It’s no secret that Gary Contessa has been New York’s leading trainer for the past three years on the strength of his claiming game. This weekend at Belmont Park, however, the 51-year-old trainer will get some answers not only about a pair of 2-year-olds, but perhaps about himself as well.

On Sunday, Contessa will saddle Winning Move Stable’s Valuable Lady against seven other New York-bred fillies in the $100,000-added Joseph A. Gimma Stakes and Darlene Bilinski’s Camptown Blues against six state-bred colts in the $100,000-added Bertram F. Bongard Stakes. A victory by one, or both, would be a first of sorts for Contessa, whose stakes success with 2-year-olds has come primarily at Aqueduct, including True Affair in the 1992 Tempted, Grey Comet in the 2002 Damon Runyon, and My Kitty in the 2006 East View.

While Contessa is on target for a fourth training title in New York – he had 95 winners through Thursday’s card, well ahead of second-place Kiaran McLaughlin, with 56 – those numbers are off from last year’s pace, when he closed out the year with 150 victories.

But he’s not complaining.

“Winning Move isn’t claiming as many horses,” he said. “And if you gave me a choice, would I rather have a barn full of claiming horses or a barn full of two-year-olds to develop, I’d pick the two-year-olds.”

Currently, Contessa has 20 2-year-olds in training, with Valuable Lady and Camptown Blues at the head of the pack.

Valuable Lady, a gray daughter of Value Plus, was purchased for $50,000 at the OBS February sale, and looked sharp in winning her debut, an off-the-turf 5½-furlong race at Saratoga on August 30.

“From the moment I bought her, I thought she was special,” said Contessa. “I told everyone I met the day she ran to bet – and that was a lot of people – and she still paid $36. She may be a stakes filly; we’ll find out more in the race.”

Contessa was just as enamored of Camptown Blues before he made his first start at Belmont on June 25. But the son of Forest Camp did not live up to expectations and finished a non-threatening sixth, beaten 16 lengths.

“Afterward, all I could think was, ‘How could I be so wrong?’” said Contessa. “We decided to try him on the turf, and he ran well [finishing second both times].”

Camptown Blues’ next race came off the turf, and Contessa seriously considered scratching him. He didn’t, and the colt posted an easy front-running victory in the slop going seven furlongs on September 12.

“Now, the question is, is he a dirt horse on a fast track?” asked Contessa. “He’ll be answering a lot of questions in the race, as well.”

In the seven-furlong Joseph A. Gimma, which will be run as the eighth race on the 10-race card, Valuable Lady is 5-1 behind Chester and Mary Broman’s entry of Screen Saviour and Mineralogist, 6-5 on the morning line. In the Bertram F. Bongard, also at seven furlongs, Camptown Blues is a 15-1 longshot behind the Todd Pletcher-trained One Note Samba, the early 9-5 favorite coming off a ninth-place finish in the Grade 1 Hopeful.

“I don’t worry about the other horses in the race, not with two-year-olds,” said Contessa. “With them, nothing is for sure until you load them into the gate. But I’m excited to have both of them.”