Miss Grillo Stakes

ClassGrade II

LocationBelmont Park
Elmont, New York, United States

Inaugurated1980 (at Aqueduct Racetrack)

Miss Grillo Stakes
Race information
Class	Grade II
Location	Belmont Park Elmont, New York, United States
Inaugurated	1980 (at Aqueduct Racetrack)
Race type	Thoroughbred – Flat racing
Website	NYRA
Distance	1+1⁄16 miles
Surface	Turf
Track	Left-handed
Qualification	Two-year-old fillies
Weight	122 lbs with allowances
Purse	US$200,000 (2021)

The Miss Grillo Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-olds filles over a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles on the turf track scheduled annually in late September at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event currently offers a purse of $200,000.

The event was named for the Argentine bred filly Miss Grillo,^[1] a record breaking stakes winner in the 1940s who won the Diana Handicap twice.

The event was inaugurated on 29 October 1980 at Aqueduct Racetrack and was run over the 1+1⁄8 mile distance with Robert Kluener's Smilin' Sera winning the event by one length over De La Rose in a time of 1:512⁄5.^[2] De La Rose the following year would be crowned the US Champion Female Turf Horse.

In 1982 the event was classified as Grade III, upgraded to Grade II in 1988 and was downgraded to Grade III the following year.^[3] From 2001–2007 the race was not graded as in 2009 when the event was moved off the turf track due to the inclement weather and held over a shorter one mile distance.^[4] In 2018 the event was upgraded back to Grade II.^[3]

The event was run in two divisions in 1988.^[5]

The distance of the event has been changed several times but since 2010 the event has been run over the current distance of 1+1⁄16 miles.^[3]

The race was part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series from 2008 to 2010, with the winner automatically qualifying for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

In 2022 the event was moved to Aqueduct Racetrack due to infield tunnel and redevelopment work at Belmont Park.^[6]

Records

Speed record:

1+1⁄16 miles: 1:40.49 – Namaste's Wish (2007)
1+1⁄8 miles: 1:49.53 – Belle Cherie (1998)

Margins:

8 lengths – Melhor Ainda (2004)

Most wins by an owner:

2 – Fox Ridge Farm (1994, 2001)
2 – Klaravich Stables (2018, 2019)

Most wins by a jockey:

3 – Jose Lezcano (2008, 2010, 2013)
3 – Javier Castellano (2012, 2016, 2019)

Most wins by a trainer:

9 – Chad C. Brown (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023)

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Distance	Time	Purse	Grade	Ref
At Aqueduct – Miss Grillo Stakes
2025	Ground Support	Adam Beschizza	Kelsey Danner	NBS Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:43.32	$200,000	II	^[7]
2024	Scythian	Junior Alvarado	William I. Mott	Lawrence Goichman	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.68	$200,000	II	^[8]
2023	Hard to Justify	Flavien Prat	Chad C. Brown	Wise Racing	1+1⁄16 miles	1:43.92	$200,000	II	^[9]
2022	Pleasant Passage	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Claude R. McGaughey	Emory Hamilton	1+1⁄16 miles	1:45.25	$200,000	II	^[10]
At Belmont Park
2021	Sail By	Junior Alvarado	Leah Gyarmati	Treadway Racing Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:43.21	$200,000	II	^[11]
2020	Plum Ali	Jose L. Ortiz	Christophe Clement	Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Bethlehem Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.03	$145,500	II	^[12]
2019	Selflessly	Javier Castellano	Chad C. Brown	Klaravich Stables	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.11	$200,000	II	^[13]
2018	Newspaperofrecord (IRE)	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Chad C. Brown	Klaravich Stables	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.29	$200,000	II	^[14]
2017	Significant Form	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Chad C. Brown	Stephanie Seymour Brant	1+1⁄16 miles	1:44.58	$200,000	III	^[15]
2016	New Money Honey	Javier Castellano	Chad C. Brown	e Five Racing Thoroughbreds	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.41	$200,000	III	^[16]
2015	Tin Type Gal	Luis Saez	H. Graham Motion	My Meadowview Farm	1+1⁄16 miles	1:43.50	$200,000	III	^[17]
2014	Lady Eli	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Chad C. Brown	Sheep Pond Partners	1+1⁄16 miles	1:43.50	$200,000	III	^[18]
2013	Testa Rossi (FR)	Jose Lezcano	Chad C. Brown	James Covello, Thomas Coleman & DMZ Racing Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.73	$200,000	III	^[19]
2012	Watsdachances (IRE)	Javier Castellano	Chad C. Brown	Michael E. Kisber & Bradley Thoroughbreds	1+1⁄16 miles	1:47.90	$150,000	III	^[20]
2011	Pure Gossip	Ryan Curatolo	Philip M. Serpe	Flying Zee Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:47.71	$100,000	III	^[21]
2010	Winter Memories	Jose Lezcano	James J. Toner	Phillips Racing Partnership	1+1⁄16 miles	1:45.69	$150,000	III	^[22]
2009	Dad's Crazy	Julien R. Leparoux	Todd A. Pletcher	Smarch Racing	1 mile	1:40.04	$141,000	Listed	Off turf^[23]
2008	Maram	Jose Lezcano	Chad C. Brown	Karen N. Woods	1+1⁄16 miles	1:46.12	$164,200	III	^[24]
2007	§ Namaste's Wish	Kent J. Desormeaux	William I. Mott	Live Oak Plantation	1+1⁄16 miles	1:40.49	$81,900	Listed	^[25]
2006	Chestoria	Eibar Coa	Bruce N. Levine	E L R Corp	1+1⁄8 miles	1:50.82	$84,375	Listed	^[26]
2005	Wait A While	Jerry D. Bailey	Todd A. Pletcher	Arindel Farm	1+1⁄8 miles	1:52.87	$82,550	Listed	Off turf^[27]
2004	Melhor Ainda	Jose A. Santos	Robert J. Frankel	Stud TNT	1+1⁄8 miles	1:51.28	$82,200	Listed	^[28]
2003	Please Take Me Out	Aaron Gryder	Alfredo Callejas	Robert Perez	1+1⁄8 miles	1:50.75	$84,400	Listed	^[29]
At Aqueduct
2002	Fircroft	Jean-Luc Samyn	George R. Arnold II	G. Watts Humphrey Jr.	1+1⁄8 miles	1:49.79	$84,000	Listed	Off turf^[30]
2001	Riskaverse	Robbie Davis	Patrick J. Kelly	Fox Ridge Farm	1+1⁄8 miles	1:51.61	$86,700	Listed	^[31]
At Belmont Park
2000	Ruff	John R. Velazquez	David G. Donk	Robert Spiegel	1+1⁄8 miles	1:49.79	$111,300	III	^[32]
1999	Wolf Alert	Jerry D. Bailey	Gary C. Contessa	Nedlaw Stable & William F. Coyro Jr.	1+1⁄8 miles	1:54.01	$111,000	III	^[33]
1998	Belle Cherie	John R. Velazquez	Philip G. Johnson	Jeffrey Foong & Roy Jackson	1+1⁄8 miles	1:49.53	$112,500	III	^[34]
At Aqueduct
1997	Compassionate	Robbie Davis	Mark A. Hennig	Ethel D. Jacobs	1+1⁄8 miles	1:53.13	$114,500	III	^[35]
At Belmont Park
1996	Miss Huff n' Puff	Richard Migliore	Richard A. Violette Jr.	Ralph M. Evans	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.47	$113,400	III	Off turf^[36]
At Aqueduct
1995	Mountain Affair	Todd Kabel	Kathy Patton	Harry T. Mangurian Jr.	1+1⁄16 miles	1:53.91	$115,600	III	^[37]
At Belmont Park
1994	Upper Noosh	Eddie Maple	Patrick J. Kelly	Fox Ridge Farm	1+1⁄16 miles	1:47.10	$81,626	III	^[38]
1993	Chelsey Flower	Jorge Velasquez	Jose A. Martin	Clanni Gael Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:45.21	$124,200	III	^[39]
1992	Missymooiloveyou	Herb McCauley	Thomas M. Walsh	Dan-dev Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.57	$100,000	III	^[40]
1991	Good Mood	Mike E. Smith	Richard A. DeStasio	Peter E. Blum	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.60	$131,200	III	^[41]
At Aqueduct
1990	† Purana	Herb McCauley	Philip A. Gleaves	Strauss Medina Farm	1+1⁄8 miles	1:51.40	$93,300	III	^[42]
1989	Savina	Jerry F. Belmonte	Woodford C. Stephens	Henryk de Kwiatkowski	1+1⁄8 miles	1:56.20	$132,200	III	^[43]
1988	Memories	Jean Cruguet	John M. Veitch	Darby Dan Farm	1+1⁄8 miles	1:58.80	$136,700	II	Division 1^[44]
1988	Darby's Daughter	Calvin H. Borel	Clarence E. Picou	James E. Cottrell	1+1⁄8 miles	1:59.20	$123,000	II	Division 2^[45]
1987	Betty Lobelia	Ruben Hernandez	H. Allen Jerkens	Bohemia Stable	1+1⁄8 miles	1:55.00	$94,050	III	^[46]
1986	Lovelier	Angel Cordero Jr.	D. Wayne Lukas	Harbor View Farm	1+1⁄8 miles	1:52.20	$91,650	III	Off turf^[47]
1985	Cadabra Abra	Jorge Velasquez	Daniel Perlsweig	Jerry R. Pinkley	1+1⁄8 miles	1:55.40	$87,750	III	^[48]
1984	Endear	Gregg McCarron	Woodford C. Stephens	Claiborne Farm	1+1⁄8 miles	1:55.00	$86,550	III	^[49]
1983	Heartlight	Angel Cordero Jr.	Howard M. Tesher	Rhonda Allen	1+1⁄8 miles	2:04.80	$56,500	III	^[50]
1982	§ Bemissed	Frank Lovato Jr.	Woodford C. Stephens	Ryehill Farm (Jim & Eleanor Ryan)	1+1⁄8 miles	1:51.80	$84,150	III	^[51]
1981	Baby Duck	Gregg McCarron	Braulio Baeza	Regal Oak Farm	1+1⁄8 miles	1:51.40	$84,450		^[52]
1980	Smilin' Sera	Jean-Luc Samyn	Philip G. Johnson	Robert Kluener	1+1⁄8 miles	1:51.40	$55,000		^[2]

Miss Grillo Stakes

Records

Winners

See also

References

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