By Alan Carasso
Making her belated U.S. debut in Friday's opening-day Winter Memories Stakes at the Belmont at the Big A, French import Les Reys (Fr) (Kheleyf) split horses decisively with time ticking away and was home first to record a second consecutive victory at stakes level.
Scratched down onto the rail, the gray filly was content to take back and raced just behind midfield while perhaps a fraction keen as Ori (Hard Spun) came across from her widest draw to cut out decent splits up front. Angled out into the clear at about the midway point of the backstretch, Les Reys traveled in the three-wide line and was asked to follow the heavily favored GSP Dynamic Pricing (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) for the run around the turn. While the chalk was committed to a wide run, Rosario opted for a path closer to the rail. Les Reys split horses entering the final furlong and again in the dying strides to be up for the victory. Ori held for second ahead of Dynamic Pricing in third.
Trained in France by Didier Guillemin, Les Reys was a maiden winner at first asking at Bordeaux Le Bouscat last September, belied odds of 26-1 to beat the boys in a soft-ground handicap over 1300 meters at ParisLongchamp May 9 and capped that portion of her career with a defeat of her peers in the one-mile Listed Prix Volterra at the Paris venue June 9. She was to make her stateside debut in the GII Lake Placid Stakes at Sarataoga Aug. 17, but was scratched in favor of this easier contest.
“This was a horse he [trainer Christophe Clement's French-based brother Nicolas] had been following and won really impressively in France at Longchamp,” said Tom Bellhouse, executive vice president of West Point Thoroughbreds “We put a partnership together which we've done a number of times with Christophe. It took a little while to get her to the races, but what a thrill.”
Les Reys is one of five black-type winner for her sire (by Kheleyf) and is the second winner from three U.S. starters. She is one of seven winners from nine starters out of a half-sister to SW & Group 3-placed Katie's Diamond (Fr) (Turtle Bowl {Ire}), whose daughter Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) won the G2 Queen Mary Stakes was second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in 2022 and added the G2 Temple Stakes at three in 2023. Allegria is also the dam of a 2-year-old colt by The Grey Gatsby (Ire). Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
WINTER MEMORIES S., $150,000, Belmont The Big A, 9-13, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:35.95, fm.
1–LES REYS (FR), 124, f, 3, by Penny's Picnic (Ire)
1st Dam: Allegria (Fr), by Verglas (Ire)
2nd Dam: Aaliyah (Ger), by Anabaa
3rd Dam: Arpista (Ger), by Chief Singer (Ire)
(€12,000 RNA Ylg '22 ADSY22). O-West Point Thoroughbreds, Peter Leidel & Winters Equine LLC; B-Athanase Poulopoulos & Haras du Hoguenet (FR); T-Christophe Clement; J-Joel Rosario. $82,500. Lifetime Record: SW-Fr, 8-4-1-0, $166,120.
2–Ori, 120, f, 3, Hard Spun–Princessof the Nyl, by Pioneerof the Nile. 1ST BLACK-TYPE. ($105,000 Ylg '22 FTSAUG; $145,000 2yo '23 OBSAPR). O-Tom F McCrocklin & Kallenberg Farms; B-Brookdale Farm LLC & Chervenell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Michelle Nevin. $30,000.
3–Dynamic Pricing (Ire), 124, f, 3, Night of Thunder (Ire)–Shemda (Ire), by Dutch Art (GB). (170,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-Klaravich Stables Inc; B-Epona Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Chad C Brown. $18,000.
Margins: HF, HD, 1. Odds: 6.30, 43.25, 1.35.
Also Ran: Poolside With Slim (Ire), Proctor Street, Whiskey Decision, Lady de Berry, Ready to Jam, Cloudwalker. Scratched: Macanga, Mixologist, Nice as Pie, Value Area, Vino Rouge, Zo Lee.
LES REYS gets the win in the Winter Memories Stakes with @JRosarioJockey up for @clementstable! pic.twitter.com/5ulGTFEJWb
— NYRA (🌳) (@TheNYRA) September 13, 2024
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