Wedding Toast Takes Ogden Phipps Stakes
Wedding Toast cemented her place in the starting gate for the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Distaff if she is pointed to that race with her victory in the Ogden Phipps Stakes on Saturday. It was a gate-to-wire performance in a race that lacked a lot of pace.
Wedding Toast broke a step slow, but was able to rush up to the lead without too much effort. Princess Violet was second by a length in tandem with Shayjolie from the outside. In fourth on the rail was House Rules with Untapable in a good spot fifth just three lengths off the lead. Early on Rosalind was the trailer, but only four lengths behind the leader.
Wedding Toast did not face much pace pressure as she set fractions of 23.64 for the opening quarter and 46.62 for the opening half mile. The horses started to creep closer on the far turn with Untapable making a sweeping three wide move, but there was plenty of stamina left for Wedding Toast. She was able to run off and win by 5 lengths in the end.
Untapable held on for second by a short head over House Rules while Rosalind was fourth, but never seriously a threat to the top trio. Princess Violet was fifth and Shayjolie finished last of six. The entire chart can be found here via Equibase.
Wedding Toast is a five year old mare by Street Sense out of the Coronado’s Quest mare Golden Sheba. She ran the one mile and one sixteenth over a fast dirt track in 1:40.21. She paid $6.30 to win and $2.80 to place.
There is another Breeders’ Cup Challenge race on Saturday with the Metropolitan Handicap also at Belmont.
