Saturday’s $200,000
Nassau
County S. (G3) is the first graded race for three-year-old fillies at
Belmont Park and, fittingly, all five starters will try the track for the very
first time in the 14th edition of the seven-furlong, main track event. The
Nassau is but one of three graded tests set for Saturday at Big Sandy, with the
$100,000
Fort
Marcy S. (G3) and $100,000
Beaugay
S. (G3) scheduled for the grass later on the card.
The true highlight of the day will come in the 1 1/16-mile Fort Marcy on the
Widener Turf, when DANCING FOREVER (Rahy) will make his 2009 bow. With nearly
$910,000 already bankrolled, the six-year-old chestnut is certain to go over the
$1 million mark in earnings this year, but Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey
isn’t about to hurry the process.
McGaughey has big plans for his charge, including a defense of his victory in
the Manhattan S. (G1) on Belmont Stakes Day, June 6. After winning the Manhattan
by a nose on Belmont Stakes Day last June, Dancing Forever had three more starts
without a victory, ending 2008 with a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup
Turf (G1) at Santa Anita.
“I would like to get him started in the Fort Marcy, but I won’t run him if it
rains,” McGaughey said. “I want to get a race into him as a prep for the
Manhattan. I don’t want to run him at mile and a quarter first time off a
layoff.”
Dancing Forever is a rather special runner, in that he is the first foal out
of Dancinginmydreams (Seeking the Gold), who broke her leg in the 2000 Frizette
S. (G1). A full sister to champion Heavenly Prize and Grade 1 winner Oh What a
Windfall, Dancinginmydreams endured several operations and the odds of her
surviving, much less having a healthy foal, were slim.
Ideally, Dancing Forever will take his first step toward a title defense in
the Manhattan in the Fort Marcy.
COSMONAUT (Lemon Drop Kid) will also be making his seasonal debut in the Fort
Marcy, as he has not raced since he was second in the Arlington H. (G3) last
July 12.
“We like to space his races out,” joked trainer Phil Serpe. “Seriously, I had
him last winter and he won at Tampa Bay Downs. Then, I ran him back in the
Makers’ Mark (G1) and he had a terrible trip, even though he ran fourth. He went
back to Carlos (Martin), and while we were up in Saratoga, he suffered a
non-displaced fracture of his right-front ankle. We gave him four months off,
brought him to Palm Meadows in Florida for the winter and here we are.”
Other contenders in the Fort Marcy include defending champion SILVER TREE
(Hennessy), who ran fourth as the favorite in the Turf Classic at Tampa Bay Down
on April 4 to start his year, and OPERATION RED DAWN (Miswaki), who was
runner-up in last year’s Fort Marcy for trainer Christophe Clement, but has lost
four starts since, three of which were third-place finishes in graded stakes
races.
Earlier on the card, FLASHING (A.P. Indy) will try for her first black-type
win in the Nassau off back-to-back wins against allowance rivals going longer.
The Tom Albertrani trainee will be returning to a sprint for the the first time
since she broke her maiden going 6 1/2 furlongs at Aqueduct in November.
“We’re cutting back in distance,” Albertrani said. “She has enough speed
where she can handle (sprinting), but I think for the long term, she’ll better
suited going much longer. She’s pretty versatile and she’s been training
extremely well, so I believe she could be competitive here as well.”
Albertrani said he pointed the filly to the Nassau County to set her up for a
possible run in the Mother Goose S. (G1) at Belmont on June 27 or the Coaching
Club American Oaks (G1) on July 25. With regular jockey Ramon Dominguez out of
town riding Desert Party (Street Cry [Ire]) in the Kentucky Derby (G1) at
Churchill Downs, Javier Castellano has the mount breaking from the rail.
Another contender in the Nassau is FROLIC’S DREAM (Smoke Glacken), who has
been off since a third-place finish in the Davona Dale S. (G3) at Gulfstream
Park on March 1. That effort was her first start for new trainer Barclay Tagg,
but she captured the January 30 Forward Gal S. (G2), also at Gulfstream, while
under the tutelage of Marty Wolfson.
Sandwiched between the Nassau and Fort Marcy is the 1 1/16-mile Beaugay for
distaffers on the inner turf, and BORROWING BASE (Personal Flag) has drawn the
rail for this race. According to trainer Patrick Quick, the six-year-old mare
can’t wait to make her 44th career start.
“I’ve had her for so long, and she never really had a break,” Quick said.
“She won the Ladies at Aqueduct (on December 14) and I sent her to my farm on
Long Island. She wasn’t happy there at all. She was kicking down the walls and
really didn’t want to be there. Sometimes, they just get used to that routine at
the barn and they really miss it.
“We brought her back and she has been doing really well. She’s much happier.
This isn’t the race I hoped for; it seems to be much tougher. But you never
know, and we have a horse that is glad to be back.”
Borrowing Base will have to take on the likes of CARRIBEAN SUNSET (Ire)
(Danehill Dancer) and ARE WE DREAMIN (Yes It’s True). The former miss, who is
returning to the United State, will be taking up residence in the barn of
Clement. She’ll get first-time Lasix while making her first start since
September. Are We Dreamin, on the other hand, has already started five times
this year. The Randi Persaud charge enters the Beaugay off a runner-up effort in
the Bed o’ Roses H. (G2).