Belmont Park releases probables for Stars & Stripes Day
stakes
Belmont Park will host the inaugural Stars & Stripes Day next Saturday on
July 5 featuring five graded stakes worth $3.35 million. On Sunday, the probables for the Belmont Derby Invitational, Belmont Oaks Invitational,
Suburban Handicap, Belmont Sprint Championship and Dwyer were released.
The aptly named Toast of New York is likely to headline the
Grade 1, $1.25 Belmont Derby, formerly contested as the Jamaica Handicap.
Toast of New York, trained by Jamie Osborne, burst onto the international racing scene with an authoritative 2
1/2-length victory in the Group 2 U.A.E. Derby in his stakes debut. The bay colt’s career
began inconspicuously last year in Great Britain as he lost his two races
against suspect competition before rattling off a pair of wins at Wolverhampton by a combined 28 lengths before taking the U.A.E. Derby in his only
start of 2014.
Toast of New York is likely to be joined by the French-bred
Gailo Chop, who has won his last four outings in France including a pair of
Group 3 races for trainer Antoine de Watrigant.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien is probable to run Adelaide, a Group 3 winner in
Ireland. The son of Galileo finished second in the
1 1/2-mile, Group 2 King Edward VII at Royal Ascot in his most recent start.
Pornichet, who finished third in a Group 1 race in France
in his last start, rounds out the quartet of foreign raiders likely to compete
in the Belmont Derby.
American runners Bobby’s Kitten, Dance With Fate,
Flamboyant, Gala Award, Global View, Mr Speaker and Sheldon are all probable
to run.
The Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks, formerly the Garden
City, is likely to feature an intriguing blend of European and American runners.
Leading the Euro contingent is the two-time Group 1-placed Xcellence, who is trained by Francois Doumen for Martin Schwartz and based in
France. Trainer Dermot Weld, who captured the 1990 edition of the
Belmont Stakes with Go and Go, is likely to send out Flying Jib, winner of her
past three starts in Ireland including a Group 3.
Eastern Belle is probable to run for trainer John Gosden. The Champs Elysees filly broke her maiden in a
1 1/4-mile stakes in her last start. The French-based Group 3 winner Goldy Espony, now in the care of trainer
Chad Brown, is also likely to run. Wonderfully, an O’Brien trained filly, is likely to
complete the European participation.
Trainer Christophe Clement is probable to saddle a pair of
American hopefuls in Sea Queen, who won the local prep for the
Belmont Oaks in the Wonder Again, and Summer Solo, an undefeated filly testing stakes company for
the first time. Other American runners likely to run are Minorette, My
Conquestadory, Recepta, Room Service and Rosalind.
The Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban Handicap, a mainstay of the
Belmont Park stakes schedule, will be contested at 1 1/4 miles for the first
time since 2009. The race’s distance was 1 1/8 miles from 2010-2013.
Norumbega and Micromanage, who were separated by only a
neck when finishing 1-2 in the Grade 2, 1 1/2-mile Brooklyn Invitational on June
7, are expected to meet again in the Suburban. Ever Rider, fourth in the
Brooklyn, is also probable for Saturday’s race.
Last Gunfighter will aim for his seventh stakes victory in
the Suburban. He has won two straight, the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap
in November and Penn National’s Mountainview Handicap on May 31.
The Suburban probables also include Moreno, Mylute,
Romansh and Stormin Monarcho. Perfect Title, Prayer for Relief and Vyjack are
possible.
Central Banker, who was scratched out of the Grade 1
Metropolitan Handicap on June 7, is slated to return to Belmont Park to compete
in the Grade 3, $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship, a seven-furlong race for
three-year-olds and up which was formerly run at Saratoga as the James
Marvin Stakes. In his most recent start, Central Banker won the Grade 2
Churchill Downs by a head on May 3.
Palace also brings winning graded form into the
Belmont Sprint Championship, having captured the Grade 2 True North by
three-quarters of a length on June 6. He is winless in two starts at the Belmont
Sprint Championship’s seven-furlong distance.
Also expected for the Belmont Sprint Championship are Big
Screen, Clearly Now, Declan’s Warrior, Moonlight Song, Salutos Amigos and
Sensational Slam. Eastwood and Mezzano are possible.
Kid Cruz, who has won three stakes, will attempt to land
his first graded score in the Grade 2, $200,000 Dwyer, a 1 1/8-mile race
for three-year-olds. The colt, named for New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz,
took the Private Terms and Federico Tesio earlier this year in Maryland before
finishing eighth in the Preakness in May. He regained the winning thread
with a 3 1/4-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Easy Goer on June 7 at Belmont.
Captain Serious, who is unbeaten in three starts against
New York-breds, will take on open company and race beyond seven furlongs for the
first time in the Dwyer. Captain Serious, who is named in honor
of Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, most recently took Belmont’s Mike Lee by three
lengths on May 31.
Gaining Ground, Mexikoma, Spot, Tiz Dark and Ulbanator
complete the list of Dwyer probables.
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