(Hall of Fame Trainer Bill Mott will saddle Almanzor for Friday’s G1 New York / Photo by Holly M. Smith)

From the NYRA Media Team:

Annually one of the top races in the nation for the filly and mare turf division, Friday’s Grade 1, $750,000 New York features a a rematch of the winner and third-place finishers from last year’s Group 1 Prix de Diane [French Oaks], Peter M. Brant’s Gezora and The Aga Khan’s Cankoura. Quality is the name of the game in this year’s renewal with nine going to post in the 1 3/16-mile Mellon turf test on Day Three of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

Former stablemates in the Chantilly yard of Francis-Henri Graffard in France, Gezora and Cankoura have since diverged, with the former finishing second in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille and 13th against the boys in the prestigious Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – both at Longchamp – and then winning Del Mar’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November for Graffard.

On a one-way ticket when venturing stateside, the daughter of European Champion 3-year-old of 2016, Almanzor, joined the Chad Brown barn for one race, a seasonal debut second in Churchill Downs’ Grade 3 Modesty over nine furlongs. Recently moved to the barn of Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott after the surprising loss, she is expected to be well-fancied once again, especially with the additional half-furlong in distance, as well as having a fitness-building race under her girth.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, a New York winner with She Feels Pretty [2025], Lady Shakespeare [2010], Auntie Mame [1998] and Irish Linnet [1995] seeks a record-setting fifth victory from the outermost post 9. Speaking of records, Brant will seek a record-setting fourth victory in the race, having won with Bleecker Street [2022], Homerique [2019] and Just a Game [1980].

Cankoura, a four-time winner from nine starts, suffered from a lack of cover when finishing a valiant third in the French Oaks. She would go on to impressively win Deauville’s Group 3 Prix de Psyche before disappointing with failed front-running tactics in the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet. Rested for the remainder of 2025, the daughter of triple Group 1-winning miler Persian King returned with a fitness-fortifying fourth – missing the silver by a couple strides – as the joint-favorite in left-handed Saint-Cloud’s Group 3 Prix Allez France on May 1. One year on from her last meeting with Gezora, she gets another crack at her foe, with each appearing likely to improve off their 2026 bows. Clement Lecoeuvre flies in for the mount with Cankoura to break from post 6.

“She finished fourth first out this season and we weren’t too disappointed with her,” said Nemone Routh, director and French racing manager for The Aga Khan. “She was quite keen that day and fresh. She took a long time to settle, and the rider was under instructions to find cover and settle her. Off the back of that, she came into the straight and hit a bit of a flat spot but then finished her race really well. She had the best sectionals in the straight and that was after having pulled early, so she’s a very genuine filly. She breaks well and will be suited by a faster pace.

“Gezora is a great horse, and I have a lot of respect for her,” Routh added. “She’s a lovely filly; all heart and very classy.”

Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown seeks a record-extending sixth victory in the race, most recently landing with Marketsegmentation in 2023. He will send out a quartet, led by Michael Caruso and Michael Dubb’s Modesty winner, Kathrynmarissa, who used an explosive acceleration to best Gezora in the final furlong. Second in the 2024 Grade 2 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational over course and distance, as well as that year’s Grade 1 American Oaks at Santa Anita, the five-time winner from 12 starts appears in top form. Jose Ortiz seeks his third win in four editions from post 8, having won with Didia [2024] and Marketsegmentation.

“She missed the break last time – I thought she would be on the lead in the race, that was the plan,” Brown explained. “She was still able to win. We’ll see if she can use that race off a layoff and move forward.”

Like her stablemate, Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and Michael Kisber’s City Girl exits a Grade 3 victory, annexing the Beaugay at Belmont at the Big A last out, stepping up well form allowance company. Listed-placed in France before heading stateside, she has improved with each of her three stateside runs, which all came after a 22-month absence. Dubb seeks his second win in the race, having won with Fourstar Crook in 2018. Irad Ortiz, Jr. seeking his fifth win in the race following Bleecker Street, Homerique, Fourstar Crook and Dacita [2016] when he sets off from post 7.

“She had some physical issues early on and it took her awhile to get over it,” Brown said. “The owners were very patient, and she seems to be hitting her best stride now. She keeps moving forward and she has some form from when she was younger for going this far.”

Portfolio Duration [post 1, Flavien Prat], a daughter of white-hot sire Night of Thunder, seeks to give Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables its second New York win in four years, following Marketsegmentation. In just four starts, she’s done little wrong and ascended well for connections, including a smart allowance win to kick off the season in March, followed by a neck runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile on May 2. Hailing from an impressive Aga Khan damline, no less, she was plucked by bloodstock agent Mike Ryan for $190,371 at Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2023.

“I’m going to try and step her up in distance,” Brown said. “I’m not sure on the stretch out where she’ll put herself [in the race]. The distance is a little bit of a question mark for her, but it seems like a mile is a touch short, so I didn’t want to put her in the Just a Game. We’ll see if she can handle a mile and three-sixteenths. She’s training super.”

Rounding out the fierce foursome from the five-time winner is Three Chimney Farms’ Kentucky homebred Pretty Picture, who seeks her first graded stakes score, but held her own when placing in last fall’s Grade 2 Mrs. Revere won by well-regarded Lush Lips and Grade 2 Sands Point. Fresh off an eye-catching allowance score, she will get the services of Dylan Davis from post 5.

“It was good effort [versus Lush Lips in the Mrs. Revere] and then she got a race off a layoff and was able to win that final race of the Keeneland meet going a mile and an eighth,” Brown concluded. “This looks like the perfect distance for her. It’s a big class test but she ran very well in the Mrs. Revere.”

Two-time New York winning trainer Graham Motion seeks a third score with Newstead Stables’ Laurelin, a five-time winner from eight starts who was third in City Girl’s Beaugay last out, her 2025 debut. Winner of last year’s Saratoga Oaks, she would go on to finish second in both the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup and Grade 3 Jockey Club Oaks to cap her season. Motion landed the spoils with Mean Mary in both 2020-21. Kendrick Carmouche rides from post 4.

“She’s doing well, so this race is tempting. I still think very highly of her,” Motion said. “Sometimes, when a horse goes undefeated and then gets beaten a couple times, you get down on them, but her record is still pretty phenomenal, really. I’m happy with her. She’s in great form. This distance probably doesn’t hurt, let’s put it that way.”

Moyglare Stud homebred mare Bellezza, third in this race last year, returns for trainer Miguel Clement, who seeks to emulate his four-time New York-winning father, the late Christophe Clement. Capping her season with a sixth in Gezora’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf and returning to fill the same position in the Grade 3 Orchid at Gulfstream Park in March, the Grade 2 Flower Bowl winner from last year cuts back in trip and will have the services of Jaime Rodriguez from post 2.

“I think she can handle this distance,” Clement said. “I think last year the only reason she didn’t run better was due to the ground. I don’t believe more distance is imperative. She stays if you want her to stay. She has gears if you need her to. I don’t think distance is as pertinent for her as some other horses.”

Rounding out the field is Gary Barber, Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ in-form Speed Shopper, fresh off a victory in the Grade 3 Bewitch at Keeneland. Speaking of the late, great Clement, the daughter of Quality Road also took his namesake Grade 3 race at Gulfstream Park in January. Manny Franco picks up the mount from post 3.

“She earned this,” Walden said. “She earned the right to make her Grade 1 debut. She has won two graded stakes on the year, and you could make the case that she was best in the one she lost [Orchid]. Ever since the Rodeo Drive in California, she’s been in a rhythm. No matter what we do, we can’t seem to get her out of this rhythm – not that we’d want to because she is unstoppable right now. She’s in the zone. I think when momentum and confidence are going your way, that is when you go on and take a swing. It’s a step up, but her numbers are trending in a positive direction.

“We think she’s doing really well,” Walden added. “We want to see if she can compete at this level; at this distance. The Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare turf is 1 3/16 miles – you can’t write 1 3/8 miles at Keeneland – so it is cut back to 9.5 furlongs. We want to see if she could be competitive at this distance.”

The New York is slated as Race 11 on Friday’s 14-race program, which includes the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 12], the Grade 1, $500,000 DraftKings Acorn [Race 10], the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o’ Roses presented by Boldyn Networks [Race 4], and the Grade 2, $300,000 Wonder Again presented by Shift4 [Race 9]. First post is 11:45 a.m. Eastern with admission gates open to the public at 10 a.m.

America’s Day at the Races presents daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule.