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Farmington Road, Dr Post breeze in company for Belmont Stakes (G1)

by Keith McCalmont

• Max Player breezes six furlongs in final Belmont Stakes prep
• Clement well represented on Belmont Stakes undercard
• Funny Guy records 101 Beyer for Commentator win
• Belmont spring/summer Week 3 Stakes Probables

The Todd Pletcher-trained pair of Farmington Road and Dr Post worked a half-mile in company in 48.87 seconds on the Belmont Park main track Saturday in preparation for the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 20.

Under mostly sunny skies and over a fast main track, stakes-placed Farmington Road and stakes-winner Dr Post worked in tandem following the renovation break, with Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano and Irad Ortiz, Jr aboard, respectively. The duo reached the wire together and galloped out strongly.

Both Belmont Stakes aspirants also worked together last week at Palm Beach Downs in Florida.

Pletcher said all went well with their final preparation for the Belmont Stakes, slated as the opening leg of the Triple Crown for the first time ever.

"I was very pleased with the work. I was a little concerned going in, working the two horses together but I felt like that was the best matchup for each horse," Pletcher said. "They worked in company together last week at Palm Beach Downs and it seemed to go well.

"I thought both horses relaxed nicely in the early part of their work, finished up strongly and galloped out very, very nice. All in all, it went well."

Both Farmington Road and Dr Post are sired by last year's leading Grade 1-producer Quality Road, who coincidentally also was conditioned by Pletcher during his racing years.

"You can see similarities in both of them to their sire," Pletcher said. "I would say that Dr Post looks more like Quality Road because he's a bit of a bigger horse, but you can definitely see a similarity in both of them."

Dr Post, owned by Vincent Viola's St Elias Stable, has done no wrong in his pair of starts this year. He emerged off a nearly nine-month layoff with a second-out graduation at Gulfstream Park on March 29 going seven furlongs before stretching out to two turns in winning his stakes debut in the Unbridled at the South Florida oval.

"Dr Post is doing great. The longer we have him, the more he reminds us of his sire Quality Road," Pletcher said. "He looks a lot like him, he showed some versatility already breaking his maiden at seven furlongs and coming back in a stake in his second start of the year going a mile and a sixteenth, encountered a lot of traffic that day and was still able to win. He seems to have moved forward in his training since then."

Dr Post faced a small but seasoned field in the Unbridled, which included graded-stakes placed Attachment Rate as well as stakes winners Soros and Relentless Dancer.

"The thing we really liked about the Unbridled was, especially leading into a race like the Belmont, it was only his second start of the year and third career start, but he got so much out of that race and so much education it was almost like an extra start," Pletcher said. "I'm hoping that will pay dividends because he's giving up some seasoning and experience to some really nice horses, but we felt like we got a lot out of the Unbridled."

A $400,000 purchase from the Hunter Valley Farm consignment barn at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Dr Post is out of the graded stakes winning Hennessy broodmare Mary Delaney.

Owned by Aron Wellman's Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Robert LaPenta and Chrysalis Stables, Farmington Road, currently 24th on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 15 points, will be attempting a first stakes victory. Following a third-out 1 ¾-length maiden victory at Tampa Bay Downs, Farmington Road was fourth in the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds on February 15 and in a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on May 2, earning a respective five and ten points. He was also a close second in the Oaklawn Stakes on April 11.

Traditionally contested at 1 1/2-miles and held as the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes will be run at a distance of 1 1/8-miles to properly account for the schedule adjustments to the Triple Crown series and overall calendar for 3-year-olds in training.

"We felt like he could be the horse that would really enjoy the mile-and-a-half," Pletcher said. "But since that's not an option we're hoping that the mile-and-an-eighth, if he gets a good honest pace to run at, he would certainly benefit from that. He's got a patented style; he's going to drop back and make one run. We just need a good solid pace to come back to him a little bit."

Pletcher said he was satisfied with Farmington Road's last out run in the Arkansas Derby, where he was last early off a moderate pace, began making up ground approaching the far turn, ending up fourth.

"Solid effort in the Arkansas Derby and I think it was a tough track to make up a lot of ground," Pletcher said. "He's got a good three-eighths mile run and we have to time it just right. The main thing is getting a track that suits that style and an honest pace. That's what he really needs."

Bred in Kentucky by co-owner Chrysalis Stables, Farmington Road is out of the Langfuhr broodmare Silver La Belle, who is a half-sister to multiple turf graded stakes winner Silverfoot.

Some notable Pletcher alumnae are being represented by their offspring in this year's Belmont Stakes including last year's leading first crop stallion Constitution, who sires likely favorite Tiz the Law.

"He's making Constitution proud," Pletcher said. "Tiz the Law has been very impressive in all of his races, especially in the Florida Derby."

In other news out of the Pletcher barn, Repole Stables and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Moretti emerged from his triumph in Thursday's Flat Out in good order and remains a likely candidate for the Grade 2, $200,000 Suburban on July 4 at Belmont Park.

"Moretti came back great. He relished the mile and three eighths, looked like he could've gone around there again," Pletcher said. "We're just hoping to have more options like that. We're still waiting on some stake schedules so we don't know all the options we'll have, but a race like the Suburban at a mile and a quarter is on the radar and hopefully by then we'll know what the rest of the campaign can look like."

* * *

Max Player breezes six furlongs in final Belmont Stakes prep

George E. Hall's Grade 3 Withers champ Max Player breezed six furlongs in 1:12.25 Saturday morning on Big Sandy in preparation for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

Max Player will be trainer Linda Rice's first Belmont Stakes entrant since Supervisor finished fifth in 2003. His owner, George E. Hall, has enjoyed success in the Classic, with Ruler On Ice capturing the 2011 edition.

Rice said she was impressed with Max Player's final Belmont Stakes prep, working solo under exercise rider Oscar Gomez.

"He went the first three-eighths in 36.3 and I instructed Oscar to ask him to finish a little bit from the sixteenth pole through the wire," said Rice. "We did the same thing 10 days ago and we just wanted to let him stretch out a little bit on the main track. He went 59.3 and out in 1:12.1 for three-quarters. It seems fast, but the clockers told me the track is very fast today. He went very well."

Max Player closed to finish second on debut in November at Parx in a one-mile maiden and graduated at second asking on December 17 over a sloppy Parx surface ahead of his Withers win.

Rice said Max Player has matured mentally and physically heading into the biggest race of his career.

"He's grown up a lot," said Rice. "He's changed tremendously since he was a 2-year-old. He ran at Parx twice and was very green then. We used to breeze him in company to get him focused and at this point he's changed a lot mentally and physically."

Max Player is currently 32nd on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 10 points and will look to add to those totals in the Belmont Stakes, offering 150-60-30-15 Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

The talented Honor Code colt has now breezed 11 times since winning the nine-furlong, two-turn Grade 3 Withers last out on February 1 at the Big A. Rice said she has taken great care to ensure Max Player has the foundation to be successful in the Belmont.

"He hasn't run in five months and I had spaced his works out every two weeks during the pandemic, having no target in sight and not knowing what we were pointing towards," said Rice. "This last month, I've given him three breezes, ten days apart, and I was very pleased with his last two works on the main track."

A talented Belmont Stakes field will include Grade 1 winners Basin and expected race favorite Tiz the Law, but Rice said she is confident in her colt's readiness for the one-turn nine-furlong test in the Belmont.

"We know he can run a mile and an eighth. He did that in the Withers in February and he's made a lot of strides forward since then," said Rice. "I'm not concerned about the distance at all, it's just a matter of the competition. Tiz the Law is a very formidable horse, but we're going to take our best shot."

* * *

Clement well represented on Belmont Stakes undercard

Trainer Christophe Clement sports a record of 26-7-4-2 at the Belmont Park spring/summer meet, winning at a 27 percent clip, and will look to add to those totals next Saturday where he will saddle a number of stakes contenders.

In the Grade 1, $250,000 Jaipur presented by America's Best Racing, Clement has 9-year-old seasoned veteran Pure Sensation, winner of the 2016 Jaipur, as well as stakes winners Shekky Shebaz and White Flag under consideration.

Patricia Generazio's Pure Sensation, a veteran of 36 lifetime starts, owns 11 stakes victories, including four wins in the Grade 3 Turf Monster at Parx Racing. He is closing in on the $2 million mark having banked $1,998,550. He has not raced since finishing fifth in last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.

White Flag, a Robert Evans homebred, won the 2017 Allied Forces at Belmont Park and the 2018 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship. The son of War Front has placed against graded stakes company three times, including a third-place effort in the Grade 1 Highlander at Woodbine in September.

A winner of the Lucky Coin at Saratoga last summer, Shekky Shebaz was third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in November.

"Pure Sensation, Shekky Shebaz and White Flag are possible for the Jaipur, we'll decide over the weekend," said Clement.

Clement plans on sending Grade 1 winner Decorated Invader for the Grade 2, $150,000 Pennine Ridge over the Widener Turf Course. Owned by Terry Finley's West Point Thoroughbreds, William T. Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning, the sophomore son of Declaration of War won his 2020 debut in the Cutler Bay on March 28 at Gulfstream Park.

Following a second-out maiden triumph at Saratoga, Decorated Invader bested Grade 1 company in the Summer at Woodbine en route to a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita.

"Decorated Invader has done very well," Clement said. "Physically, he's very nice to look at, he's impressive in his works and impressive in his races."

Clement is also thinking ahead with two of his winners this meet and said that Friday allowance winner Wegetsdamunnys could return in either the $100,000 Mount Vernon on July 2 against her New York-bred counterpart or the 80,000 River Memories against open company going 1 ½-miles on the turf.

"[The Mount Vernon] is 20 days out but we'll try to do it. Another option is the mile-and-a-half [River Memories] stake at the end of the meet, so we'll have a look at that," Clement said.

A five-time winner, Scott Krase and Peter G. Stokes' Wegetsdamunnys, bred in the Empire State by Wellspring Stables, is still in search of a first stakes victory. Friday's victory was her first start since finishing eighth in the Grade 3 Long Island on November 30 at Aqueduct.

Clement said Oak Bluff Stables' New York-bred Therapist could race in either the $100,000 Kingston going 1 1/16 miles on July 5 or the $75,000 Banrock going six furlongs on July 9.

"He's doing well," said Clement. "We have two choices he has could sprint going six furlongs or go towards a mile and a sixteenth. We'll just train him and let him tell me which way we'll go."

* * *

Funny Guy records 101 Beyer for Commentator win

Trainer John Terranova said he was delighted with the performance of Funny Guy, who captured Friday's one-turn mile Commentator off a nine-month layoff, where he garnered a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Owned by R. A. Hill Stable, Gatsas Stable and Swick Stable, Funny Guy had not raced since finishing sixth in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby on September 29 at Remington Park, which was his lone start against open company. He collected his third career stakes win in the Commentator after taking the Albany at Saratoga and the Times Square division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series last April at Aqueduct during his 3-year-old campaign.

Terranova left all options open for the 4-year-old son of Big Brown, including a start against open company.

"We'll see as we go down the road into the summer what the schedule will be like," Terranova said. "He's a really nice colt that we've liked all along since we've got him. He's progressed beautifully over the course of time. I'm just happy to see him back and happy that people have had the patience to wait things out and just stay the course. I'm grateful that he's a sound and happy horse."

Terranova said Funny Guy has been ready to run for quite a while, but was not concerned about the long layoff.

"He's pretty smart. He's kind of unique in that way. He's one of those smart colts that just knows what's up, That's just the impression he gives you," Terranova said. "We loved him all along. We were coming off a bit of a break and we weren't planning on being gone that long, nobody was.

"He had been ready for a while," added Terranova. "It looked pretty competitive for a New York-bred stake, and he was going up against older horses. It was a great performance, Joel [Rosario] gave a great ride and we were expecting a big performance out of him, how big was the question.

Terranova also said Curragh Stables' Killybegs Captain will be receiving some time off due to an ankle injury. The graded stakes-winning son of Mizzen Mast last raced when taking the Pelican at Tampa Bay Downs on February 15.

"He's getting some time off right now. He had a deal with his ankle. We're just going to see what happens into the summer, into the fall," Terranova said.

* * *

Belmont spring/summer Week 3 Stakes Probables

Friday, June 19, 2020

$80,000 Sir Cat
Probable: Chimney Rock (Mike Maker), Jack and Noah (Mark Casse), Maxwell Esquire (Christophe Clement), Old Chestnut (Casse)

Sunday, June 21, 2020

$80,000 Lady Shipman
Probable: Bredenbury (Graham Motion), Call On Mischief (Michael Stidham), Miss J McKay (Cathal Lynch), She's My Type (Clement), Shippy (George Weaver), Stop War (Clement)
Possible: American Giant (Michael Trombetta)