Francesca LeDonne Photo

Tacitus strong in final breeze for G1 Belmont

by NYRA Press Office

• Midnight Bisou ready for return to Belmont Park
• Well-rounded Bell's the One seeks to make the grade in G1 Acorn
• Catcho En Die makes return in G1 Manhattan
• McLaughlin pair complete preparations for G1 assignments
• All Turf Cross Country Pick 5 with Penn National handles $90K
• Saratoga Race Course main track open for training on June 20

Juddmonte Farms' homebred Tacitus, with Jose Ortiz up for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.42 over Big Sandy on Sunday morning in preparation for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

Working in company with Juddmonte maiden Tide of the Sea [1:01.50], Tacitus finished up strong down the lane, galloping out well in front of his workmate.

Mott said he was pleased with the final breeze ahead of the 1 ½-mile Belmont, set for Saturday, June 8.

"He was moving very good, very level and very even. He went along in '12s' every furlong and went out strong enough," said Mott. "It was very similar to last week. Once he gets in his rhythm he moves very nicely."

The son of Tapit and multiple Grade 1 winner Close Hatches graduated at Aqueduct Racetrack in November and won the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby in his sophomore debut. Tacitus returned to the Big A in April to capture the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by NYRA Bets.

Last out, in the Kentucky Derby, Tacitus rallied from 16th to finish fourth, defeated less than four lengths, over a sloppy Churchill Downs main track. He was elevated to third when Maximum Security, who crossed the wire first, was disqualified for an infraction at the top of the stretch that saw the Mott-trained Country House declared the winner of the 145th Run for the Roses.

Mott said Tacitus' physical appearance has impressed him as the colt trains into the "Test of the Champion."

"I haven't weighed him, but visually it looks like he's in good flesh. I think he's done well. He's a good eater," said Mott.

Channel Maker, a 5-year-old son of English Channel owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Gary Barber, R.A. Hill Stable and Wachtel Stable, will make his next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan on Belmont Stakes Day.

Bred in Ontario by the Tall Oaks Farm of Ivan Dalos, the talented chestnut boasts a record of 5-4-3 from 24 career starts with purse earnings in excess of $1.9 million. He broke through at the Grade 1 level in September at Belmont over soft going in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic while earning a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure, and doubled up at the top flight last out with a neck score over Arklow in the Man o' War, which garnered a 106 Beyer on firm footing.

Channel Maker breezed a half-mile in 49 flat on Sunday morning on the Belmont dirt training track.

"He worked very well. We're very happy with him. It was a very nice breeze. He's ready for the Manhattan," said Mott.

Mott will be quite busy during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, set for June 6 - 8, saddling a number of top contenders, including Red Knight in the Grade 2, $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup Invitational; Giant Zinger in the Grade 2, $600,000 New York; and Capla Temptress in the Grade 1, $700,000 Longines Just a Game.

With the 151st running of the Belmont Stakes as its centerpiece, the 2019 Festival will include 18 stakes races over the three days including an unprecedented eight Grade 1 races on Belmont Stakes Day, June 8.

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Midnight Bisou Ready for Return to Belmont Park

Midnight Bisou, who scored an impressive six-length victory in the 2018 Grade 1 Mother Goose, returns to Belmont Park for Saturday's Grade 1, $700,000 Ogden Phipps, a Breeders' Cup Win & You're In event to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff, with a clear lead in the older female division.

After Midnight Bisou ended 2018 finishing third to eventual champion Monomoy Girl in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Bloom Racing, Madaket Stables and Allen Racing began mapping out her 4-year-old campaign which to date, has worked out perfectly. The Midnight Lute filly is three-for-three this year, including her most recent win in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park April 14.

"The Ogden Phipps has always been in the back of our minds," owner Jeffery Bloom of Bloom Racing said. "We wanted to get through the Apple Blossom first and after she won that, this race seemed like the most logical choice. It seemed like the best way to get us back to the Breeders' Cup, which is the ultimate goal."

Bloom said he hopes that his star filly and Monomoy Girl, who has been on the sidelines since the Breeders' Cup, have the opportunity to meet later this year.

"In any other year, our filly might have been champion," Bloom said. "It just shows how tough the division was last year. I hope we get to meet Monomoy Girl sometime this year. I know we're up for the challenge and it would be great for racing."

Midnight Bisou, who is scheduled to arrive at Belmont Wednesday from her Churchill Downs base, has had five works since the Apple Blossom, including a strong five-furlong work in 59.80 seconds last Tuesday.

"She's doing great," Bloom said. "She couldn't be better. She's done everything we've asked of her."

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Well-rounded Bell's the One seeks to make the grade in G1 Acorn

In only six career starts, Bell's the One has proven herself capable of winning over just about any surface, but in Saturday's Grade 1, $700,000 Acorn, the daughter of Majesticperfection will get another shot at a graded stakes victory.

Trained by Neil Pessin, Lothenbach Stables' Bell's the One owns victories over dirt, turf and synthetic and won her first four career starts. She graduated first time out at 32-1 odds over the all-weather surface at Arlington Park in September, where she defeated eventual stakes winner Sunset Wish.

She defeated winners over the main track at Keeneland before scoring her stakes debut in the Letellier Memorial at Fair Grounds in December. Bell's the One switched to turf next out, where she won the Allen 'Black Cat' Lacombe Memorial over Fair Grounds' Stall-Wilson Turf Course.

Bell's the One enters the one-mile test for sophomore fillies over the Belmont main track off of a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Eight Belles at Churchill Downs, where she earned a career best 83 Beyer Speed Figure, which followed a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Ashland.

"She was the only one to close in the Eight Belles," Pessin said. "The track that day was speed favoring. We were the only horse in the first seven or eight races that made up any ground."

A victory in the Acorn would give Pessin his first Grade 1 win.

"To me, it would mean more for the filly, she tries every time she runs," Pessin said. "I don't look at that kind of stuff for me personally, but it would mean a lot to Mr. Lothenbach and it would mean a lot for the filly. Whether she's good enough, I don't know, but she's as good as she has been, so now is the time to try."

Her victory in the Letellier was her only start on turf. Pessin did not rule out a return to the grass at some point in the future.

"I'm sure at some point we'll try it again," Pessin said. "She always breezes well over the synthetic, but she just runs on anything. Track conditions don't matter to her. I don't think the distance will hurt her. It looks like there's enough speed so hopefully it sets up for her."

Jockey Corey Lanerie, who was aboard Bell's the One for her win in the Letellier as well as her last out runner-up effort, will have the mount in the Acorn.

Bred in Kentucky by Bret Jones, Bell's the One is out of the Street Cry broodmare Street Mate. She was purchased for $155,000 from the 2017 Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale.

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Catcho En Die makes return in G1 Manhattan

Following a nine-month hiatus, Grade 1-placed Catcho En Die will be making his comeback to the races in the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan on Saturday.

Owned by trainer Naipaul Chatterpaul in partnership with Sotirios Sakatis, the 7-year-old gelded son of Catcher in the Rye was third via disqualification in the 2018 Grade 1 Arlington Million last out, which was won by fellow Manhattan aspirant Robert Bruce.

The August 11 effort was his last start, which came after a front-running victory in the Grade 3 Stars and Stripes at the Chicago oval, where he earned a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

"He looks good and has been training well," Chatterpaul said. "I figured that I would give him some time off after the Million. He was just on the sidelines because the owners and I decided to give him a break. I don't go to Florida in the winter and I didn't want to go down there with just one horse."

In his native Argentina, Catcho En Die won his first three career starts, including the Group 1 Miguel Alfredo Martinez de Hoz in February 2016 at San Isidro. He came to the United States and made two starts for Hall of Famer Bill Mott before Chatterpaul claimed Catcho En Die for $40,000 at Aqueduct last April.

Catcho En Die will likely go off as a longshot in the Manhattan, but Chatterpaul is no stranger to upsets, having saddled 21-1 Mission Approved for a wire-to-wire score in the 2011 Manhattan.

"That horse was a straight front runner and wasn't as tactical as this one," Chatterpaul said. "He can basically do anything and that's what I like about him."

Jockey Luis Saez will be aboard Catcho En Die for his 2019 debut.

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McLaughlin pair complete preparations for G1 assignments

Cookie Dough and Qurbaan put in their final works for their respective Belmont Stakes Racing Festival assignments on Saturday morning for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who believes both are primed for big efforts next Saturday on the Belmont Stakes Day undercard.

A recent addition to the McLaughlin barn, Cookie Dough took to the Belmont training track to register a four-furlong work in 49.44 seconds in advance of the Grade 1, $700,000 Acorn for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on the main track.

"It was a good work, exactly what we were looking for," McLaughlin said of Cookie Dough, who was logging her first published work since being transferred to the trainer following a third-place finish in the Grade 2, 1 ⅛-mile Black-Eyed Susan on May 17 at Pimlico. "She does everything right. It's a tough spot, but the turnback should be a plus."

The front-running filly notched a pair of wins in Florida-bred company last year and has finished second in the Grade 2 Davona Dale and third in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks in her sophomore season, but she may have to adapt to a different pace scenario in the Acorn.

"There seems to be a lot of speed in the race, so she might not be able to be on the lead," McLaughlin said. "We'll see when the gates open. She's a quality filly, though."

Qurbaan, who will give the veteran horseman another shot at Grade 1 glory on Saturday when he contests the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan, finished his preparations for the race at the Greentree Training Center in Saratoga Springs, going four furlongs in 48.60 seconds over the synthetic surface.

"He worked great. He's doing very well right now and I'm excited for the race," said McLaughlin.

Coming off a near miss in the Grade 1 Turf Classic at 1 ⅛ miles, Qurbaan will try to navigate an additional furlong successfully in the 1 ¼-mile Manhattan, but in order to do so he will likely have to deal with a familiar foe, Bricks and Mortar, who bested him in the Turf Classic.

"I don't think the distance is an issue," said McLaughlin. "I'm more worried about Bricks and Mortar, but we'll get some weight from him and our horse is doing well right now. It's another tough race, but they're all going to be tough [on Belmont Stakes Day]."

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All Turf Cross Country Pick 5 with Penn National handles $90K

All Turf Cross Country Pick 5 with Penn National handles $90K

Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5, featuring all turf races from Belmont Park and Penn National, handled $90,429, returning $342.50 for the minimum $0.50 wager.

The sequence kicked off with the Grade 3, $200,000 Pennine Ridge on the inner turf at Belmont Park, where Peter Brant's Dermarchelier won by a neck over Seismic Wave to remain unbeaten in three starts. Leaving the gate at odds of 5-1 and returning $12.40 for a $2 win wager, Demarchelier will most likely next be pointed to the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby on July 6 at Belmont Park, the first leg of the NYRA Turf Triple Series.

The action then switched to Penn National for the remaining four legs, where in Race 8 1-2 post-time favorite Dynatail bested a field of five in the $100,000 Susquehanna returning $3.

In the ninth race, the $100,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup, post-time favorite Pure Sensation won by a neck over Completed Pass for his second win in as many starts for the year. The 8-year-old returned $3.40 for a $2 win wager.

In the penultimate leg, the $200,000 Penn Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, Regal Glory, sent off as the 1-9 favorite, won by 2 ¾ lengths to best a field of six returning $2.20 for her backers.

In the final leg of the sequence, the Grade 2, $500,000 Penn Mile, Moon Colony upset a talent-laden field of 3-year-olds to win at odds of 9-1. Returning $21.60 for a $2 win wager, he earned his first stakes win.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents, featuring a 15 percent takeout and a mandatory payout of the entire pool. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country.

For more information on the Cross Country Pick 5, please visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-...

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Saratoga Race Course main track open for training on June 20

The New York Racing Association, (NYRA) Inc. announced that the main track at Saratoga Race Course will be officially open for training for horsemen on Thursday, June 20.

The start of training on the main track, which opens a week earlier than last year, continues the countdown to the 2019 season at the historic Spa, which will run for 40 days beginning Thursday, July 11 through Monday, September 2.

Following Opening Weekend, racing at Saratoga will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays. Closing week will run Wednesday, August 28 through Labor Day, Monday, September 2.

Among the season's highlights are Opening Weekend, July 11-14; the 150th running of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers on Saturday, August 24; and the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on Saturday, August 3.

For more information about Saratoga Race Course, visit www.nyra.com/Saratoga.