Trainer Anthony Dutrow saddles High Opinion in hopes of turning the tables on five-time race winner Chad Brown in the Oct. 23, $200,000 Noble Damsel (G3T) for fillies and mares going one mile over the Widener turf course at Belmont Park.
Woodford Racing's and Team D's High Opinion broke her maiden last October at Belmont at odds of 97-1 before finishing second in the 1 1/16-mile Winter Memories on Nov. 15 over good turf at Aqueduct Racetrack in her first start against winners.
Only off the board once in five starts since then, the 4-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid put together a successful summer campaign at Saratoga Race Course with an allowance victory on July 31 ahead of a nose defeat last out to last year's Noble Damsel winner, Viadera, in the Ballston Spa (G2T).
"I was so happy that she was able to run so well against that competition," Dutrow said of the dark bay filly's gutsy performance. "People ask if I'm disappointed she lost the race. Yeah, I would have rather won the race than lost, but it was satisfying to see her race that well against those quality horses."
Dutrow said he is confident the filly has carried her Saratoga form to Belmont.
"She was training fantastic at Saratoga and I believe I'm seeing very close to the same filly at Belmont this fall as I did this summer at Saratoga," Dutrow said. "I think a mile is very good for her, especially at Belmont. She loves that one turn there, so I'm feeling very good about her here."
If High Opinion crosses the finish line first, it will be the first time a trainer other than Brown visits the winner circle to claim the Noble Damsel trophy in five years. Dutrow said he welcomes the challenge, hoping to play spoiler to Brown's attempt at a record sixth win in the stakes.
"You bet I want to turn the tables on Chad," Dutrow said with a laugh. "I wouldn't want to trade places with anybody. I'm very happy and confident that our filly will give us a great effort."
Brown will have two chances to earn another Noble Damsel victory with Swift Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables, and Wonder Stables' graded stakes winner Tamahere, and John and Tanya Gunther's recent allowance winner, Love And Thunder.
Winner of the Sands Point (G2T) at Belmont last year, Tamahere earned a grade 1-placing in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in her first start of 2021.
Fourth behind Viadera and High Opinion in the Ballston Spa, she dominated in her next outing, scoring in the Violet Stakes over yielding turf at Monmouth Park by 7 1/4 lengths on Sept. 25.
A wire-to-wire winner in the Violet, Brown said being the one to catch is what works best for the 4-year-old daughter of Wootton Bassett.
"She's training well," Brown said following the filly's five-furlong breeze in 1:02.11 over Belmont's inner turf course Oct. 16. "Letting her run freely on the front seems to be what she wants to do."
Love And Thunder enters the Noble Damsel off an Oct. 1 allowance victory going seven furlongs over firm turf at Belmont after being the bridesmaid in each of her four starts since moving stateside from England in April.
Love And Thunder was runner up to High Opinion in an allowance race at Saratoga in July.
"She's knocked on the door in a lot of these races, so it was nice to see her punch through with a solid victory," Brown's assistant Dan Stupp said of the filly's first American victory. "She's another one that's going the right way."
Belmont Park, Saturday, October 23, 2021, Race 8Entries: Noble Damsel S. (G3T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1In a Hurry (KY) Javier Castellano 122 Claude R. McGaughey III 8/1 2 2Flower Point (KY) Jose Lezcano 122 Claude R. McGaughey III 12/1 3 3High Opinion (KY) Luis Saez 122 Anthony W. Dutrow 3/1 4 4Platinum Paynter (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 122 Juan C. Vazquez 20/1 5 5Shifty She (FL) Edwin Gonzalez 124 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 9/2 6 6Love And Thunder (IRE) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Chad C. Brown 5/1 7 7Marlborough Road (IRE) Benjamin Hernandez 118 J. Kent Sweezey 50/1 8 8Truth Hurts (ON) Joel Rosario 124 Chad Summers 2/1 9 9Risky Mischief (NY) Dylan Davis 122 Jeremiah C. Englehart 15/1 10 10Tamahere (FR) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 124 Chad C. Brown 9/5
