by Vance Hanson
Championship implications abound in the other three Super Saturday features
at Belmont Park, with the most competitive top-to-bottom arguably the $350,000
G1 Vosburgh S. over six furlongs. The G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint prep features that
race’s 2010 winner, Big Drama, who was also honored with an Eclipse Award last
season as the nation’s top sprinter.
Given a long vacation following a sensational triumph in the January 15 G3
Mr. Prospector H. at Gulfstream, Big Drama got back to work over Labor Day
weekend in the Whippleton S. at Calder. Winning by 2 1/4 lengths against a
modest group, the champion will need his running shoes on as he faces several
entering at the peak of their power.
The Bob Baffert-trained California invader, Euroears, is one. Kept to races
at six furlongs since his arrival in the Baffert barn late last season, the
seven-year-old veteran has run away in two California starts, the G2 Palos
Verdes S. and G1 Bing Crosby S., and also fared well in a trip to the Middle
East in March. when second in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan.
Trappe Shot blasted a capable field in the G2 True North H. over the Vosburgh
course-and-distance in June, then missed in a tight photo last out in the G1
Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga. Also exiting the Vanderbilt are multiple G3
winner Calibrachoa, and Apriority, who had solid runner-up finishes in the G1
Carter H. and G2 Churchill Downs S. last spring.
Giant Ryan, a Calder mainstay like Big Drama, enters the Vosburgh off a
three-month break. An allowance winner at the Belmont spring meet, he shipped to
South Florida afterwards to take the Ponche H. and G2 Smile Sprint H. in
consecutive starts.
The gelding Force Freeze, who began his career in the U.S. before spending a
couple years racing in Dubai, made a successful return to his homeland in the
July 31 Teddy Drone S., a race he won by four lengths in a blistering 1:07 3/5
for six furlongs. The Vosburgh field is completed by the G2-winning
three-year-old Justin Phillip and G3 Westchester S. scorer Caixa Eletronica.
The $500,000 G1 Flower Bowl Invitational, a 1 1/4-mile grass test for fillies
and mares, is a last stop before the G1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The top
draws include Stacelita, the multiple French G1 winner who ran third against
males in the G1 United Nations S. before taking the G1 Beverly D. S. last time
over soft ground.
Deluxe, a daughter of blue hen broodmare Hasili, will be making just her
second U.S. appearance for owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms. The four-year-old, who
was G1-placed in France last season, fell short by a head going a mile in the
Paris Opera S. at Saratoga in her seasonal bow.
Among the other major players are Aruna, this year’s G3 All Along S. winner
who ran second in the G1 Diana S. last time; Emerald Beech, the improving
five-year-old who landed the G3 Glens Falls S. last time; G2 veteran Dynaslew,
second in the Glens Falls most recently; and the consistent New York-bred
Gitchee Goomie.
The $200,000 G2 Kelso H. over a mile drew just five entries, but quality is
in abundance. The marquee attraction is last year’s juvenile colt champion and
early G1 Kentucky Derby favorite Uncle Mo, who made a near-successful comeback
from a layoff of more than four months in the August 27 G1 King’s Bishop S. at
Saratoga. Seizing control in that seven-furlong feature in the stretch, the Todd
Pletcher trainee just narrowly failed to hold off Caleb’s Posse in a thrilling
finish. If victorious in the Kelso following that tightener, Uncle Mo is an
intended starter in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, according to owner Mike Repole.
Fresh off a dominating Saratoga campaign is Jackson Bend, who swept the James
Marvin S. and G1 Forego S. in fine style. The Nick Zito trainee is using the
Kelso as a final prep for the G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Also likely headed in
that direction is Jersey Town, last year’s G1 Cigar Mile H. winner who was
second in the Forego in only his second appearance of the season.
The Kelso quintet is completed by the G1-placed stakes winner Sangaree and
longshot Golddigger’s Boy.