun chestnut previously defeated winners going nine furlongs on May 12 over the Churchill Downs turf.