NYRA Photo

Caravel takes on the boys once more in G1 Jaipur

by Keith McCalmont

Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel and Madaket Stables’ reigning Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Caravel will again face males as part of an overflow field in Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Jaipur, a six-furlong Widener turf sprint for 3-year-olds and upward at Belmont Park.

The Jaipur offers a "Win and You're In" berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint which will be contested at five furlongs in November at Santa Anita.

Trained by Brad Cox, the 6-year-old Mizzen Mast mare won 5-of-8 starts last year, taking the six-furlong Grade 3 Intercontinental here, as well as the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Franklin at Keeneland. She made every pole a winning one to best the boys at odds of 42-1 in the 5 1/2-furlong Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November at Keeneland.

Caravel has returned in fine form this year with a pair of 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint wins in Kentucky, taking the Grade 2 Shakertown against males in April at Keeneland and the Unbridled Sidney on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill Downs. She was re-routed to the Jaipur after initially being considered for the Group 1 King’s Stand on June 20 at Ascot.

“She had some luck up there last year in the Intercontinental against the girls. She’s trained extremely well this year. I’m super happy with the way she’s been doing,” Cox said. “I just thought this would make the most sense in trying to get her back to the Breeders’ Cup and it’s obviously going to be a step up. She’s going to need to be at her best to take on the boys and get the job done, but she’s doing well and we’ll see how it goes.”

Bred in Pennsylvania by her former owner and trainer Elizabeth Merryman, Caravel will exit post 12 in rein to regular pilot Tyler Gaffalione.

LRE Racing and JEH Racing Stable’s Casa Creed [post 11, Luis Saez] has won the last two runnings of this event for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

The 7-year-old Jimmy Creed horse closed from deep to win the 2021 Jaipur at odds of 10-1 and showed similar dimensions last year when rallying to a half-length score over returning rival Arrest Me Red. The versatile bay added the one-mile Grade 1 Fourstardave to his ledger in August at Saratoga Race Course before finishing off-the-board in his final two starts of 2022, including a ninth-place effort in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

Casa Creed traveled to Saudi Arabia for his seasonal debut and lost a heartbreaker in the Group 3 1351 Turf Sprint when a head back of Bathrat Leon. That effort nearly replicated his narrow defeat in that same event last year when a neck in arrears of the supremely talented Songline, who successfully defended the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen on Sunday in Tokyo.

Casa Creed has kept good company while preparing for his return from a more than three-month layoff, working regularly with the reigning Champion Male Sprinter Elite Power, who will contest Saturday’s Grade 2 True North.

"He and Elite Power have been breezing together and they seem to be doing well. I'm just hoping he can hold his form," said Mott, who has won the Jaipur a record five times.

Trainer Christophe Clement, a four-time Jaipur winner, will saddle the hard-luck Big Invasion [post 10, Joel Rosario] for owners Reeves Thoroughbred Racing.

The 4-year-old Declaration of War colt reeled off six straight wins from February 2022 to August, scoring in the Texas Glitter at Gulfstream Park, the William Walker at Churchill Downs, the Paradise Creek at Belmont, as well as the Spa’s Grade 3 Quick Call presented by Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and Mahony.

Big Invasion’s run came to an end in the Grade 2 Franklin-Simpson at Kentucky Downs in September where he was bumped hard at the break before closing to finish third to close out a prosperous campaign.

Although he was a smart winner of his seasonal debut when besting multiple graded-stakes winner Yes I Am Free in the Silks Run in March at Gulfstream, he again found trouble last out when seventh in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Turf Sprint on May 6 after losing position into the turn and checking hard at the eighth-pole.

Clement said Big Invasion has trained well into the Jaipur, posting a half-mile breeze in 49.35 on June 1 over Big Sandy.

“He's a very good horse and he will get lucky at some stage. Last time, it was overwhelming, but he's a good horse,” Clement said. “He had a nice work and came out of it in good shape.”

Trainer Wesley Ward, who won this event in 2014 with Undrafted, will saddle a pair of contenders in multiple graded-stakes winner Arrest Me Red [post 8, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] and multiple group stakes winner Go Bears Go [post 2, Jose Ortiz].

Lael Stables’ Kentucky homebred Arrest Me Red has made two strong starts over the Belmont green, capturing the 2021 Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational to earn a 100 Beyer Speed Figure and he earned a 102 figure for his prominent runner-up effort to Casa Creed last year.

Arrest Me Red was third in the Shakertown in his seasonal debut and followed four weeks later with a troubled fifth when attempting to defend his title in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Turf Sprint on May 6 at Churchill.

“He’s been doing really well and I’m excited for the extra time. That really seems to help this guy. He’ll have five weeks between starts,” Ward said. “When you see him in the paddock, he’s shining and looks unbelievably beautiful right now. But we aren’t judging on looks, we’re judging on how fast and how well they run. That added ground for a big guy like this won’t hurt us, that’s for sure.”

AMO Racing’s Go Bears Go, a 4-year-old Irish-bred son of Kodi Bear, was originally campaigned by trainer David Loughnane, taking the 2021 Group 2 Railway at the Curragh as well as the Group 3 Commonwealth Cup Trial Pavilion at Ascot and the Group 3 Phoenix Sprint at the Curragh last year.

Go Bears Go has made two trips to the Breeders’ Cup, finishing a closing second to the Ward-trained Twilight Gleaming in the 2021 Juvenile Turf Sprint and 12th last year in the Turf Sprint. He entered from a closing third in his seasonal debut in the aforementioned Churchill Downs Turf Sprint while making his debut for Ward from a six-month layoff.

“He’s a little guy. He’s sort of a barn favorite, everybody loves the horse,” Ward said. “When you see him on the track you think, ‘Wow, look at that 2-year-old go.’ He puts his neck down and goes around there like an awesome little dude. He’s a horse that has no problems and he ran a big race at Churchill, so I’m really looking forward to this race as well.”

The multiple graded-stakes placed Ice Chocolat [post 6, Dylan Davis] is a five-time turf winner looking to break through at the top level for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.

Owned by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Peter Deutsch, the 5-year-old Goldikovic gelding won the 2021 Group 3 IFHA over heavy turf at Gavea in his native Brazil before shipping to Casse’s care in North America.

Ice Chocolat has raced mainly at Woodbine, finishing second over Tapeta in both the Grade 2 Kennedy Road in November and the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier last out on May 14. A two-time turf winner in Canada, he shipped stateside unsuccessfully for a pair of 5 1/2-furlong turf sprints, including a fifth in the Colonel Power in February at Fair Grounds.

“Some of the races were a little short for him, but he should prefer this distance better. It’s a tough race and he’ll have to step up his game,” Casse said.

A stacked field includes graded-stakes winner Air Force Red [post 3, John Velazquez] for trainer Leonard Powell; Group 3-winner Dr Zempf [post 5, Flavien Prat] for trainer Chad Brown; the speedy multiple stakes-winner Nothing Better [post 9, Manny Franco] for trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr.; multiple graded-stakes placed Front Run the Fed [post 13, Reylu Gutierrez] for conditioner Caio Caramori; the graded stakes-placed half-brothers Thin White Duke [post 7, Jorge Vargas, Jr.] and Yes and Yes [post 1, Florent Geroux] for trainer David Donk; the streaking allowance winner Mid Day Image [post 4, Kendrick Carmouche], a New York-bred for trainer David Jacobson; and graded-stakes placed New York-bred Surprise Boss [post 14, Trevor McCarthy] for conditioner Rafael Romero.

On the outside looking in from the also-eligible list are stakes-placed Coppola [post 15, Velazquez] for conditioner Dale Romans; and allowance winner Our Shot [post 16, Javier Castellano] for trainer John Terranova.

The Jaipur is slated as Race 9 on Saturday’s lucrative Belmont Stakes Day card. First post is 11:20 a.m. Eastern.

The FOX Sports family of networks will present expansive coverage and analysis of Belmont Stakes Day beginning with America’s Day at the Races on FS1 at 11 a.m. Coverage then shifts to FOX, where America’s Day at the Belmont and Belmont Day on FOX will air from 3-7:30 p.m.

America’s Day at the Belmont Stakes will complement the FOX broadcast with parallel coverage geared to the avid and experienced horseplayer from 4-7:30 p.m. on FS1. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.