Manhattan, Just a Game, Jaipur feature contentious fields

While dirt stars are very much in focus on Belmont Day, Saturday's

extravaganza at Belmont Park also features a trio of competitive turf stakes

that have attracted no shortage of contenders.

The Grade 1, $1 million

Manhattan Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile affair on the inner turf, serves as the

lead-in to California Chrome's bid for Triple Crown glory in the Belmont. Seek

Again, who came within a head of upsetting two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan

in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on Kentucky Derby Day, will clash with the

respective top three from the May 11 Man o' War over this course -- Imagining,

Real Solution and Grandeur.

A Juddmonte Farms homebred, Seek Again was a progressive handicapper in

England for trainer John Gosden. The Speightstown colt made a smashing U.S., and

stakes, debut in last November's Hollywood Derby, where he slipped through on

the rail to a convincing 1 1/2-length decision. Remaining stateside and joining

Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Seek Again was not seen again until the Woodford

Reserve, forcing Wise Dan to find a bit extra to fend off his daring rally. Joel

Rosario retains the mount on the closer, who is drawn just about the middle of

the field in post 6.

"He seems to be coming into this race as good as he was going into the

(Woodford Reserve)," Mott said. "I thought he ran a winning race last time and

couldn't have been happier with his performance. I just hope his level of

fitness is the same and he feels like running (on Saturday)."

With Rosario on Seek Again, Imagining reverts to the services of Hall of

Famer John Velazquez for the first time since the Bowl Game. But he won't be the

controlling speed, for that distinction likely goes to Five Iron, who opened up

an insurmountable early lead to hold sway in the May 3 Fort Marcy last time out,

and will try to carry his speed an extra furlong here.

The Chad Brown-trained Real Solution is taking his second swing at the

Manhattan, having finished third to Point of Entry last year. But the son of

Kitten's Joy has a tendency of flattering only to fall short, and his lone

American victory came via the disqualification of The Apache in last summer's

Arlington Million. Real Solution again loomed menacingly in the Man o' War, but

was repelled by Imagining, and still has to prove his fighting qualities.

"Javier (Castellano) and I had made a decision to follow Amira's Prince (in

the Man o' War), and we probably focused too much on that," Brown said. "When

Amira's Prince didn't fire we got kind of stuck.

"He's coming into the race great," Brown added. "He drew the outside, which

is unfortunate, but hopefully we can work out a trip from there."

British shipper Grandeur kept on doggedly for third in the Man o' War in

circumstances that didn't play to his strengths. The combination of a better

pace scenario, firmer ground, first-time Lasix and a jockey switch to Hall of

Famer Gary Stevens could all conjure up improvement. The Jeremy Noseda charge

can take his game on the road, as illustrated by his American foray in the fall

of 2012, resulting in victories in the Hollywood Turf Cup and Twilight Derby and

a rattling second in the Hollywood Derby.

Two races earlier, Stephanie's Kitten mounts a title defense in the Grade 1,

$750,000

Just a

Game for turf distaffers over one mile on the Widener Turf. But the Kitten's

Joy mare comes off a subpar effort in the Jenny Wiley, her first outing for

Brown, and she must find herself in time to face a serious group of challengers

including Discreet Marq; Coffee Clique and Dame Marie, the top two from the

Churchill Distaff Turf Mile; the razor-sharp Somali Lemonade; her own stablemate

Waterway Run; and Better Lucky, who almost beat her here one year ago.

Stephanie's Kitten was a top-class performer for trainer Wayne Catalano,

racking up such significant trophies as the 2011 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies

Turf and Alcibiades, 2012 Lake Placid and 2013 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile

before her hard-fought decision over Better Lucky in the Just a Game. Sidelined

after her fast-closing third in the July 27 Diana, the Ken and Sarah Ramsey

homebred was turned over to Brown in hopes of compiling an Eclipse-worthy season

in 2014. She returned to action in the April 12 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland, but

ran well below her best in eighth. Stephanie's Kitten might not just have needed

the race, considering that she had also run poorly in her only prior attempt

over the Keeneland turf. A change of scenery in this second start back could do

the trick, and Velazquez sticks with her.

"She's a better horse today than when we ran in the Jenny Wiley," Clement

said. "She looked a little wintery, which she does not look now, and she's been

training very well. It's exciting."

Drawn widest of all in post 10 is Godolphin's Better Lucky, already a

two-time Grade 1 winner by virtue of her 2012 Matriarch and last October's First

Lady at Keeneland. A close third to Egg Drop and Discreet Marq in her Matriarch

title defense, the Tom Albertrani mare resumed in the April 12 Madison. That

seven-furlong sprint over Keeneland's Polytrack was better suited to 3-5

favorite Judy the Beauty, but Better Lucky closed smartly to finish best of the

rest, in an effort that should set her up well for Saturday.

"We think she's a horse whose best distance is between seven furlongs to a

mile," Albertrani said. "We wanted to try something different (in the Madison)

and we got exactly what we were looking for from her. We're looking for a good

effort from her in the Just a Game.

"She's won on firm and she's won on soft. She's very versatile, so I don't

think course condition will be an issue for her."

"It sure looks like the blinkers have helped her out," Matz said. "I was

surprised she went to the front in the allowance race at Keeneland, but when it

works out, it's great. I'm just going with the flow."

"I don't know if this is too big of a step for her, but we wanted to try her

in a Grade 1 and the timing was good.

Strathnaver might want more ground, since her career high came in last year's

1 1/2-mile Bewitch at Keeneland, but the daughter of speedster Oasis Dream did

beat a tough opponent in Abaco in the 1 1/16-mile Lady Baltimore at Laurel in

September. From the ever-dangerous Graham Motion barn, Strathnaver warmed up for

this tilt with a fourth in the April 18 Doubledogdare over the Keeneland

Polytrack.

Rounding out the field is Unlimited Budget, the sixth-place finisher in the

2013 Belmont Stakes, who tries a turf experiment in hopes of kickstarting her

stalled career. At this time last year, the Todd Pletcher pupil ranked as one of

the nation's elite sophomore fillies. She won the first four starts of her

career by daylight, crowned by the Fair Grounds Oaks, and lost her unbeaten mark

when a fine third to Princess of Sylmar and Beholder in the Kentucky Oaks. But

Unlimited Budget has gone the wrong way in the interim, and checked in a

listless fifth in the La Troienne on Oaks Day. Not in good enough form for the

"clash of titans" in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, the Repole Stable colorbearer

took to the inner turf and fired a bullet half-mile in :47 4/5 Sunday, her first

recorded work on the surface, and gets Rosie Napravnik in the saddle.

In contrast, four-year-old Marchman has just burst onto the radar as a turf

sprinter of note for Bret Calhoun. The winner of the April 12 Shakertown at

Keeneland and the Twin Spires Turf Sprint on Kentucky Oaks Day, the pace factor

looks for the hat trick in the Jaipur.

"He's a horse that's seemed to get better and better," Calhoun said. "We've

kept him sprinting on the grass his last two times, and I think he'll turf, dirt

or synthetic."

The Ben's Cat versus Marchman showdown might have taken place one week

earlier, in last Saturday's $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup at Penn

National, but both horsemen ended up switching to the Jaipur for twice the

purse.

"I originally was going to go to the Governor's Cup up there at Penn

National, but both (Leatherbury and I) changed our minds to go here," Calhoun

said. "I thought it was an obvious spot for him for more money. It's going to be

a good race."