by Jenny Blandford
Four-time Grade 1 winner Rags to Riches is scheduled to make her first start since becoming the first filly in 102 years to win the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 9 in the $250,000 Gazelle Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Belmont Park.
A dominating leader in her division, the A. P. Indy filly missed anticipated starts at Saratoga Race Course in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) on July 21 and Alabama Stakes (G1) on August 18 due to a number of setbacks.
Michael Tabor’s and Derrick Smith’s Rags to Riches’s first setback occurred in July when a fever knocked her out of the CCA Oaks. The following day, she was pulled up early in a workout and missed nine days of training. Rags to Riches later received a complete physical. She received medical clearance to return to training, after a series of examinations and a trip to the University of Pennyslvania’s New Bolton Center proved inconclusive, on August 1.
Rags to Riches posted three workouts at Saratoga for trainer Todd Pletcher in preparation for the Alabama, but missed a fourth planned workout on August 27 because of another low-grade fever. Pletcher named Belmont’s Ruffian Handicap (G1) on September 8, against older fillies and mares, or the Gazelle for her next start, opting for the latter.
Rags to Riches posted her final workout for the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle for three-year-old fillies on September 8 at Belmont, breezing six furlongs in 1:14.80 and all signs in the past couple weeks have shown Pletcher she is in top form and ready to overcome a 98-day layoff.
“Any time you have a horse like her, you worry about how she’s doing,” Pletcher said. “She’s not a filly that seems to need a race or hard training to run well, so I’m not concerned about the layoff.”
Rags to Riches is undefeated in five starts this season, winning the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 4 at Churchill Downs and Santa Anita Park’s Santa Anita Oaks (G1) on March 11 and Las Virgenes Stakes (G1) on February 10.
West Point Thoroughbreds’s Lear’s Princess is expected to be a strong second-choice in the compact field of five.
Lear’s Princess was the runner-up in her previous two starts, a neck behind Lady Joanne in the Alabama Stakes and 2 1/2 lengths behind Octave in the CCA Oaks, for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. Prior to that, the Lear Fan filly won the Tweedside Stakes on July 1 at Belmont.
Others entered include Hollywood Breeders’ Cup Oaks (G2) winner Tough Tiz’s Sis and Dorm Fever and Le Chateau, who finished first and second, respectively, in the Heed Stakes on August 10 at Saratoga.
Jenny Blandford is a Thoroughbred Times assistant daily news editor
The field, in post position order, with horse (sire), jockey, weight, and trainer:
1. Lear's Princess (Lear Fan), Eibar Coa, 115, Kiaran McLaughlin;
2. Dorm Fever (Stormin Fever), Garrett Gomez, 115, James Jerkens;
3. Tough Tiz's Sis (Tiznow), Rafael Bejarano, 119, Bob Baffert;
4. Le Chateau (Chester House), Shaun Bridgmohan, 115, D. Wayne Lukas; and
5. Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy), John Velazquez, 122, Todd Pletcher.