Miss Ella wins Belmont's Christiecat Stakes

NEW YORK (AP) Miss Ella won the $100,000 Christiecat Stakes on Friday, the opening-day feature at Belmont Park.

The six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies was switched to the main track from the turf course following heavy rain Thursday.

The 4-5 favorite had no problem with the surface change, making a strong run up the rail to beat long-shot Darling Sky by a neck for her second stakes victory and third win in six races overall.

The time was 1:09.66 on the fast track.

Ridden by Joel Rosario for trainer Graham Motion, Miss Ella paid $3.80, $3 and $2.20.

Darling Sky was a game second at 14-1, returning $8.10 and $4.20.

The pacesetting Spark held on for third, paying $2.80.

The card was the first of 38 at Belmont's fall meet that runs through Nov. 1. The main event will be the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct. 3.