NYRA officials confirmed Thursday that May Day Ready (Tapit) will target the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational during the July 4 Racing Festival at Saratoga.
The GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf runner-up ventured to Japan after her stateside success, competing in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in Kyoto to conclude her 2-year-old campaign. Despite finishing 13th in that international attempt, she returned to American soil for her 2025 debut in the off-turf GIII Wonder Again Stakes on June 7.
MGSW Nitrogen (Medaglia d’Oro) dominated the Wonder Again by 17 lengths, with only two other competitors remaining after multiple scratches due to surface change. May Day Ready’s connections deliberately kept her in the race despite the conditions.
“I’m really happy with how she’s doing,” trainer Joe Lee said. “Off the turf wasn’t ideal, but the owners wanted to take a shot and get a race in her.”
Lee emphasized the strategic importance of the start. “If we already had a race in her, we could’ve scratched, but the goal was the Belmont Oaks, and we wanted to have something going into it, [as] opposed to straight off [the bench] about seven months then.”
The Tapit filly recorded her first Belmont training track workout Saturday morning, covering four furlongs in :51.55 (105/114) since relocating from Keeneland. Her previous Kentucky breeze registered :49 flat (10/29) for four panels.
Lee noted significant physical development in his charge since her juvenile campaign.
“She’s definitely filled out. She is not a big, imposing type of horse, but she never was,” Lee said. “She is doing everything right, is really sound, great attitude, and she eats well—all indications that she’ll hopefully improve from age two to three. That is always a question mark with fillies, but with her attitude, I’m hoping she does.”
