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Stay Thirsty returns in Belmont overnight stakes Stay Thirsty, who marked himself one of the leading three-year-olds of 2011 in winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga, will make his four-year-old debut Thursday at Belmont Park in the $90,000 Vanlandingham, a 1 1/16-mile overnight stakes scheduled as the day's third race with an approximate post of 1:54 p.m. (EDT). "He's been training very well and we've kind of had a race around this time in mind for awhile, hopefully as a prep for the (Grade 2) Suburban Handicap (on July 7)," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "The main goal for the summer is the (Grade 1)Whitney (Handicap on August 4). We're happy to have him back." Stay Thirsty spent the first two years of his career partially overshadowed by his 2010 juvenile champion stablemate Uncle Mo, who has since been retired to stud. After winning last year's Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct en route to a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby and a 12th-place showing in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, Stay Thirsty returned in the Grade 1 Belmont and was narrowly defeated by Ruler on Ice. After his spectacular Saratoga meet, the son of Bernardini ran third in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont and a disappointing 11th in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs last November. "It's been a long time since the Breeders' Cup, we've got to start somewhere, and this is a good spot," owner Mike Repole said. "It's fun to see him back in the entry box, even though this seems a little tougher than an average overnight stakes!" The 7-5 morning line favorite, Stay Thirsty will face the lightly raced but talented Trickmeister, whose only defeat in a half dozen career starts came in this year's Grade 1 Donn Handicap on February 17 at Gulfstream Park, his first and only start in 2012. "Bringing Stay Thirsty back this year was a no brainer and I'm excited," Repole. "He won the Jim Dandy, the Travers, and I think he's going to be one of a really, really good group of older horses this year."
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