Strong field set for Woody Stephens; Caixa Eletronica tops
True North
Last-out stakes winners Declan’s Warrior, Forty Tales, Let Em Shine and Zees
Bros highlight a dynamite field in the Grade 2, $400,000
Woody
Stephens, one of three main track stakes races on Saturday’s Belmont Stakes
undercard. Eleven three-year-olds will square off at seven furlongs in the Woody
Stephens, which honors the legendary Hall of Fame trainer who won five straight
runnings of the Belmont between 1992 and 1996.
Hero of the Grade 3 Bay Shore two back, Declan’s Warrior has captured four of
five career starts and exits a fast-finishing score in the May 22 Gygistar over
the track and distance. The Nick Zito-trained chestnut must overcome the rail
post, but the late runner figures to receive a nice set-up, with a hot and
contested pace expected, if jockey Jose Lezcano can negotiate a good trip.
Forty Tales makes his first appearance since winning the Grade 3 Derby Trial
on April 27 and will be joined in the starting gate by Capo Bastone, who just
missed by a neck to his stablemate following a poor start in the Derby Trial.
Both colts are trained by Todd Pletcher. Forty Tales also recorded a close
second in the Grade 2 Hutcheson earlier this season and Capo Bastone placed in a
couple of Grade 1 events at two. Joel Rosario retains the assignment on Forty
Tales and John Velazquez will be reunited with Capo Bastone.
Let Em Shine invades from California in superb form for trainer Adam
Kitchingman, posting romping triumphs in his last three outings. The
front-running bay colt broke his maiden second time out by 7 1/2 lengths in
January and followed with a facile 4 1/4-length decision over optional claiming
rivals in March. Dispatched as the even-money favorite in his stakes debut, the
May 11 Came Home at Hollywood Park, Let Em Shine dominated throughout on the
lead, netting a career-best 102 BRIS Speed rating for the 4 3/4-length victory.
Edwin Maldonado will be in for the mount.
Zees Bros is an up-and-coming sprint prospect for Bob Baffert. A smart maiden
winner three back, the Brother Derek colt found the one-mile distance of the
Derby Trial too taxing in his stakes debut next time out but rebounded in style
in the May 18 Chick Lang, posting an impressive 2 1/4-length victory. Rosie
Napravnik takes over on the speedster.
Other contestants in the deep line-up include Grade 3 Swale winner and Bay
Shore runner-up Clearly Now; Hutcheson winner Honorable Dillon, who exits a May
1 optional claiming score at Belmont; multiple stakes victor Merit Man; and
Gygistar runner-up Tenango.
Caixa Eletronica will seek his second consecutive victory in the Grade 2,
$400,000
True North Handicap, closing fast to win last year’s edition as the
favorite. The eight-year-old veteran is the one to beat once again in the
six-furlong event, which drew a field of seven older horses, including the
coupled entry of Justin Phillip and Fast Bullet.
Caixa Eletronica faltered when making a title defense in the 1 1/8-mile
Charles Town Classic last out, checking in fifth behind the winning Game on
Dude, but he’s proven more effective at one-turn distances and possesses a
commendable 10-5-2-2 career mark at Saturday’s trip. The Pletcher charge reeled
off consecutive wins in the Uncle Mo and Grade 3 Fall Highweight, both at six
furlongs, prior to his last start and earned terrific BRIS Speed ratings of 105
and 108 for those efforts. Regular rider Javier Castellano guides.
Runner-up in the 2012 True North, Justin Phillip owns a two-race win skein
for trainer Steve Asmussen, taking the Grade 3 Count Fleet at Oaklawn Park most
recently, and the five-year-old is a three-time winner at Belmont, including the
2011 Woody Stephens. Fast Bullet will race coupled with Justin Phillip — both
are owned by Zayat Stables — but is conditioned by Baffert. A lightly-raced but
talented five-year-old, the chestnut will be making his first start since a 7
1/4-length optional claiming victory in December. Fast Bullet earned a 107 BRIS
Speed rating last time and has registered century-topping numbers in all four
career starts.
Sage Valley also merits respect following an authoritative 2 1/4-length tally
in his first start of the year, the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap on the
Preakness undercard. Trained by Rudy Rodriguez, the four-year-old colt has won
his last four starts.
The $150,000
Easy Goer
kicks off the stakes action with field of nine three-year-olds. The connections
of several runners opted for the 1 1/16-mile race instead of the 1 1/2-mile
Belmont, including top contenders Micromanage and Power Broker.
Micromanage will be making his second start of the year for Pletcher,
returning to action with a narrow optional claiming score on a muddy track at
Monmouth Park May 11. Power Broker, a Grade 1-winning juvenile for Baffert, has
an extra outing under his belt this season, posting a comfortable
allowance score recently at Churchill
Downs.
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