By Jill Williams
Moyglare Stud Farm's homebred Bellezza (Ire) (f, 4, Siyouni {Fr}–Terrific {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) wore down a loose-on-the lead 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Gamely Stakes winner Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) late in Saturday's GII Flower Bowl Stakes at Saratoga, a 'Win and You're In' event for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Her trainer, the young Miguel Clement, has had a magical Saratoga meet in his first months as head trainer. The Flower Bowl marked his sixth stakes win on the lawn since opening day July 10. Clement also had La Mehana (Fr) (Al Wukair {Ire})–winner of the GII Glens Falls Stakes last out–in the Flower Bowl. She finished fourth as the favorite.
When the Flower Bowl gates flew, Be Your Best proved intent on the front. She set all the pace–a :24.70 first quarter, a :49.10 half, and a 1:37.24 mile–and was even a bit rank at times, appearing to fight her rider, Edgard Zayas. Bellezza, in contrast, caboosed the field. Entering the final turn, Bellezza began to inch up on the inside, splitting horses down the lane to reel in Be Your Best with a striking turn of foot that left everyone in her wake. Amber Cascade (Free Drop Billy), claimed two starts back for $80,000, overtook Be Your Best for second. The winner's final time for the 1 3/8 miles on the lawn was 2:14.80, well off the course record but 2 1/4 lengths better than the runner-up.
“Throughout the running of the race, I thought the filly was always in control,” said Clement. “She was moving great and I wasn't too worried, to be honest.”
He continued: “We might have to entertain the Breeders' Cup: a mile and three-eighths and she might be good enough. We shall see.”
Jaime Rodriguez, the winning rider, added: “Once she was clear, she explodes. I'm really happy with her, the way she was running. This is a dream come true, like I told my wife, 'This is what I want, a horse to take me to the Breeders' Cup.'
Clement campaigned Bellezza to placings in the GI New York Stakes and Glens Falls Stakes this summer; she won the GIII Sheepshead Bay Stakes while under the tutelage of his late father in May. Bellezza was previously trained by Ger Lyons in Ireland, where she won a listed stakes last September and placed in three others.
Clement addressed what enticed Moyglare Stud to ship Bellezza to the U.S.
“She won a listed race in Ireland and they always thought she was a touch better than that…now she's really enhanced her page. So I guess it was the right call. She's very well bred–she's a Siyouni out of a Galileo mare–we don't have many of those in our barn, so it's a big deal. She's a gorgeous physical.”
Pedigree Notes:
French-based Siyouni (Fr), one of the elite stallions of the European scene, has 45 graded/group winners around the world, as well as 89 black-type winners, but Bellezza marks his first graded winner at Saratoga. Siyouni has had great success with daughters of Galileo (Ire) as Bellezza is his sixth graded/group winner on the identical cross, which includes G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) and MG1SW St Mark's Basilica (Fr). The late Galileo has 385 stakes winners out of his daughters.
A dual winner as well as a black-type performer in Ireland, Bellezza's dam Terrific (Ire) went through the Keeneland November ring in 2015 while carrying her first foal. Moyglare Stud Farm picked her up for $1.9 million. The mare's most recently reported foal is a yearling filly by Palace Pier (GB). Terrific is a full-sister to Together (Ire), winner of the 2011 GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland, as well as a G3 winner in Ireland and owner of multiple other Group 1/Grade I placings in Ireland, England, and the U.S. Rounding out the immediate family is 2009 G1 Criterium International winner Jan Vermeer (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), a half-brother to Terrific.
BELLEZZA blooms in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl under Jaime Rodriguez for trainer @clementstable, punching her ticket to the @BreedersCup Filly & Mare Turf! pic.twitter.com/FyjTXfD4me
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) August 30, 2025
Saturday, Saratoga
FLOWER BOWL S.-GII, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-30, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 3/8mT, 2:14.80, fm.
1–BELLEZZA (IRE), 122, f, 4, by Siyouni (Fr)
1st Dam: Terrific (Ire) (SP-Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Shadow Song (Ire), by Pennekamp
3rd Dam: Evening Air, by J. O. Tobin
O/B-Moyglare Stud Farm (IRE); T-Miguel Clement; J-Jaime Rodriguez. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 11-4-3-2, $574,122. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Amber Cascade, 120, m, 5, Free Drop Billy–Heart's Song, by Desert Party. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($40,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $67,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Flying P Stable; B-Malibu Farm (KY); T-Michael J. Maker. $100,000.
3–Be Your Best (Ire), 124, m, 5, Muhaarar (GB)–Kamakura, by Medaglia d'Oro. 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Michael J. Ryan; B-St. Croix Bloodstock (IRE); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $60,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, HF, HF. Odds: 2.75, 15.10, 3.25.
Also Ran: La Mehana (Fr), Madame Mischief, Long Ago (GB), Marksman Queen (GB). Scratched: Amanda's Folly, In Time (Fr).
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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