Jamyson ‘n Ginger back from break

ELMONT, N.Y. – Two competitive allowance races, one scheduled for turf and one for dirt, highlight Thursday’s ninerace card at Belmont Park.

The eighth race is a first-level allowance for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles over the main track and marks the return of Jamyson ‘n Ginger. A daughter of Bernardini, Jamyson ‘n Ginger won a maiden race in the slop by 15 1/4 lengths last fall at Belmont Park. She then ran in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita, finishing fifth, and completed her 2-year-old campaign with a half-length loss when second to Miss Sky Warrior in the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez said Jamyson ‘n Ginger needed a break following the Demoiselle, although it turned into a longer freshening than planned.

“We put the races pretty close together,” said Rodriguez, who added that an extended break “was the right thing to do.”

“She looks very, very good,” he said. “The time off helped her. She grew, put on some weight.”

Unchained Melody comes out of two good sprint efforts, and trainer Brian Lynch is looking forward to stretching her out in distance. Unchained Melody won her career debut at Gulfstream Park, beating Actress, who on May 19 won the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico as a maiden. On April 21 at Keeneland, Unchained Melody finished second to Our Majesty, who won her first three starts before finishing second in the Miss Preakness Stakes.

“The longer she goes, the better she is,” Lynch said.

“Her condition and everything about her tells me she’s sitting on a big one, and she should enjoy the stretch-out.”

Thirstforthecup and Overture, first and second in a similar spot May 3, are back in this field. Thirstforthecup is eligible because she is being offered for the $80,000 optional-claiming tag.

The seventh race is a secondlevel allowance for fillies and mares on turf, and Thundering Sky will attempt to regain the form that allowed her to upset the $200,000 Pebbles Stakes at 15-1 over this course last October.

Away from the races for six months, Thundering Sky returned at this level April 28. She made an early move to the lead outside the quarter pole and couldn’t sustain her run, finishing 8 1/4 lengths behind a much-the-best winner in Take These Chains.

My Girl Corey, one of two entrants for trainer Chad Brown, may have been compromised by a slow pace when finishing a late-closing third in the Distaff Turf at Tampa Bay Downs on April 2. My Girl Corey is coupled in the wagering with the Jason Servis-trained Island Reward because the two share common ownership. Brown’s other entrant is Off Limits.

Untouchable U looks like the primary speed for the white-hot trainer Robertino Diodoro.

Trainer Christophe Clement sends out the uncoupled entry of Stella Rose and Cover Song. Stella Rose makes her seasonal debut after finishing eighth in the Tropical Park Oaks. Cover Song finished fourth in the aforementioned April 28 allowance race.