By Joe Bianca
The first two finishers in the May 11 GIII Beaugay S. at Belmont, led by the extremely promising winner Homerique (Exchange Rate), will re-engage and stretch out to 1 1/4 miles in Friday's GII New York S. at Big Sandy.
An impressive debut winner at Chantilly last spring, Peter Brant's Homerique was third, beaten just a neck, two starts later in the G1 Prix de Diane Longines. Annexing the G3 Prix de Psyche next out, she was seventh against males in the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp before earning a career high when third in the G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines Oct. 7 at ParisLongchamp. Transferred to the Chad Brown barn after that, she made an auspicious North American debut when closing into a slow pace to capture the Beaugay, circling the field and running her final five-sixteenths in an absurd :27.40 to get up. The gray tuned up for this stretchout with a five-furlong breeze over the local turf in 1:01 2/5 (7/10) June 1 (video).
Second choice on the morning line is Homerique's stablemate Competitionofideas (Speightstown). Owned by Klaravich Stables, the $325,000 Keeneland September graduate rallied from last to first to take the GI American Oaks going this trip Dec. 29 at Santa Anita. She also ran a fast late fraction (:27.66) to grab the runner-up spot in the Beaugay, but enjoyed a ground-saving ride unlike her barnmate that day.
The most likely upsetter of the Brown train appears to be Stronach Stables' Holy Helena (Ghostzapper). The 2017 Queen's Plate S. heroine, she picked up victories in the GIII The Very One S. and GII Sheepshead Bay S. last season and was fifth in this event. Winless in six starts heading into this year's The Very One, she rallied determinedly to defend her title by a head.
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