Back in May, a chestnut son of 2004 Belmont S. (G1) winner
Birdstone arrived at Belmont Park with a little-known trainer, no jockey, and
just one victory
from four races on his resume.
Four months later, that same chestnut colt — a little bigger, a little
stronger, and whole lot richer — has a chance to do what no three-year-old has in 20 years: win the Belmont
S.,
Travers S. (G1) and
Jockey Club Gold Cup
(G1) in the same year.
Saturday at Belmont Park, SUMMER BIRD (Birdstone) looks to step up and join Easy Goer and
the eight
other sophomores who swept three of the biggest races in New York as he faces
six in the 91st
running of the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
The 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup is the centerpiece of “Super Saturday” at
Belmont Park,
with four other Grade 1 races and a special first race post time of 12:30 p.m.
(EDT).
“Any Grade 1 race is important, but when you add onto it the historical
significance of Easy Goer being the last three-year-old to win the Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold
Cup in the
same year, it’s very meaningful,” said Tim Ice, who trains Summer Bird. “Horses like Man o’ War and Arts and Letters did it
— if
Summer Bird could add this to his resume, it would speak volumes for him.”
Although favored at 2-1 with Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux aboard, standing
in the way of Summer Bird’s achievement are a cadre of older stakes winners, among them
MACHO AGAIN (Macho Uno), DRY MARTINI (Slew Gin Fizz) and ASIATIC BOY (Arg) (Not
for Sale), as well as another outstanding sophomore in QUALITY ROAD (Elusive
Quality), who was third in the Travers.
The second choice at 5-2 on the morning line, Quality Road set track records
in both the Florida Derby (G1) and the Amsterdam S. (G2) at Saratoga and has been training well
since the
Midsummer Derby.
“The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a very important race in its own right,” trainer Todd
Pletcher said. “Our focus is hoping our horse does well.”
In the 50 years since Sword Dancer did so in 1959, only a dozen sophomores
have won the Jockey Club Gold Cup, most recently two-time Horse of the Year
Curlin. In addition to Easy Goer, Man o’ War (1920) and Arts and Letters (1969),
three-year-olds who
have won the Belmont, the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup include Twenty
Grand
(1931), One Count (1952), *Gallant Man (1957), Sword Dancer (1959), Damascus
(1967) and
Temperence Hill (1980).
“This year, the three-year-olds, the survivors, are pretty strong,” observed
Barclay Tagg, who will saddle six-year-old Suburban H. (G2) winner Dry Martini, 8-1 with Edgar
Prado riding. “We know Dry Martini likes this track. When you’re doing well and are
comfortable on a track, you may have an edge.”
Both Macho Again, winner of the Stephen
Foster H. (G1) at Churchill Downs earlier this year, and Asiatic
Boy exit an encounter with another three-year-old — the super filly Rachel
Alexandra (Medaglia d’Oro), winner of
the Woodward S. (G1) at Saratoga on September 5. Six-year-old Asiatic Boy, who
is still seeking his first win in the United States, was fourth
to Rachel Alexandra
while Macho Again came the closest of any to beating her this year, finishing a
head behind
in the nine-furlong race.
“He’s a top horse, championship caliber,” trainer Dallas Stewart said of
four-year-old Macho Again. “We’re looking forward to running.”
With Alan Garcia aboard, the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Asiatic Boy is 8-1
while Macho
Again, with Robby Albarado up, is the third choice at 7-2.
Both Quality Road, who will be ridden by John Velazquez, and Summer Bird will
carry 122
pounds in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, while the older horses, including SETTE E
MEZZO (Dynaformer) and
TIZWAY (Tiznow), carry 126 pounds.
Earlier on the Super Saturday card, MUSIC NOTE (A.P. Indy) will take on four
rivals in the $600,000
Beldame
S. (G1). The Saeed bin Suroor-trained four-year-old was a dynamo last year,
reeling off Grade 1 victories in the Mother Goose S., Coaching Club American
Oaks and Gazelle S. followed by a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup
Ladies’ Classic (G1). She wasn’t seen again until returning with a dull fifth in
the Ogden Phipps H. (G1) at Belmont Park on June 13, but rounded back into form
in a big way last out, dominating the seven-furlong Ballerina S. (G1) by 5 1/4
lengths on Saratoga’s sloppy main track.
“It was a little disappointing,” assistant trainer Henry Spiller said of Music
Note’s Ogden Phipps run. “She was shorter than we thought after the layoff. She was stiff behind,
and we did hind-end work. She progressed all summer and came up with a huge race
in the Ballerina.”
Spiller did not sound concerned about making the jump from the seven-furlong
Ballerina to the
nine-furlong Beldame.
“It’s slightly different,” he said, “but she’s proven at
one turn, nine furlongs around here.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher will seek to upset the 2-5 morning-line favorite with a
three-horse attack,
led by UNBRIDLED BELLE (Broken Vow) and CAPTAIN’S LOVER (SAf) (Captain Al).
Pletcher also will run WITH FLYING COLORS (A.P. Indy), a daughter of four-time
Grade 1 star
My Flag (Easy Goer).
Unbridled Belle is nearing the end of a distinguished career. She won the
2007 Beldame and dominated the Obeah H. (G3) by 11 lengths earlier this season, but in her most recent start, she gave way in the Personal Ensign
S. (G1),
finishing last. Pletcher allowed Unbridled Belle to remain at
Saratoga after the
loss, and she has responded.
“With the track being quiet, it helps,” said Barry Irwin, president of owner Team Valor.
“It’s her last or second-to-last race. She’ll be bred to Medaglia d’Oro.”
Pletcher said he was “puzzled” by Unbridled Belle’s run in the Personal
Ensign, but said the six-year-old mare did not take to the track, which was drying out from a muddy
condition.
“The weather is going to be a key part for Unbridled Belle,” Irwin said. “She’s run only once
well on an off track at Delaware. If it’s dry, we’ll be as hopeful as ever.”
In the five-year-old Captain’s Lover, Team Valor has the winner of the
prestigious Cape
Fillies Guineas (SAf-G1) in 2007 and a recent winner of the Matchmaker S. at
Monmouth. That race, taken off the turf, was a revelation about the mare, who had
run exclusively on
grass.
“This filly, we ran her a couple times in France. When we came here, we
thought she was a
miler on grass, and her best race came on a sloppy track in the Matchmaker,”
Irwin said. “She
loved it. Once she gets into her rhythm on dirt, she just keeps going and going.
Pletcher has been impressed with the way she’s trained with (top three-year-old
sprinter) Munnings.”
One race after the Beldame, FABULOUS STRIKE (Smart Strike) returns to the
site of his 2007
Vosburgh S. (G1) victory in hopes of adding a second score in that $400,000
race to his record. The six-year-old will only face four rivals in the
six-furlong test, which he won by 5 3/4 lengths in 2007 and just missed by a
head in last season.
He subsequently captured the 2008 Fall
Highweight and Gravesend H. (G3) at Aqueduct, and finished second in the Carter
H. (G1) there this
spring. On Belmont Stakes Day, he won the True North H. (G2) and, most
recently,
outfinished GO GO SHOOT (Songandaprayer) to add the Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. (G2) at Saratoga to
his resume.
“It’s been a heck of an experience having him in the barn and training him
and learning what he
prefers the best,” trainer Todd Beattie said of Fabulous Strike, who will be coming off
a nearly two-month break in the Vosburgh. “He prefers to have some amount of
time from race to race. And he spins it
pretty hard during the race, so he needs that kind of time to recover, you know,
to get him at his
peak. So (not having raced since August 9) was really by design. I think that’s
an advantage for me to have that amount of time.”
Ramon Dominguez, New York’s leading rider, will be back aboard Fabulous
Strike in the
Vosburgh.
“(Ramon) has been a major player and part of this team,” Beattie said. “I
think that’s really good for Fabulous Strike.”
In the Vosburgh, Fabulous Strike will not only be back on familiar ground but
will be seeing
some familiar foes, as well.
Also coming back from the Vanderbilt is Go Go Shoot, who had
scored a pair
of stakes wins at Monmouth Park before yielding late to Fabulous Strike in the
Vanderbilt. KODIAK KOWBOY (Posse), third in the Vanderbilt, goes back a bit
further with Fabulous
Strike — third in the 2008 Vosburgh, Kodiak Kowboy won the photo over Fabulous
Strike in
this year’s seven-furlong Carter. Most recently runner-up in the Forego S. (G1)
at Saratoga, Kodiak Kowboy will be making his first start for Steve Asmussen.
Taking on older horses for the second time is MUNNINGS (Speightstown), who
defeated his
elders in winning the Tom Fool H. (G2), and subsequently
finished
third in the Haskell Invitational
(G1) and King’s Bishop S. (G1), both over
off tracks.
Completing the Vosburgh field is PEACE CHANT (War Chant), most recently 10th
in the Forego.