by Phil Janack
Making her second North American start, Cocoa Beach (Chi) captured her first Grade 1 victory by reeling in 1-to-2 favorite Ginger Punch to win the $570,000 Beldame Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Breaking from post three in field trimmed to four by the early scratch of Unbridled Belle, Cocoa Beach completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.50 on a sealed sloppy main track.
Ginger Punch, a winner of four straight starts, finished a half-length back while coming up short in the Beldame for the second year in a row. She finished third in the 2007 Beldame, which was won by Unbridled Belle.
A four-year-old Doneraile Court filly, Cocoa Beach won each of her four starts as a juvenile in her native Chile and was named champion two-year-old filly. She subsequently was purchased by Princess Haya and transferred to the barn of trainer Saeed bin Suroor in Dubai.
Cocoa Beach won the Meydan U.A.E. One Thousand Guineas and Al Tayer Motors U.A.E Oaks this spring before she was shipped to the United States. She posted a five-length victory in her North American debut in the $91,950 Love Sign Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on August 29.
Ginger Punch broke alertly in the Beldame under jockey Rafael Bejarano, who kept the 2007 champion older female in the middle of the track. Ginger Punch controlled the pace through fractions of :24.61, :48.18, and 1:12.26 through six furlongs with Lemon Drop Mom on her right flank.
As Lemon Drop Mom dropped back and Ginger Punch extended her lead on the far turn, jockey Ramon Dominguez asked Cocoa Beach to accelerate and she responded, moving ahead to challenge approaching the stretch. The top two battled through the stretch before Cocoa Beach inched in front just six strides from the wire.
“She’s grown up a lot since she ran earlier in the year," bin Suroor said. "She looked stronger than ever and she has learned a lot from her last race. She was really happy. I had a good feeling coming into the race. The last race really set her up and she’s really grown.”
Ginger Punch finished 13 1/2 lengths in front of third-place finisher Lemon Drop Mom. Ginger Punch earned $120,000 for second, pushing her career earnings past the $3-million plateau to $3,065,603.
“It was the one hole; she had no choice but to do what she did," Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel said. "I don’t think that is her favorite way of running. I don’t think the inside was the best part. I would have loved to have been on the outside. That was all I was worried about.”
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Phil Janack is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent