Turf Writers Cup trio headline Lonesome Glory field

The race to become champion steeplechaser of 2012 is about to reach its final

fences as Belmont Park hosts the Grade 1, $150,000

Lonesome Glory on Thursday.

The 2 1/2-mile test is the first in a trio of top-level hurdles over the next

two months which often determines the division's Eclipse Award recipient. The

Lonesome Glory serves as a prelude to the Grade 1 Grand National at Far Hills,

New Jersey, on October 20, and the Grade 1 Colonial Cup at Camden, South

Carolina, on November 17.

The top three finishers from last month's Grade 1 New York Turf Writers Cup

at Saratoga -- Demonstrative, Charminster and Spy in the Sky -- will renew

acquaintance in the Lonesome Glory. Demonstrative, whose previous best came in

novice stakes, rallied from slightly off the pace to capture the Turf Writers

Cup by a length over Charminster, who was making his U.S. debut for noted jumps

owner Irv Naylor. Farther back was Spy in the Sky, who had previously captured

the Grade 2 A.P. Smithwick Memorial in a photo finish.

Among the familiar faces in the Lonesome Glory lineup are Tax Ruling and

Divine Fortune. An Eclipse Award finalist last year after wins in the Colonial

Cup and Grade 1 Iroquois, front-running Tax Ruling has gone unplaced in both

starts this term. Fourth when trying to win the Iroquois for an unprecedented

third straight year, Tax Ruling next retreated to eighth in the Smithwick after

running out of gas at the top of the stretch.

Divine Fortune, a two-time winner of the Smithwick, ran second in the

Iroquois this past May, but didn't fare quite as well during the Saratoga meet.

Fifth in his three-peat attempt in the Smithwick, the nine-year-old wound up

falling at the 10th fence in the Turf Writers Cup after taking a brief lead.

Another hoping to rebound from a fall in the Turf Writers Cup is Left Unsaid,

that race's 1-2 favorite who had just missed catching Spy in the Sky in the

August 2 Smithwick. The ultra-consistent Tom Voss-trainee might vie for

favoritism in this spot.

Others of note in Thursday's feature are Grade 1 veteran Pierrot Lunaire;

Smithwick third-placer All Together; History Boy, a dominating winner over

novice stakes company at Saratoga last out; and the Naylor-owned The Jigsaw Man,

seventh in the Turf Writers Cup in his U.S. debut.

Kicking off the Daily Double on Thursday is the $50,000

William

Entenmann Memorial, a restricted 2 1/4-mile hurdle.

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