Nitrogen to Gas Up for Distaff in Beldame

The path to this fall's Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) will continue through New York for D J Stable's champion Nitrogen in the $250,000 Beldame Stakes (G2) Sept. 25 at Belmont Park. The Beldame, a 1 1/8-mile test around one turn for fillies and mares, is part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen series in which the nominated winner will receive a credit of $30,000 toward entry fees into the Distaff in October at Keeneland. Second place will receive a $15,000 credit and third place will receive a $7,500 credit. The Mark Casse-trained 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro makes her return to the races for the first time since a hard-trying runner-up finish Aug. 8 to reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty when setting the pace in the Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. Though no match for that rival late, horses who followed her home included Antiquarian, Baeza, Tiztastic, Magnitude, and White Abarrio. Following the Whitney, Nitrogen posted two works over the Spa main track, and shipped down to Belmont Park earlier this month. She got a feel for the main track Sept. 12 with a solo half-mile breeze in :49.62. "She's doing great, and she's adapted to Belmont well, so we're ready to go," Casse said. "I was extremely proud of her last time; I was a proud papa. I haven't trained her extraordinarily hard for this race. Obviously we want to win the Beldame, but our major focus is the Breeders' Cup. I think she's in a good place and she's ready." Nitrogen, who initially raced with success on turf, has made her last eight outings on dirt, including her first top-level score in last year's Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. She completed her sophomore season with game runner-up efforts against top company in Keeneland's Spinster Stakes (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar to propel her to championship honors in the 3-year-old filly division. The filly's 4-year-old campaign has only lengthened her list of accolades, including a successful seasonal bow in the Bayakoa Stakes (G3) in February at Oaklawn Park and a career-best performance in the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) at Saratoga in June, when she romped by 12 3/4 lengths. "She has gotten better with age," Casse said. "She's an amazing filly when you think about her success on the turf and on the dirt, and beating some of the best colts in the country. She's done it all. We just need it to continue." Nitrogen, a winner of nearly $3 million in total purses, is a Kentucky homebred for D J Stable and has compiled a 17-8-6-3 record. Jose Ortiz rides. A pair of classy contenders will look to pull off the upset for five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown in Peter Brant's Kentucky homebred Lost Horizon and Klaravich Stables' Donor Advised. Lost Horizon was most recently second to Splendora in the Molly Pitcher Stakes (G2) at Monmouth Park, while Donor Advised makes her stakes debut off a successful optional claiming victory Aug. 30 at Saratoga by 4 3/4 lengths following a more than one-year layoff. Cory Moelis Racing and Jeremy Sussman's Boutwell Time has won her last four starts, including back-to-back stakes, for trainer Juan Carlos Guerrero and makes her second start of this campaign off a more than five-month respite. Completing the field is trainer Antonio Arriaga's class-rising Lika Rolling Stone, a 30-1 longshot on the morning line. Owing to its short field, the Beldame is Race 2 on Friday's nine-race card.