Wedding The Beldame Toast

Wedding Toast made all for an impressive success in the Grade One Beldame Stakes over nine furlongs on dirt at Belmont Park, USA, on Saturday, September 26 and is being aimed at the Breeders' Cup.

This was the five-year-old Street Sense mare's second top-level victory, following a five-length romp on her previous start, the Ogden Phipps Stakes over an extended mile at Belmont Park on June 6.

She has now enjoyed eight wins from 12 starts and it is onwards and upwards as trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is aiming Wedding Toast at the Breeders' Cup (Keeneland, end of October).

Wedding Toast, with Jose Lezcano again in the saddle, took the lead immediately after the stalls opened and never relinquished it.

She increased her advantage turning in and went clear in the straight, winning eased down by two and three quarter lengths from Curalina despite drifting right inside the final furlong.

She set times of 24.11s for the first quarter-mile, 47.57s for the half-mile and 1m 11.28s for the first six furlongs, finishing the race in 1m 47.67s.

Kiaran McLaughlin said: "Wedding Toast was impressive today - she loves Belmont Park around one turn.

"I preferred, if possible, that she was not hit (with the whip) today and there are now five weeks to prepare her for the Breeders' Cup.

"Everything went to script, which is not always the case, and her drifting right at the end was no big deal - she wanted to and the jockey let her.

"Wedding Toast was not at her best and so we missed the Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga in August but she has been doing really well for a while now and training excellently.

"She'll be able to handle two turns at the Breeders' Cup. She's been training at Greentree (Saratoga) on the synthetic and as long as the weather cooperates, we'll probably keep her there."

Jose Lezcano added: "Wedding Toast broke good and I let her go at her own pace.

"When I asked her in the stretch, she went on and did it easy. I never touched her with the whip or anything."