Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bellafina to face Oaklawn winners
HOT SPRINGS — Two Grade I winners stand out from six other entrants in the $125,000, 6-furlong Carousel Stakes for fillies and mares 4 years old and up at Oaklawn.
Post time for the Carousel Stakes, the final of two stake races today at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, is scheduled for 5:16 p.m. The Carousel is the 10th of 11 races on Oaklawn’s card.
Shippers for the Carousel are highlighted by Bellafina, a 4-year-old daughter of Quality Road who won the Grade I, 1 1/16-mile Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita Park in 2018, and the Grade I, 1 1/16-mile Santa Anita Oaks in 2019.
Trained by Simon Callaghan, Bellafina’s last race resulted in a second-place finish in the Grade I, 7-furlong LaBrea Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 28.
“It’s perfect timing to start her year off,” Callaghan said. “After this race, we’ll take her back to California and then, hopefully, the racing calendar will be a little clearer in the next few weeks, and we can plan the next steps for her and the whole barn. She’s really doing good, and we feel she’s kind of ready to run and needs to run. This is why we’re here.”
Joe Talamo is listed to ride Bellafina. He worked her through a 47.80 half-mile on April 18.
“She worked tremendously that morning,” Talamo said. “That filly got me excited. I’d never been on her before, but she really skipped right over the track.”
Talamo said it didn’t take him long to agree to ride Bellafina.
“It was always, ‘Yes’,” he said. “I have had some real good luck with Simon over the years, and honestly, I think [Bellafina] is talented enough to win from 6 furlongs to a mile and an eighth.”
Bellafina finished last season with a record of 1-2-1 in five consecutive Grade I starts.
“We’re always going to try to bring her back in an easier spot than her last few races, which have been contentious,” Callaghan said. “Kind of landed on this spot for obvious reasons. She’s really doing good. She looks like she’s getting over the track pretty well here.”
Oaklawn veteran Mia Mischief, a 5-year-old daughter of Into Mischief from the barn of trainer Steve Asmussen, won Churchill Downs’ Grade I, 7-furlong Humana Distaff on May 4.
Mia Mischief has an Oaklawn record of 5 3-2-0. Oaklawn’s leading rider Ricardo Santana is her listed rider.
Amy’s Challenge, trained by Mac Robertson, was an Oaklawn star through the 2018 and 2019 seasons. She finished third in the Grade II, 1 1/16-mile Fantasy Stakes in 2018 and won Oaklawn’s 6-furlong American Beauty Stakes and 51/2-furlong Spring Fever States last season. In her last start, Amy’s Challenge finished second by a neck in the Spring Fever on Feb. 29.
“This is a tough spot,” Robertson said.
Spring Fever winner Midnight Fanasty, trained by Joe Sharp, is the Carousel’s 5-1 fourth choice.
What a Fox, a son of Bernardini trained by Robertino Diodoro, finished third in the Spring Fever and is 8-1 in the program.
“Races like this leave you a little extra in the curious zone,” Diodoro said. “It definitely makes it interesting.”