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Prince Lucky looks to feast in Closing Day's State Dinner

by Brian Bohl

Daniel McConnell's Prince Lucky will be looking to return to his early campaign form as part of a six-horse field of 4-year-olds and up in the fourth running of the $100,000 State Dinner on Sunday in the final stakes of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet.

The last of 59 stakes worth $18.4 million, the State Dinner will help conclude the 48-day spring/summer meet, with Prince Lucky looking to rebound from a ninth-place finish in the Grade 1 Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day on June 8.

The Corinthian gelding started his 4-year-old year with a pair of graded stakes wins, earning triple digit Beyer Speed Figures. Prince Lucky surged to a six-length win in the one-mile Hal's Hope on February 23 at Gulfstream Park in his seasonal bow, earning a 106 figure, and followed with a 4 ¾-length win over the same distance and track in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile on March 30, netting a 100 Beyer.

After running sixth in the Grade 3 Westchester and tiring late against a talented Metropolitan field headed by Mitole's win, trainer Todd Pletcher assistant Byron Hughes said Prince Lucky is ready to stretch out to the 1 1/16-mile State Dinner distance for the first time since winning the 2018 Easy Goer by a neck at Belmont.

"He came out of the Met Mile in good shape," Hughes said. "He was just a little overmatched at the time. But he breezed back well and we'll try to get back on track on Sunday. I think a mile or a mile and an sixteenth, he should do well."

Prince Lucky will have the services of Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez in breaking from post 2.

Two-time graded stakes winner Sunny Ridge is coming off his first victory in four starts in 2019, posting a three-quarters of a length win in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile on May 25 at Monmouth Park. The veteran 6-year-old gelding, who won his first graded stakes with the 2016 Grade 3 Withers on Aqueduct's now defunct inner track, has finished on the board in five of his last six starts for trainer Jason Servis, including third in the Westchester and second in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap to Patternrecognition on September 22 at Belmont.

With a 7-6-5 record in 25 career starts, Sunny Ridge, owned by Dennis Drazin, has banked $1,338,557 in career earnings. Jose Lezcano, aboard for the Westchester and Salvator Mile, will have the return call out of post 6.

Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey's Backyard Heaven will make his anticipated return off an 11-month layoff for trainer Chad Brown. In the spring of 2018, the son of Tizway won the Grade 2 Alysheba by 4 ½ lengths at Churchill Downs. After running sixth as the favorite in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster in June of that year, Backyard Heaven tried to redeem himself in the Grade 1 Whitney on August 4 at historic Saratoga Race Course, but finished seventh. After needing surgery to remove an ankle chip, Backyard Heaven will make his return to racing following nine breezes on the Saratoga training track since May 7, including a final breeze on June 30 when he went five furlongs in 1:00.98.

Brown, who has a virtual lock on the meet's training title, will see Irad Ortiz, Jr. ride from post 1.

Multiplier will return to stakes company after a fifth-place finish against optional claimers on June 7 going a mile on the Belmont turf. Since Hall of Famer Bill Mott took over the training duties from Peter Miller, Multiplier ran second in the Danger's Hour on April 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack and 11th in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic on May 4 at Churchill.

Owned by Wachtel Stable, George Kerr and Gary Barber, the 5-year-old son of The Factor will return to Big Sandy, where he ran 10th in the 2017 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and ninth in the 2018 Grade 1 Manhattan. Jose Ortiz will have the call from post 4.

Centennial Farms' Candygram will be making his first stakes appearance in his 10th career start. Trained by Jimmer Jerkens, the 4-year-old Candy Ridge colt drew post 3 with Junior Alvarado set to ride.

Helen Groves' Just Whistle, fifth in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 17, will be going for his first stakes win. The Michael Matz trainee drew post 5 with Joel Rosario.

The State Dinner is carded as Race 8 as a part of Sunday's nine-race card. First post is 12:30 p.m. Eastern. There will be mandatory payouts of the Pick 6, Early Pick 5 and the Late Pick 5.

Live racing will then move to Saratoga for the 40-race day summer meet that starts Opening Day, July 11 and runs through Monday, September 2.