Con Lima Stalkes and Pounces in Wonder Again

ELMONT, NY – Under a peach of a pocket-sitting ride by Flavien Prat, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Joseph F. Graffeo, Eric Nikolaus del Toro, and Troy Johnson’s Con Lima transferred her Florida form with aplomb in Saturday’s $200,000 Wonder Again (G3), a 9-furlong inner-turf test for sophomore fillies at Belmont Park.

Inside Track to the 2021 Belmont Stakes

Get the MONSTER 19-page wagering guide to the 2021 Belmont Stakes featuring in-depth analysis of all 9 stakes including the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes!

Download Wagering guide

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Con Lima was tipped out by Prat at the top of the lane to pass pace-setting stablemate Jouster and held off Plum Ali and jockey Joel Rosario in the final strides by a 1/2-length.

Jouster set fractions of 25.42, 51.49, 1:17.89, and 1:39.03 for 1 mile before being passed by the winner, who hit the wire in 1:50.84 over the turf rated good. It was another 3/4 of a length back to a late-running slight favorite Gift List in third.

Off at 8/1 odds, the daughter of 2014 Belmont Stakes runner-up Commissioner won her sixth race and fourth stakes from 11 starts and paid $18.60 on a $2 win wager.

“She seems to be better on grass, I’m not really sure why,” said Pletcher, who won the race for the second consecutive year, following Sweet Melania’s triumph in 2020. “Pedigree-wise, it doesn’t really jump out at you. Commissioner was beaten a tough one in the Belmont here, so that gives you faith that she can run further. She’s been very consistent for us. She runs hard every time.

“She didn’t seem to mind the turf,” he continued. “It’s encouraging to see that she might stay a mile and 1/4. We knew Jouster was the quicker of the two, so I told Flavien to just stalk her and it worked out well. She kicked on. She’s shown she can do it both ways now.”

Prat said Con Lima was full of run when asked.

“We had a good trip,” said Prat. “She broke well. It took me a little time to get her to relax, but she finally did down the backside. She responded really well when I asked her to come home.”

Rosario said the late-running Plum Ali, winner of the Miss Grillo (G2) in October at Belmont, was at a disadvantage from the outermost post 9.

“I couldn’t get into position right away, so I had to just wait. I had nowhere to go,” said Rosario. “She was closing better than everyone else. We just didn’t get the trip.”

Bred in Texas by Lisa Kuhlmann, Con Lima previously landed the Honey Ryder, the Herecomesthebride (G3) and listed Ginger Brew – all at Gulfstream Park.

A $22,000 OBS March 2020 bargain, she earned $110,000 to increase here career bankroll to $379,865.

Jouster held on for fourth, followed by Fluffy Socks, Technical Analysis, Alwayz Late, Creative Cairo, and I Get It.

Mia Martina was scratched.