Franny Freud, the
lone filly entered in today’s New York Stallion Stakes for 3-year-olds at
Belmont Park, lived up to expectations as the odds-on favorite, setting all the
fractions and widening the margin in the stretch to score an impressive
victory.
It was the third straight triumph
and first on the turf for Franny Freud, who entered this spot off victories over
fellow 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 2 Beaumont on Polytrack at Keeneland and
the NYSS Park
Avenue on the dirt here at Belmont.
Sent off as the 1-4 choice,
Franny Freud wasted no time getting to the front, dictating the pace through a
quarter of 23.37 and a half of 46.00. Despite being kept under wraps in the
stretch by jockey Garrett Gomez, she opened up to score by six lengths over long
shot Leatherhead. The final time for seven furlongs over the Widener turf was
1:21.47.
“The level of competition is a
little different than when she ran at Keeneland, but to me she’s getting
stronger with each race,” said Gomez. “She gets more and more mature and
understands what I’m asking her to do.”
Make Note edged Belongs to Sheila
to complete the trifecta, with Hittin the Note and Game Token completing the
order of finish. Eire’s Run, In Te Domine,
Seattle Mission, and Strategic Missile were scratched.
John Terranova – who trains Franny Freud for Paul P. Pompa, Jr.,
Stephen Yarbrough and Winter Park Partners –
had the July 4, Grade 1 Prioress on the main track at Belmont as a long-range
goal for Franny Freud, and those plans remain unchanged after today’s race.
“You
never know with the heat – we had a little bit of a hot day – but we have a nice
break ahead,” said Terranova. “We have almost six weeks going into the Prioress.
She’s in top form and is super fit, and she seemed to enjoy herself
today.”
Bred
in New York by
Anthony Grey, Franny Freud is now 7-2-0 from 10 starts and has earned $536,029.
She returned $2.50 for a $2 win wager.