Point of Entry tops Manhattan; Just a Game attracts star-studded field

Point of Entry tops Manhattan; Just a Game attracts

star-studded field

Point of Entry, whose two local wins came on the Widener turf course in the

Man o' War and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, faces no Animal Kingdom types in the

Manhattan among his nine opponents, and should benefit from his experience in

last September's Turf Classic with rain in the forecast and a wet turf probable.

"I'll

tell you one thing, there isn't a horse on the grounds training any better than

him," McGaughey said. "He's fresh. You can ask (exercise rider) Jenn

(Patterson). I was laughing at her (Wednesday) morning because she had all she

could handle. He's about as good as a horse can get."

Twilight Eclipse, a four-year-old Purim gelding, will also enter off a bit of

a layoff. Last seen winning the 1 1/2-mile Pan American at Gulfstream Park by a

commanding four lengths in world-record time of 2:22 3/5, the Tom Albertrani also owns a victory in

Calder's W.L. McKnight Handicap.

"We're excited to get him back on track," Albertrani said. "We gave him a

break between the Pan American and the Manhattan because we know he's a horse

that wants to run in these longer races. We wanted to freshen him up for a

summer campaign."

Optimizer, a multiple Grade 3 winner for D. Wayne Lukas, is a wet turf

specialist. A clear second behind Wise Dan at Churchill Downs five weeks back,

the English Channel colt was wheeled right back in the Dixie at Pimlico on

Preakness Day, where he finished a half-length third to stablemate Skyring.

Irish Group 3 winner Speaking of Which, who narrowly missed in his U.S. debut

last fall in the Twilight Derby at Santa Anita, endured a horrific trip in the

Hollywood Derby next out. He returned to action in the May 4 Fort Marcy at

Belmont, but trailed throughout despite chasing a very fast pace in that 1

1/16-mile heat.

Making their second starts in the U.S. are Italian stakes winner Real

Solution, who ran fourth in the Fort Marcy, and Argentinean Group 1 winner Quick

Casablanca, third in the May 15 Good Reward over the Manhattan course and

distance.

The pace of the Manhattan should be provided by the allowance class Plainview

and Bombaguia, runner-up in the Fort Marcy and last September's Bowling Green.

The field is completed by the graded stakes-placed Side Road and Finnegans Wake.

"I'm hoping she'll move forward in her second race off the layoff, and she's

a Grade 1 winner in her own right and has a good race record," Brown said. "I

can see a handful of runners who could win the race, but we're looking forward

to running. The only thing that might prevent us from running is the condition

of the turf course. The turf will have to be firm enough for us to run."

Expected to come from behind in the Just a Game is Stephanie's Kitten, who

turned in an impressive turn of foot to deny Hungry Island a repeat victory by a

neck in the May 4 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile. While this marks the first start

at Belmont for Stephanie's Kitten, the Grade 2-winning Hungry Island has history

of upsetting in less-than-firm conditions.

The depth of the Just a Game is made more remarkable by the entries of

Mizdirection, who's captured the Monrovia, Buena Vista and Las Cienegas since

beating the boys last November in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, and Better

Lucky, who was often in the shadow of her three-year-old peers last season but

managed to register upsets in the Matriarch and Sands Point.

"It's

going to come down to whether she can handle the surface," said Mike Puype, the

trainer of Mizdirection. "If it rains, we'll be in trouble, but she'll be tough

over firm ground. She beat the boys off a five-month layoff in the Breeders'

Cup, and you can't do that without being at the top of your division."

The field is rounded out by European import Laugh Out Loud, a Group 2 winner

at Chantilly last summer.

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