|
|
Fields shaping up for Belmont's Super Saturday extravaganza In less than a week, Belmont Park will host Super Saturday, which will include six graded stakes worth a total of $3.4 million. Topping the list is the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup for three-year-olds and up. The 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup is expected to attract V. E. Day, Wicked Strong and Tonalist, the respective top three finishers of the August 23 Travers at Saratoga. Also probable are Whitney winner Moreno, Suburban Handicap victor Zivo, Grade 2-scoring millionaires Last Gunfighter and Prayer for Relief, multiple Group 1-placed Big Cazanova and Grade 2-placed stakes hero Stephanoatsee. Fellow Grade 2-placed stakes winner Speak Logistics is possible. Fillies and mares will travel 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame. Stopchargingmaria, victorious in the Alabama and Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, was scratched from Saturday's Cotillion at Parx Racing against her own age group to take on older runners for the first time in the Beldame. Probables also include Delaware Handicap vixen Belle Gallantey as well as Grade 3 scorers Hot Stones and Stanwyck. A star-studded field is expected for the Grade 1, $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. The prospective lineup for the 1 1/2-mile turf marathon is likely to feature last year's runner-up and two-time Grade 1 king Big Blue Kitten as well as Main Sequence. Big Blue Kitten, trained by Chad Brown for Ken and Sarah Ramsey, returned off a nine-month layoff to take the 1 1/16-mile Lure Stakes on August 2 at Saratoga and was a fast-closing second in the 1 1/8-mile Cliff Hanger at Monmouth Park. Main Sequence enters the Turf Classic off Grade 1 victories in the United Nations at Monmouth and Sword Dancer, both races having been won by Big Blue Kitten in 2013. The field is also likely to include multiple Grade 1 winner Real Solution, whose lone win this year came in the Manhattan at Belmont; multiple Grade 2 veteran and former 1 1/2-mile world record holder Twilight Eclipse; Grade 2 scorer Hangover Kid; and Grade 3 victors Medal Count and Micromanage. Another Brown/Ramsey horse, Stephanie's Kitten, is likely to headline the Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl at 1 1/4 miles on turf for fillies and mares. The Kitten's Joy mare is winless in 2014 but has finished close seconds in each of her past two Grade 1 starts, the Diana at Saratoga and Beverly D. at Arlington. Stephanie's Kitten became a Grade 1 winner last season in the Just a Game at Belmont, but her season ended prematurely after a third-place run in the Diana on July 27. The 1-2 finishers from the August 23 Ballston Spa at Saratoga are both expected to enter the Flower Bowl. Abaco, a neck winner of the Ballston Spa, will likely represent Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey while runner-up and Grade 3 vixen Strathnaver is probable for trainer Graham Motion. Rounding out the list of probables are Grade 1 winners Alterite, also trained by Brown, and Tannery, second in this race a year ago. Either Aigue Marine or Irish Mission, both Grade 3 winners trained by Christophe Clement, is anticipated to be among the field, with the other going to Santa Anita Park's Grade 1, $300,000 Rodeo Drive. In the Grade 1, $400,000 Vosburgh, a "Win & You're In" for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, New York-bred Palace will shoot for his third straight Grade 1 victory. Expected to line up against the Alfred G. Vanderbilt and Forego winner are Happy My Way, unraced since finishing second as the favorite in the Vanderbilt on August 2; Clearly Now, beaten favorite in the Forego; three-year-old Coup de Grace, winner of the Amsterdam who next was third as the 2-1 choice in the King's Bishop; Carter hero Dads Caps; Vosburgh defending champion Private Zone; and multiple stakes king Ribo Bobo, who will be making his Belmont debut. Woodward winner Itsmyluckyday will be taking an unconventional route to the Breeders' Cup Classic as he heads the field for the Grade 2, $400,000 Kelso at a mile. Likely to challenge the Lawyer Ron colt are Ack Ack winner Bradester, 3-2-0 in seven starts this year; last year's King's Bishop victor Capo Bastone, most recently fourth in the Forego; River Rocks, returning to graded company off a career-best 109 BRIS Speed figure last out at Saratoga; Scarly Charly, winner of a one-mile allowance in July at Belmont; and Vyjack, stretching out a furlong after finishing third in the Forego. Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
 Send this article to a friend
|
|
