Braverthanubelieve rolls on the NYSS Fifth Avenue, NYRA Photo
Keith McCalmont
Tristar farm Brave than not believe closed solidly under Hall of Famer Joel Rosario to capture the $500,000 Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series, a seven-furlong sprint for eligible 2-year-old fillies sired by New York, at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday.
The Honest Mischief dark bay, trained by John Ortiz, remained undefeated in two starts, edging past Daniella Marie and Hot Valuta in the last sixteenth to score by 1 1/4 lengths in her stakes debut.
Last year, the progeny of Honest Mischief won both of the rich $500,000 NYSSS events, with Stone Smuggler taking Fifth Avenue and Sacrosanct taking the Great White Way.
Ortiz said he told owner Glenn Lostritto that the talented Braverthanubelieve was ready to continue that trend as she made her stakes debut despite having only just graduated here on Nov. 22 in a six-furlong sprint for New York-bred fillies.
“That’s how highly I thought of her,” Ortiz said. “No matter how well she trained, I thought, ‘let’s go to the girl, win, lose or draw, we were still going to come here.’ This was marked, planned and well executed.
“We thought this filly was very special from the start,” Ortiz added. “She came to us at Saratoga and gave us training that we knew was not just a New York-bred, this was a competitive racehorse. She got sick from us, we gave her the right time, brought her back the right way. She jumped right back into training like she never missed a beat.”
Fancy lights alert broke and showed the way through splits of 22.56 seconds and 45.71 around the fast main circuit under pressure from Hot Valuta with Daniella Marie closely watching to the outside.
Braverthanubelieve, who had been stalking from fourth position, was tipped late into the corner and got rolling with a wide run when Hot currency And Daniella Marie took over from a retreating Fancy Lights. A fierce battle ensued with Hot Valuta and Daniella Marie dueling head to head with the former eventually gaining command in the final furlong, but there was no denying the continued run of Braverthanubelieve who took over in the last sixteenth and stopped the clock in a final time of 1:23.92.
Rosario said he felt comfortable the entire time aboard Braverthanubelieve.
“She actually moved really well,” Rosario said. “We were just waiting for the right moment and I had to chase her a little bit. The other couple stayed ahead, but the whole time it looked like I had a horse. She was running a big race.”
“The pace was good and I was in a good place,” Rosario added. “I said, ‘Hopefully she answers when I ask her,’ and she did.”
It was 3 1/4 lengths back to Daniella Marie who finished third UnmiztakenFancy Lights, Life is just a dream,Kaz farm girl, Greyjoy, Oh And Galilean girl complete the order of finishing. Hip Hop Dancer, Honest Reason and She’s Country were dropped.
Flavien Prat said Linda Rice-trained runner-up Hot Valuta suffered a defeat to see off Chad Summers-trained Daniella Marie.
“She ran a good race,” Prat said. “The winner made a late move and caught us, but she ran great.”
Braverthanubelieve, out of the winning Teuflesberg mare Hundred Acre Wood, was a prominent winner on her debut due to a sloppy and sealed position here, recording a half-length victory that gave a Beyer Speed Figure of 67.
Braverthanubelieve, born in the Empire State by Paul Michael Giacopelli MD, took home $275,000 in the win while improving her record to 2-2-0-0. She returned $18.18 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with an eight-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely in Race 7 and the $150,000 Garland of Roses in Race 6. The first post is 12:40 PM Eastern.
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