Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Notes 6.4.17

Trainer Dallas Stewart never is afraid to swing for the fences, and so entry-level allowance winner Hollywood Handsome is running in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets after his connections considered an easier route. Florent Geroux, on Hollywood Handsome for his May 14 triumph at Churchill Downs at 1 1/16 miles, has the mount.

Stewart finished second in the 2008 Preakness with 38-1 Macho Again, 2013 Kentucky Derby with 34-1 Golden Soul, 2014 Derby with 37-1 Commanding Curve and 2015 Preakness with 28-1 Tale of Verve. But his best finish in the Belmont came with his first starter, 6-1 shot Dollar Bill, coming in a distant fourth in Point Given's 2001 tour de force.

There were high expectations for Mark Stanley's Hollywood Handsome when he finished a late-running fourth in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby in his first stakes appearance. The camp flirted with the idea of trying to sneak into the Kentucky Derby with 10 qualifying points, far from enough to get in, but instead went to the Illinois Derby, finishing fifth.

"He ran great in the Louisiana Derby," Stewart said from Kentucky of the son of Tapizar. "Came flying, just missed third but ran really well. His race in Illinois wasn't that good. He got away bad and it just went bad from there. But he ran well here the other day. I think a lot of the colt, and I think he's going to like the distance. I think the mile and a half will be no problem.

"We've thought about the Belmont for a while, off and on," he said. "Just kicking around races. We thought about the Ohio Derby, the Matt Winn here. Talking to Mark, we thought we'd take a shot. I think we've got a good shot."

Even without the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners, "It's still a very, very nice field of horses," he said. "Just the distance, I think, is going to be right up our alley."

Stewart said Hollywood Handsome worked six furlongs in 1:14 on Friday, though he was officially timed going five-eighths of a mile in 1:00 3/5.

Stewart also has Tom's Ready, campaigned by GMB Racing of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson and wife Gayle, running in the Grade 1, $1.2 million Mohegan Sun Metropolitan Handicap.

Tom's Ready is yet another to show there is life after the Kentucky Derby with horses reformulated as sprinters or milers. Tom's Ready, second in the Louisiana Derby, came in 12th in the Kentucky Derby but five weeks later captured Belmont's Grade 2 Woody Stephens after charging hard from last. Ninth in Saratoga's Grade 1 King's Bishop, the son of More Than Ready won Churchill Downs' Grade 3 Ack Ack at a mile to earn a trip to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, in which he was fifth with a wide trip.

In his only start since, Tom's Ready was third in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs at seven-eighths of a mile. The winner, Limousine Liberal, returned to win the June 3 Grade 3 Aristides at Churchill. The Churchill Downs' runner-up, Awesome Slew, also is running in the Met Mile.

"Tom's Ready came out of the race great and ran well here," Stewart said. "Nice, nice horse. And he likes the track at Belmont.... We've been thinking about the Met Mile for a while. I was actually thinking about it last year when he won the Woody Stephens: 'Shoot, he could have been second to Frosted, and this will be a good race for him next year.'"

Javier Castellano will ride Tom's Ready for the first time. Hollywood Handsome and Tom's Ready will fly to New York Tuesday.

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Kentucky Derby runner-up Lookin At Lee breezed a half-mile in 48.33 seconds under the early morning sunshine on the Belmont main track Sunday as he prepares for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Lookin At Lee's four-furlong time was the eighth-fastest of 51 at the distance.

"He came back great and I thought it went perfect," said Toby Sheets, assistant to Asmussen. "He seems to really like Belmont. We got great weather this morning, so that always helps."

Sheets said Lookin At Lee, who finished fourth last out in the Preakness, is scheduled to paddock school on Thursday. Asmussen won last year's Belmont Stakes with Creator.

Holy Boss also worked Sunday, breezing four furlongs in 49.50 on the Belmont training track. The 5-year-old is set to run in the Grade 2, $250,000 True North at six furlongs on June 9.

"So far, so good. Everything seems to be in order, knock on wood," Sheets said.

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Shadwell Stable's multiple Grade 2 winner Mohaymen put an exclamation point on his final preparations for the Grade 1, $1.2 million Mohegan Sun Metropolitan Handicap June 10 with a bullet five-furlong breeze Sunday morning.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he caught the 4-year-old son of Tapit going a half-mile over Belmont Park's main track in 47 1/5 seconds, and he galloped out five-eighths in 1:00.22, according to New York Racing Association clockers.

The time was the fastest of 16 horses at the distance Sunday and the second straight bullet from three works following Mohaymen's fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Westchester May 6 at Belmont - his first start since late August.

"Did you see him work? Wow, he worked great," McLaughlin said. "That's what we were looking for. He did it well within himself, he worked great and galloped out well, so we're ready."

Unlike his half-mile breeze May 28 at Belmont, where he was clocked in 47.09 seconds - the fastest of 93 horses - Mohaymen breezed by himself Sunday rather than in company.

"Last week when we had two in front of him, he just got too far back and then he caught up, and it wasn't ideal for him. So, I said let's go back to the basics and just work him on his own," McLaughlin said. "He's worked three times and he's worked well all three times. He's doing very well, so we'll see."

Mohaymen broke his maiden at Belmont in September 2015, the first of five consecutive victories to open a career that included the Grade 2 Nashua and Grade 2 Remsen at 2 and the Grade 2 Holy Bull and Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at 3. He has gone winless in five subsequent starts, finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 2 Jim Dandy.

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Trainer Mark Casse wasn't on hand, but he certainly liked what he heard about Classic Empire's gallop early Sunday morning at Churchill Downs. Last year's 2-year-old champion and this year's Arkansas Derby winner is the favorite for the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets after finishing a gallant fourth in the Kentucky Derby following a horrendous trip and his head defeat in the Preakness Stakes.

"He galloped great this morning," Casse said by phone, adding of exercise rider Martin Rivera, "In fact, I talked to Martin personally. He said he thought it was the best he ever went, said he's very sharp. Said he had his hands full. He's kind of a funny horse. They watch him train and everybody says, 'He goes OK.' He's not some horse who goes out and just wows you with his training. Now, if we wanted, he can breeze as fast as any horse you can ever have breeze. But at this point in time we don't try to do that. We just look for him to have good energy. He's not a horse who gets excited, so he's not a horse who is going to jump around and you say, 'Oh, he's feeling great.' You just look for him to be kind of happy. Some days he's a little more aggressive than others. Today, according to Martin, he was very aggressive. We do like that. Martin probably knows him as good as, if not better than, anybody.

"We don't look for excuses not to run. If they're happy and healthy and there's a race, we're going to run 'em."

Keeping a horse happy and full of energy is no small feat when running three races in five weeks and now what will be four races in eight weeks.  The same is true of Belmont contender Lookin At Lee, third to Classic Empire in the April 15 Arkansas Derby and the only other horse to run in all three Triple Crown races this year. To put it in perspective, Classic Empire and Lookin At Lee ran three races in less time than Preakness winner Cloud Computing ran one, his prior start coming six weeks earlier when third in the Wood Memorial in his third lifetime start. 

Classic Empire, owned by John Oxley, also is a highly unusual horse to race - and win - at 4 1/2 furlongs, that coming three days before the 2016 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, and go on to contest the entire Triple Crown.

"If we were fortunate enough to win the Belmont - and it's a tall task - but how many stallions out there can say they broke their maiden at 4 1/2 and also won the Belmont?" said Casse, whose son Norman runs his Churchill Downs operation. "I do know a little something about breeding, having been the general manager for Mockingbird when they were the leading breeder for years. I like having a horse, whether a mare or a stallion, that was able to run and stay sound and compete more than four or five starts. Hopefully it is something to think about down the road when he is a stallion.

"You look at the Kentucky Derby and you look at the horses that had similar trips to him, and there were a lot of good horses in there who showed nothing. And this horse, with one eye shut, went on to be fourth. So he's a seriously, seriously good horse."

It recently was announced that Classic Empire will join Ashford Stud's stallion roster when he retires from racing, giving international stallion conglomerate Coolmore's American operation its sixth Eclipse Award 2-year-old champion in eight years to stand at stud.

Classic Empire flies to New York early Tuesday morning, along with Grade 1-bound stablemates Awesome Slew (Grade 1, $1.2 million Mohegan Sun Metropolitan Mile), World Approval (Grade 1, $1 million Woodford Reserve Manhattan) and Salty (Grade 1, $700,000 Acorn). Vanning out Sunday from Casse's stakes arsenal are to be Pretty City Dancer ($150,000 Jersey Girl), Dream Dancing and Corporate Queen (Grade 3, $200,000 Wonder Again),Wicked Macho ($150,000 Easy Goer or a Thursday allowance race), Mississippi Delta (Grade 3, $250,000 Intercontinental) and Holding Gold (Grade 3, $300,000 Jaipur).

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The Japanese-bred Epicharis ventured out to Belmont Park's main track Sunday morning for the first time since his U.S. arrival. 

The son of Gold Allure galloped a brisk 1 ½ miles with regular rider and assistant trainer Masa Aki in the saddle before returning to the barn. Trainer Kiyoshi Hagiwara and his crew then took the colt on a schooling trip to the paddock where he took a few relaxed turns with Aki still in the irons. He was then led through the tunnel back to the main track where he stood for almost a minute. 

The plan to familiarize Epicharis with his new surroundings was another positive step towards his start in the Belmont Stakes, said his connections.

The possibility of rain in Tuesday's forecast may delay the schedule for the colt's final workout before Saturday. Epicharis will return to the track tomorrow morning and is also scheduled to stand in the starting gate.

Grade 3 Lexington winner Senior Investment, the only other Belmont contender still with a breeze on his schedule, walked Sunday. Trained by Kenny McPeek and owned by Fern Circle Stables, the Discreetly Mine colt is also currently slated to turn in his final work for the Belmont on Tuesday morning.

With the other Belmont Stakes horses training in Kentucky, the Dale Romans-trained Grade 3 Gotham winner J Boys Echo, 15th in the Kentucky Derby, walked the morning after working five-eighths of a mile in a minute at Churchill Downs. Grade 3 Illinois Derby winner Multiplier, sixth in the Preakness, did the same at Keeneland, where he worked a half-mile on Saturday in 48 3/5. Trainer Brendan Walsh, who has horses at both tracks, said Multiplier was to van over to Churchill Downs late Sunday morning because he's scheduled to load onto the van and head to Louisville International Airport at 5:30 a.m. to catch Tuesday's flight to New York

"I'm just going to give him a couple of days here, because he's going so early on Tuesday," Walsh said.

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Trainer Buff Bradley hopes to be toasting the Woodford Reserve double, with Churchill Downs' two-time Woodford Reserve Turf Classic winner Divisideroshooting for Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Woodford Reserve Manhattan.

This is the third year that Gunpowder Farms' Divisidero has shipped from Bradley's Louisville base to run over the Belmont Park turf. Two years ago the son of Kitten's Joy won the Pennine Ridge, then was seventh in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby after racing extremely wide. In last year's Manhattan, he wound up closer to the early pace than is his best style, finishing fifth while beaten a total of three lengths to international superstar Flintshire.

"He was doing really well a year ago when he went into the Manhattan," Bradley said. "I think we had him a little close to the pace, which was a mistake. I do see a big difference in his attitude, though. Going into this race, he's been bucking and playing every day. He would do that every now and then last year, but he's consistently doing it now." 

Divisidero won on the Kentucky Derby undercard for the third straight year, taking the 2015 Grade 2 American Turf in his third lifetime start. Of the horse's second Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, Bradley said, "This year was really neat. I thought he was really back off a slow pace and back behind a lot of traffic. Julien [Leparoux] did an excellent job, angling him out where he didn't have to run wide the whole turn. He had enough confidence and knew he had the kick to finish down the lane. He really got down and ran down Beach Patrol. It's always great to win on Derby Day. We knew he had it in him, we just knew we had to get a good trip as well.

"A lot of it is his mind is right. He knows how to run, knows he wants to do it, knows how to take care of himself and rest."

Divisidero worked a half-mile around the "dogs" (the pylon cones that keep horses off the inner part of the turf) on the Churchill grass course Sunday, being clocked in 49 4/5 seconds under jockey Chris Landeros. 

"I told Chris to start out nice and easy, relaxed going to the pole, and once he got close to the top of the lane to cut him loose and let him run down the lane and gallop out," Bradley said. "Exactly what he did. We caught him pretty quickly down the lane, under 23 [for the last quarter-mile]. He was rolling right along; you could visibly see him pick it up."

The 5-year-old horse picks up Hall of Famer John Velazquez for the Manhattan, with Leparoux, Divisidero's rider the past two races, opting to ride Pimlico's Dixie winner World Approval.

Divisidero has eased into form this season after an eight-month layoff since last year's Manhattan, finishing third, sixth (after bobbling at the start), second by a nose in a Keeneland allowance race and then rallying from last to take the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic by a half-length over Beach Patrol. He is to van to New York Monday.

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Probable contenders for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes
Probable: Classic Empire (Mark Casse); Epicharis (Kiyoshi Hagiwara); J Boys Echo (Dale Romans); Hollywood Handsome (Dallas Stewart); Irish War Cry (Graham Motion); Lookin At Lee (Steve Asmussen); Meantime (Brian Lynch); Multiplier (Brendan Walsh); Patch (Todd Pletcher); Senior Investment (Kenny McPeek); Tapwrit (Pletcher); Twisted Tom (Chad Brown) 
Possible: Gormley (John Shirreffs) 

Probables for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival on Saturday, June 10, 2017:

Grade 1, $1.2 million Mohegan Sun Metropolitan H. 
"Win and You're In Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Division"

Probable: Awesome Slew (Casse); Denman's Call (Doug O'Neill); Economic Model (C. Brown); Inside Straight (Robert Diodoro); Mohaymen (McLaughlin); Mor Spirit (Bob Baffert); Rally Cry (Pletcher); Seymourdini (Linda Rice); Sharp Azteca (Navarro); Solid Wager (Miller); Tom's Ready (Dallas Stewart); Tommy Macho (Pletcher); Vitrual Machine (David Cannizzo)

Probable: Applicator (Mikhail Yanakov); Ascend (Motion); Beach Patrol (C. Brown); Divisidero (Buff Bradley); Potemkin (Wohler); Sadler's Joy (Tom Albertrani); Time Test (C. Brown); Wake Forest (C. Brown); World Approval (Casse)

Grade 1, $750,000 Ogden Phipps
"Win and You're In Breeders' Cup Distaff Division"

Probable: Bar of Gold (John Kimmel);Carina Mia (Mott); Factor of Faith (Joe Sharp); Highway Star (Rodrigo Ubillo); Paid Up Subscriber (C. Brown); Songbird (Jerry Hollendorfer)

Grade 1, $700,000 Acorn

Probable: Abel Tasman (Baffert); Benner Island (Brad Cox); Florida Fabulous (David Fawkes); My Miss Tapit (Pletcher); Nikki My Darling (Dominic Giglio, Jr.) Salty (Casse); Sweet Loretta (Pletcher); Tequilita (Michael Matz); Union Strike (Mick Ruis)

Probable: Antonoe (C. Brown); Celestine (Clement); Dickinson (McLaughlin); Prize Exhibit (James Cassidy); Roca Rojo (C. Brown); Sassy Little Lila (Cox)

Possible: Harmonize (Mott)

Grade 2, $500,000 Woody Stephens

Probable: American Anthem (Baffert) Aquamarine (Lukas); Classic Rock (Kathy Ritvo); Gold for the King (Charlton Baker); Hard Scramble (Asmussen); Long Haul Bay (C. Brown); Recruiting Ready (DePaz); Petrov (Moquett); The Money Monster (Mott); Wild Shot (Rusty Arnold, III.)

Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn Invitational

Probable: Doyouknowsomething (A.C. Avila); Behesht (Arnold, III.); Governor Malibu (Clement); Idolo Porteno (Ignacio Correas); Send It In (Pletcher); Sunny Ridge (Jason Servis); Tu Brutus (Gary Contessa); War Story (Navarro); 

Grade 3, $300,000 Jaipur Invitational
Probable: Canadian Flyer (Mott); Conquest Enforcer (Giglio); Disco Partner (Clement); Green Mask (Cox); Hogy (Larry Rivelli); Holding Gold (Casse); Loose on the Town (Lynch); Pure Sensation (Clement); Stormy Liberal (Miller); Tombelaine (C. Brown), Undrafted (Ward)
Possible: Always Sunshine (Allard)

$150,000 Easy Goer
Probable: Giuseppe the Great (Zito); Local Hero (Asmussen); Sonic Mule (Pletcher); Super Dude (Rice); Tale of Silence (Barclay Tagg); West Coast (Baffert)
Possible: Jamminwithbrandon (Louis Liner)