Juddmonte Farms’ homebred Forge and Stronach Stables’ homebred Delta Prince, both four-year-olds boasting elite pedigrees but no stakes victories yet, hope to fill that gap on their resumes in Monday’s $200,000 Knickerbocker (G2) over Belmont Park’s inner turf.
The duo renew rivalry after filling the minor placings behind Heart to Heart in the Bernard Baruch (G2) on Labor Day at Saratoga, where Forge rallied up the inside to take second from Delta Prince.
Forge has been at it longer, with 13 starts under his belt. The son of Dubawi and multiple Grade 1 star Heat Haze (half-sister to Dansili, Banks Hill, Intercontinental et al) was thrice stakes-placed for original trainer Sir Michael Stoute in Great Britain last season. Beaten narrowly in the Thoroughbred (G3) at Glorious Goodwood, Forge was third in Sandown’s Heron Stakes and third to Ribchester in the Jersey (G3) at Royal Ascot. Since joining Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the bay has won once so far from five U.S. starts, taking a second-level allowance at Churchill Downs. Forge has fired a couple of bullets recently, hinting that the 7-2 morning-line chance may finally earn that stakes laurel here with a returning Manny Franco.
Delta Prince, the Street Cry half-brother to three-time Eclipse Award champion Royal Delta, didn’t make it to the races until fall of his sophomore campaign. The Jimmy Jerkens pupil made rapid strides once switched to the turf third time out, breaking his maiden and promptly clearing his entry-level allowance condition at Gulfstream Park. After a half-length second in his stakes debut in the Appleton (G3), he returned from a four-month absence to win a Saratoga allowance in grand style. In the Bernard Baruch, Delta Prince was disadvantaged by a considerably wider trip than Forge, and the yielding course may have been of a greater assist to his opponent as well. Jose Ortiz, aboard for the first time since the Appleton, will try to help the 3-1 shot reverse the form.
The aspiring prospects will meet such established players as the Chad Brown-trained Camelot Kitten, a multiple Grade 2 winner last year who’s eligible to reach his peak in the third start of this campaign; Grade 2 veteran Blacktype, the third-placer in the 2016 Knickerbocker, who just beat Camelot Kitten in a Belmont allowance for Christophe Clement; Dermot Weld’s The Grey Gatsby, a pale shadow of himself who shortens up dramatically to 1 1/8 miles in hopes of a turnaround; and Smooth Daddy, who upset Time Test in the Fort Marcy (G3) and exits a fourth in the Monmouth Cup (G2).
Drawn right in between Delta Prince (post 10) and Forge (post 12) is Spring Quality of a similar profile. A homebred for George Strawbridge Jr.’s Augustin Stable, the Quality Road half-brother to multiple Grade 3 turfiste Holiday Star stamped himself as one to watch with a sharp debut at Keeneland. But that was all the way back in October 2014, and he didn’t resurface until March 2016, when landing an entry-level allowance at Tampa Bay Downs. Sidelined for a further 11 months, Spring Quality scored third off the layoff at Pimlico and added the off-the-turf Robellino for Pennsylvania-breds at Penn National. In his latest, he missed by a neck to the hardy millionaire Page McKenney in the Roanoke at Parx, also for state-breds. Now Spring Quality steps up to the graded level – and makes an arguably overdue first start on turf.
Shadwell Stable’s Muqtaser, a $525,000 half-brother to Maker’s 46 Mile (G1) winner American Patriot, is yet another well-bred type knocking on the door. By Distorted Humor and out of Life Well Lived (a full sister to Well Armed), Muqtaser began his career with Roger Varian and is now developing into a graded-quality performer for Kiaran McLaughlin. Second to eventual Flower Bowl (G1) winner War Flag earlier in the summer, he won two straight at Saratoga before his close third in the Kentucky Turf Cup (G3). Muqtaser drops back in distance but keeps Joe Bravo in the saddle.
The 12-strong field also includes Sir Dudley Digges, the 2016 Queen’s Plate hero and most recently successful in the restricted Old Friends at Kentucky Downs; last-out Saratoga scorer Hello Don Julio, longshot Mark My Style, and main-track-only Vulcan’s Forge from the Todd Pletcher barn, who ranks as the 5-2 morning-line favorite should he get his wish.
