Dual graded stakes-winner Praying gets class relief in G3 Vagrancy

Newtown Anner Stud Farm’s dual graded stakes-winner Praying looks to return to winning ways in her second start off a five-month layoff in Sunday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Vagrancy, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, at Belmont at the Big A.

The Vagrancy, slated as Race 10, is one of four stakes on Sunday’s stacked 12-race program, which co-features two additional $175,000 Grade 3s in the Westchester [Race 7] and Beaugay [Race 8], as well as the Listed $150,000 License Fee [Race 11]. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Trained by Robbie Medina, the 4-year-old Vekoma filly enters from an even fourth in her seasonal debut in Keeneland’s seven-furlong Grade 1 Madison on April 4. There, she stalked in fourth throughout as R Disaster set sharp splits of 21.95 seconds and 44.68 over the fast footing with Grand Job and Eclatant tracking in a respective second and third. The latter two drew clear down the lane in a battle that went to Eclatant in a final time of 1:21.84, while Praying ran on willingly and received an 88 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort, two points off her lifetime best earned in two graded wins last year.

“Obviously, coming back in a Grade 1 is never an easy feat, but I never imagined that race would be run that fast,” Medina said. “They blazed a trail that day. She wasn’t 100 percent fit, and the three in front of her all had a race or two under their belt and had a little more in them than she did. When the running really started, they kind of spurted away from her and she just couldn’t keep up with them.”

Praying’s best performances came last year during a 5-2-1-0 campaign that began with a second in the restricted Southern Hospitality in March at Oaklawn Park ahead of a well-beaten seventh in an optional-claiming sprint in May at Churchill Downs. She got little support from bettors next out as she went off at 21-1 odds in the Grade 3 Prioress in August at Saratoga Race Course, but defied public opinion with a 3 1/2-length victory under returning rider Eric Cancel to give Medina his second graded win as a trainer.

“It was a lot of fun,” Medina said. “She kind of went into the race really touting herself, and you never expect to win easy in a stakes race, but I expected her to run big that day and she didn’t disappoint.”

The effort was awarded a 90 Beyer, a number she repeated next out with a gutsy victory in the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America in October at Keeneland, defeating multiple Grade 1-winner and next-out Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint runner-up Vahva by a half-length. Praying also exited to run in the Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar, but essentially lost all chance when acting up in the post parade and ultimately finished a distant last-of-7 under Hall of Famer John Velazquez.

“She stepped it up a little more at Keeneland and then we took her to the Breeders’ Cup and she did everything right – perfect in the paddock, perfect going into the race, and then when she went to the post parade, she came undone,” Medina said. “Johnny told me she was beat before they loaded her in the gate, and she ran that way. That was unfortunate, but I think she’s the type of horse that will have some days where she’s a pain and you have to hope she’ll overcome it.”

Medina said the Vagrancy distance should be just right for Praying.

“All things being equal, this will probably hit her right between the eyes,” Medina said. “Unless she really learns to settle down, seven furlongs is probably her max. We are looking forward to this. I was just going to train her up to the Bed o’ Roses during the Belmont Stakes Festival at Saratoga, but she came out of her race good and is doing great, so if they’re doing good, you better just take them over there [to the races].”

A $410,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, Praying is out of the winning Bernardini mare Pray for Leslie, who also produced Grade 1-placed Alys Beach and Grade 3-placed Spa Prospector.

Cancel has the call from post 6.

Red Storm Stable, Miller Racing and Flower Power Stables’ Grammy Girl [post 5, Javier Castellano] was last seen winning the Grade 3 Distaff on April 4 here, and will look to notch another local graded coup for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

The 5-year-old Mastery mare has shown a strong affinity for the Aqueduct main track, and holds a 10-4-3-2 record over the local going. Last out, she made her graded debut in the seven-furlong Distaff, where she stalked in last-of-4 under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano and pounced in the turn to take the lead and drive home a 1 1/2-length winner over 2024 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Immersive.

The effort, which came off a more than four-month respite, received a career-best-equaling 87 Beyer, which she has earned in three of her last four outings. The outlier in that span was an 86 earned for a head second to the well-regarded Senza Parole in a November allowance sprint here.

Grammy Girl made her first 12 starts for trainer Horacio De Paz, and debuted for Joseph, Jr. in July. Since then, she has hit the board in 6-of-7 starts, including an additional stakes victory in the 6 1/2-furlong Willa On the Move in November at Laurel Park.

Joseph, Jr. will also send out Miller Racing, BAG Racing Stables and Stefania Farms’ Mystic Lake [post 7, Flavien Prat], who enters from a distant sixth in the Madison. 

The 5-year-old Mo Town dark bay returns to the site of a narrow second in the Grade 3 Victory Ride in July 2024, when finishing three-quarter-lengths back of Emery going Sunday’s distance. That placing was surrounded by a 4 1/2-length romp in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness at Pimlico Race Course, and an open-lengths trouncing of the Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks that August as part of a stellar 9-5-2-0 campaign.

Last year, she made her seasonal bow with a win in the Grade 2 Inside Information at Gulfstream Park, three starts before a four-stakes win streak across as many racetracks. She began this year with an additional pair of facile scores at Tampa Bay Downs in the Minaret in February and a handicap in March ahead of the Madison.

The in-form With the Angels [post 4, Jose Lezcano] earned a career-best 93 Beyer for her last-out victory in the local six-furlong Correction on March 1. The New York-bred Omaha Beach 4-year-old was entered in the Distaff, but was scratched by trainer Linda Rice to give her more time and point to this race.

“She’s doing well and the little extra time has certainly helped her,” Rice said. “She was just a little mentally wound-up after the Correction, and she just needed that extra month. She’s ready to go.”

Campaigned by Winning Move Stable, John Oxley, Lady Sheila Stable, Silverwood Stables and Sanford Robbins, With the Angels has been a model of consistency since debuting in August 2024 at Saratoga. She won her first four starts by open lengths, including a trio of state-bred stakes scores here. She had an abbreviated three-start campaign last year that produced one win and two seconds.

This year, With the Angels is undefeated in two local starts, winning an open optional claimer in January at Sunday’s distance ahead of her 4 1/2-length score over multiple stakes-winner Sunday Girl in the Correction.

“She’s been a real professional and that was a career-best effort last out,” Rice said.

Bred by Joseph DeRico, With the Angels was a $350,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the winning Pulpit mare Sister Margaret, who also produced stakes-placed Maggy’s Palace. Her second dam is the multiple stakes-winning Disco Rico mare Dance Gal Dance, who won 6-of-9 starts led by four New York-bred stakes wins.

Completing the competitive field are Grade 2-winner Kappa Kappa [post 3, John Velazquez] for trainer Butch Reid, Jr., last-out stakes-winner Wondrous [post 1, Tyler Gaffalione] for trainer Brendan Walsh and four-time winner My Magic Wand [post 2, Manny Franco] for conditioner Gregg Sacco.   

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