Gun Song Upsets Randomized in Beldame

After suffering six straight defeats, R. Lee Lewis' Gun Song returned to the winner's circle in the $232,500 Beldame Stakes (G2) Sept. 26 at Aqueduct Racetrack. A multiple stakes winner at 3, Gun Song collected her first victory as a 4-year-old in impressive fashion, defeating the heavily favored Randomized by 1 1/4 lengths. The Beldame, part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen series, had been on Gun Song's radar since her last effort, a fourth-place finish in the July 18 Shuvee Stakes (G2). "(This win is) very satisfying," trainer Mark Hennig said. "When you kind of put one away in mid-July and say, 'I'm going to point to one race in September,' you're putting some pressure on yourself. I said after that race in July that I'm just going to get her ready for one try, and if she runs well, we'll talk about whether she deserves a trip to California (for the Breeders' Cup)." With her Beldame score, Gun Song received a credit of $30,000 toward entry fees toward the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The second- and third-place finishers also collected an entry free credit of $15,000 and $7,500, respectively. Friday morning, the Beldame field was diminished to just four when the Dan Ward-trained Majestic Oops scratched out of the race in favor of the Sept. 28 Delaware Handicap (G3). The seeming lack of early pace left the money pouring in on two-time grade 1 winner and 2023 Beldame heroine Randomized. Gun Song, also cross-entered in the Delaware Handicap, went off as the 9-2 third choice behind 2-5 Randomized and 2-1 Margie's Intention, the lone 3-year-old in Friday's race. Gun Song and jockey John Velazquez were content to let Randomized and Margie's Intention handle the dirty work in the Beldame, laying back in third as the pair pressed through opening splits of :23.78 and :47.26. Randomized maintained a narrow advantage over her younger rival, turning away Margie's Intention's bid for the lead as they turned for home. Meanwhile, Velazquez had just guided Gun Song off the rail and into the clear after six furlongs in 1:11.19. "That helped me a little bit, that the other horse (Margie's Intention) went with (Randomized)," Velazquez said. "I kept her right behind her heels anyways. So, I was pretty comfortable where I was. When I did get out, she responded very nicely." Randomized, ready to give Chad Brown his fifth Beldame victory, surged for the wire but was left to tango with a determined Gun Song halfway down the stretch. Full of run, Gun Song ($11.54) bounded past the front-runner and streaked clear in a final time of 1:49.45. Margie's Intention re-rallied in late stretch but failed to catch Randomized for second, finishing a neck behind in third. Just Music was a distant fourth. The win boosted Gun Song's earnings to $915,720 with a record of 5-5-2 in 16 starts. Gun Song was bred in Kentucky by Marianne Stribling out of the grade 2-winning Mr. Greeley mare Nicole H. The 4-year-old became her sire Gun Runner's 11th graded stakes winner of the year. Ranked third on the leading sires list through Sept. 25, Gun Runner stood the 2025 breeding season for $250,000 at Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky.