NEW YORK -- Altesse battled back to beat Spring Waltz by a neck Sunday in the $107,600 Turn Back The Alarm Handicap for fillies and mares, the closing day feature Sunday at Belmont Park.
Altesse set the pace in the 1 1-8 miles race until Spring Waltz ranged up to challenge turning for home. Those two battled head-to-head to the finish, with Spring Waltz taking a slight lead midway in the stretch. Altesse, with John Velazquez aboard, was not done. The 5-year-old trained by Shug McGaughey dug in, pulling out her seventh win in 22 starts.
"She is so very game," Velazquez said. "She tries hard all the time, no matter what, and you saw that today."
The time was 1:50.02 on the fast track.
Altesse paid $6.40, $2.90 and $2.30. Spring Waltz, the 4-5 favorite, returned $2.70 and $2.10. So Glitzy, a distant 7½ lengths behind the top two, paid $4.20 to show.
The New York-area racing shifts to Aqueduct on Wednesday.