Ball Dancing beat Xcellence by a half-length, giving trainer Chad Brown a 1-2 finish in the $500,000 Sands Point Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf Saturday at Belmont Park.
The two Brown trainees rallied in tandem in the deep stretch, with Ball Dancing edging clear in the final strides in her U.S. debut. She had won two of five starts this year in France.
Joe Bravo was the rider as Ball Dancing ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.18 on the rain-softened course labeled firm.
"With European horses making their first start here, it's mostly a matter of making sure they are comfortable with their surroundings," Bravo said. "Chad does so much homework with these horses, it made my job easy."
Ball Dancing paid $12.60, $6.80 and $3.90 as the stablemates ran as separate betting interests. Xcellence returned $5 and $2.90. The pacesetting Sea Queen, the 5-2 favorite, paid $2.90 as she held on for third.
Ball Dancing earned $300,000 for the partnership of W.S. Farish and Steve Mooney.
Walk Close was fourth, followed by A Little Bit Sassy, Daring Dancer, Duff One, Miss Besilu and Queenofzeenile.
Earlier, Annecdote rallied from ninth to post a 2 3/4-length win in the $200,000 Noble Damsel for older fillies and mares on the grass. The 4-year-old trained by Christophe Clement and ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. was also making her first start in the U.S. after compiling a 5-for-13 mark in England. She paid $10.20 to win.
