Grammy Girl on song in G3 Vagrancy
Red Storm Stable, Miller Racing and Flower Power Stables’ Grammy Girl ran her all-stakes win streak to three with a 1 1/4-length score over stablemate Mystic Lake 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.
Trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr. and piloted by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, the 5-year-old Mastery dark bay added to wins in the Willa On the Move in November at Laurel Park and the Grade 3 Distaff on April 4 here in her seasonal debut.
The victory continued a solid run of form for Joseph, Jr., who won seven races on Saturday across North America, including stakes scores with R Disaster [Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs], Spirit Doll [Honey Ryder at Gulfstream Park] and Reagan’s Flame [Grade 3 Whimsical at Woodbine]. It also marked the second Vagrancy exacta for Joseph, Jr. after Haulin Ice bested R Disaster last year.
Joseph, Jr. praised his team across the continent with a tip of the cap to his New York-based assistant Reynaldo Abreu.
“I was very proud of the team and full credit to them,” Joseph, Jr. said. “Reynaldo is up there in New York with Grammy Girl since her last win, so full credit to him.
"The Vagrancy has been very good to us - we were one-two last year as well. We like the Vagrancy,” he added, with a laugh.
Praying broke alertly but took back as My Magic Wand, the 18-1 longest shot on the board under Manny Franco, surged to the lead to mark the opening quarter-mile in 22.33 seconds over the fast main track.
Mystic Lake, a multiple graded stakes-winner piloted by Flavien Prat, pressed the issue from second position with Grammy Girl stalking wider still in third and New York-bred multiple stakes-winner With the Angels saving ground in fourth under Jose Lezcano as My Magic Wand reached the half-mile in 45.64.
My Magic Wand was under siege as she straightened for the stretch run with the Joseph, Jr.-trained duo taking dead aim with Grammy Girl powering by inside the final eighth. Grammy Girl continued to find more late and surged clear to a 1 1/4-length win in a final time of 1:16.64.
Castellano, who won this event previously with Indian Flare [2007] and Hilda’s Passion [2011], said Grammy Girl is improving with each and every start.
"When I put her outside and she made her run, she finished really strong. I liked the way she finished,” said Castellano, who was aboard for the Distaff score. “The last couple of races, you make your move, she was hanging there, now, she seems to me, like she finishes really strong, gallops out really good. I think the 'sprint to rate, come from behind' is the type of horse she is."
Mystic Lake earned place honors by one length over Praying followed by With the Angels, My Magic Wand and Wondrous. Kappa Kappa was scratched.
Joseph, Jr. said the contested pace played into the running style of Grammy Girl.
“For Grammy Girl, the speed helps her,” Joseph, Jr. said. “With Mystic Lake, it's a bit better if she gets loose on the lead. I thought it was a good effort from both fillies.
"Grammy Girl is pretty strong at that distance - she can go seven [furlongs] also,” he added. “I told Javier to ride her patient. At the three-eighths pole, she was latched onto them, and I thought it would be hard for Mystic Lake to keep going - I was surprised, she was game to the wire."
Grammy Girl made her first 12 starts for trainer Horacio De Paz, and debuted for Joseph, Jr. in July. Since then, she has now hit the board in 7-of-8 starts. The Vagrancy score marked her fifth local win from 11 tries.
Joseph, Jr. indicated he will take some time to consider a potential target for Grammy Girl with a logical spot being the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o' Roses presented by Boldyn Networks, a seven-furlong sprint on June 5 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
"She's going to stay in New York. I just don't know what race yet. After her last race, I thought this one made sense. We'll decide what we do in a week or so,” Joseph, Jr. said.
Miller Racing, BAG Racing Stables and Stefania Farms’ Mystic Lake rebounded from a distant sixth last out in the Grade 1 Madison on April 4 at Keeneland. The 5-year-old Mo Town millionaire boasts three graded scores from 13 career wins.
Joseph, Jr. said she is likely to try for a title defense in the Memorial Day Sprint on May 25 at Lone Star Park.
"She'll go to Texas. She won over there last year and we always try to take a group of horses there for that ownership group on Memorial Day weekend,” Joseph, Jr. said. “She had been doing well off that poor run at Keeneland, so we wanted to give the Vagrancy a try, and she almost got it done."
Bred in Kentucky by Steven Nicholson and Brandi Nicholson, Grammy Girl banked $96,250 in victory while improving her record to 20-7-3-4. She returned $9.48 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Thursday at Belmont at the Big A with an eight-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races presents live coverage and analysis of the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont at the Big A, and the best way to bet every race of the spring/summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.
