Ashikidah steps into stakes company in $175K Forever Together
Lindy Farms, AC Crawford Farms, Glen Hill Farm and Ice Wine Stable’s Ashikidah will make her U.S. stakes debut in Sunday’s $175,000 Forever Together, a 1 1/16-mile Widener turf route for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up, at Belmont Park.
Trained by Philip Antonacci, the 4-year-old daughter of Belardo made her first eight starts in her native France for conditioner Francis-Henri Graffard. Ashikidah’s last four overseas outings came at seven furlongs topped by a win in the Prix Kaldoun last September traveling left-handed at Saint-Cloud. She was purchased by Antonacci for $465,728 at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale.
“In France, for Francis, she always showed a good turn-of-foot,” Antonacci said. “Seemed like a filly where seven furlongs over there fits a mile, mile and a sixteenth here well. She was the right type of European filly to bring over.”
Ashikidah [post 3, Ricardo Santana, Jr.] made her first two stateside starts traveling one-mile under Tyler Gaffalione in optional-claiming company at Saratoga Race Course. She exited the outermost post 8 in her July 9 seasonal debut and rallied to finish a three-quarter length fourth to well-regarded stablemate Queen of Hawaii, who was a neck better than next-out winner Play With Fire.
Last out, on August 5, Ashikidah emerged from post 1-of-7 and saved ground in a perfect stalking position in third. Gaffalione asked Ashikidah for her best at the top of the lane and she responded with aplomb, powering clear to a three-quarter length score under right-handed encouragement to best pacesetting Grade 3-winner Tirupati. Ashikidah stopped the clock in 1:35.71 and earned a career-best 87 Beyer Speed Figure.
Antonacci credited Gaffalione with engineering a winning trip last out.
“The trip worked out very well,” Antonacci said. “It was a step forward from her first performance where she raced good but just had no luck. I think she's a filly that continues to make steps forward. We're out of conditions now, so it's time to test her in stakes company and see where we stack up.”
Antonacci said he’s excited to start his first stakes runner at the new Belmont Park.
“It's great to see. There's a lot of energy and a lot of excitement. The facilities are top class,” Antonacci said. “It's what New York has deserved and what the horsemen in New York have deserved for a long time. New York is still the mecca of racing around the world, so it's great to see such a top class facility in New York for us to display our horses and the great racing here in New York.”
Ashikidah is out of the More Than Ready mare Ashtaneh. Her third dam, Asharna, is a half-sister to dual Group 1-winner Ashkalani.
Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown sends out a pair of formidable contenders for Klaravich Stables in defending race winner Oversubscribed [post 1, Flavien Prat] and Grade 1-winner Dynamic Pricing [post 7, Manny Franco].
Oversubscribed, a 5-year-old Too Darn Hot mare, won the Listed Wild Applause as a 3-year-old and the Forever Together last year with a stalking approach under returning rider Flavien Prat. She will look to continue her run of stakes wins in each season of racing while making her third outing of the current campaign, entering from a three-quarter length second to And One More Time in the Listed Plenty of Grace in April at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Dynamic Pricing, a 5-year-old Night of Thunder bay, won the Grade 1 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing last June at the Spa as part of a solid season that included scores in the Grade 3 Beaugay at the Big A and the Listed Perfect Sting at Saratoga.
The talented mare, who has banked in excess of $1 million through a 15-5-1-4 ledger, has made three starts this season topped by a close second to City Girl in an attempted title defense in the Grade 3 Beaugay.
Destino d’Oro [post 4, Junior Alvarado] enters with a three-race win streak as she makes her return from a more than six-month respite.
Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox for Steve Landers Racing, the 4-year-old Bolt d’Oro bay has won 6-of-9 starts for purse earnings of $949,884. She launched her current streak with a rallying head score in the Listed Tropical Park Oaks in December at Gulfstream Park and followed with a similar deep-closing effort there in the Grade 2 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational on January 24.
Destino d’Oro, out of the Grade 1-placed Lion Heart mare Heart of Destiny, was last seen posting a nose win in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Hillsborough on March 7 at Tampa Bay Downs. She has trained into her return with a series of works over the Turfway Park synthetic, including a bullet half-mile breeze in 47.80 September 12.
Cheyenne Stables’ Ozara [post 5, Samuel Marin] has banked $679,939 via a consistent 19-8-2-2 record for trainer Miguel Clement.
The 5-year-old Lope de Vega mare won 4-of-8 outings last season, topped by victories in the Monroe at Gulfstream Park and Spa scores in a division of the restricted Listed De La Rose and Grade 2 Ballston Spa. Ozara won her seasonal debut in the Listed Miss Liberty in May at Monmouth Park but has landed sixth in a trio of graded efforts since.
Ozara was purchased for $416,346 from Book 1 of the 2022 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. She is out of the winning Acclamation mare Cercle d’Or, a half-sister to multiple Group 1-winning multimillionaire Golden Horn – winner of the 2015 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
A talented field includes Pennsylvania-bred stakes winner Modarosa [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche] for trainer Riley Mott and four-time winner Table Flirt [post 2, John Velazquez] for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
The Forever Together is slated as Race 8 on Sunday’s nine-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern
America’s Day at the Races presents daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule/.
NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.
