Francesca LeDonne Photo

True Timber pines for first stakes win in targeting G2 Kelso

by NYRA Press Office

• Gargan leaning towards G3 Oklahoma Derby for Tax
• Carrera Cat ready to make graded stakes debut
• Tale of Silence pointed to G2 Kelso
• Belmont Park Week 3 stakes probables

Calumet Farm's True Timber remains on target for the one-mile Grade 2, $300,00o Kelso Handicap on Saturday, September 21 at Belmont Park, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Friday morning.

True Timber, whose last race was a ninth-place effort in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile on March 30 at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, returned to training in July at Belmont. The 5-year-old son of Mineshaft will be seeking his first stakes win but has finished second against graded stakes company on three occasions: the 2017 Grade 3 Withers, the 2018 Grade 3 Bold Ruler and the 2018 Grade 1 Cigar Mile.

"He's training well and we're very happy with him," McLaughlin said. "We're thankful that Calumet has been patient since Dubai. It just took a little bit longer than we thought to get him back, but he's been doing well."

True Timber is 2-1-1 in five career starts at Belmont.

"It's a tough race, but we're ready to go," McLaughlin said. "His best distance is probably a mile. I know he's been off for a while, but he's doing great. His works have been really good."

The 39th running of the Kelso is one of two stakes slated for September 21, joining the Grade 3, $200,000 Noble Damsel for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up going one mile on the Widener turf.

Shadwell Stable's Qurbaan, a multiple graded stakes winner, has been retired to stud after coming out of his win in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap on September 2 at Saratoga Race Course with a slight injury.

McLaughlin took over the training duties for Qurbaan when the son of Speightstown started racing in North America in 2018. Prior to his arrival, and under conditioner Francois Rohaut, Qurbaan went undefeated through his two starts as a juvenile in 2015 and won a stakes in his 3-year-old campaign in 2016 in the Prix Luthier at Deauville in France.

The now 6-year-old Qurbaan won his first start in the United States, capturing the 2018 edition of the Bernard Baruch at Saratoga Race Course, where he bookended his North American racing career with a repeat effort earlier this month when he outlasted Sacred Life by 2 ½ lengths.

McLaughlin said they were hoping to initially point Qurbaan to the Grade 1, $1 million Shadwell Mile in October at Keeneland before the injury curtailed those plans. He will now stand at Nashwan Stud on Shadwell Farm.

"It's sad we had to retire him, we were hoping to make the Shadwell Mile," he said. "He had a beautiful form and was a great mover."

Qurbaan, bred in Kentucky by Justin Carthy, was purchased by Shadwell Estate for $300,000 at the 2013 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. In nine races in the United States, all in graded stakes, he went 2-2-4, with his only off-the-board finish coming in the Grade 1 Manhattan in June. He earned triple digit Beyer Speed Figures in five of those starts, including a personal-best 103 for his runner-up effort to Bricks and Mortar in the Grade 1 Turf Classic in May at Churchill Downs. He matched that figure for his last-out win in the Bernard Baruch.

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Gargan leaning towards G3 Oklahoma Derby for Tax

R. A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Hugh Lynch, and Corms Racing Stable's Tax enjoyed his first work back since finishing seventh in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers, breezing four furlongs in 50 seconds flat on the Belmont Park training track on Friday morning.

"We just took him an easy half. He's fit," said trainer Danny Gargan. "He came out of this race better than his other races."

Claimed for $50,000 out of a maiden win in October at Keeneland, the dark bay son of Arch has excelled in graded stakes company in New York winning the Grade 3 Withers and Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by NYRA Bets, while hitting the board in the Grade 2 Remsen and Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by NYRA Bets.

Gargan said Tax, who contested two-thirds of the Triple Crown, placing 14th in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Belmont, has a plethora of options including the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on September 21; the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on September 29 at Remington Park; and the Grade 2, $400,000 Hill Prince, a nine-furlong turf route on October 5 at Belmont.

"I'm leaning towards the race at Remington or the grass race. It would give him a little more time," said Gargan.

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Carrera Cat ready to make graded stakes debut

Stone Bridge Farm and Very Un Stable's Carrera Cat is set to make her graded stakes debut in the Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom, a 6 ½-furlong main track sprint on September 22 at Belmont Park.

With four wins from five starts this year for trainer John Morrison, including a 2 ½ length-win in the Union Avenue on August 15 at Saratoga Race Course in her most recent start, the 4-year-old daughter of Courageous Cat is in career form.

Bred in New York by W.S. Farish, Carrera Cat posted a bullet breeze of four furlongs in 47.80 on the Belmont dirt training track on Friday.

Morrison said he is ready to see Carrera Cat compete against Grade 1 competition.

"I thought she breezed well this morning and as long as she comes out if it okay, we'll point for the Gallant Bloom," said Morrison. "Obviously, she'll have to step her game up and improve. Tactically, she can be on the lead or stalk form it, so we'll see who else shows up before entering the race."

Morrison, a veteran trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit for more than 20 years, last graded stakes wins came with Acey Deucey in 2005 when the New York-bred captured both the Grade 1 Prioress and Grade 2 Comely.

"Acey Deucey was more of a horse that came from behind," said Morrison. "Carrera Cat is built a little bit stockier with a quicker turn of foot. They're both certainly talented. As long as she comes out of her work okay, she'll [Carrera Cat] get her shot against the best like Acey Deucey did."

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Tale of Silence pointed to G2 Kelso

Charles Fipke's Tale of Silence, a 5-year-old son of Tale of the Cat, is pointed to a pair of lofty goals this fall, including the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap on September 21 at Belmont and the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained Barclay Tagg has conditioned a pair of past Cigar Mile winners for Fipke including Tale of Ekati (2008), who is a full brother to Tale of Silence, and Jersey Town (2010). The veteran conditioner said he initially hoped to find an easier stepping stone to the Cigar Mile for Tale of Silence.

"My long term goal is the Cigar Mile," said Tagg. "We won it with his full brother. I tried to get him into an allowance race last week, but it didn't fill so we'll go this way instead. He's training well."

Tagg said he was also considering options for 6-year-old graded-stakes winner Dr. Edgar, who finished seventh last out in the Grade 1 Fourstardave. The Lookin At Lucky chestnut made the grade in the Grade 3 Appleton in March at Gulfstream Park.

"I'd like something at last a mile and an eighth for him on the turf," said Tagg. "I'd like to stay local, but I'm just weighing the options right now."

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Belmont Park Week 3 stakes probables

Friday, September 20

$150,000 Bertram F. Bongard
Probable: City Man (Clement); Moonachie (Englehart); Three Jokers (John Terranova)
Possible: Unrelenting Force (Tom Morley)

Saturday, September 21

Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso
Probable: Catholic Boy (Jonathan Thomas); Pat On the Back (Englehart); Plainsman (Shug McGaughey); Prince Lucky (Todd Pletcher); Tale of Silence (Barclay Tagg); True Timber (Kiaran McLaughlin)
Possible: Core Beliefs (Peter Eurton)

Grade 3, $200,000 Nobel Damsel
Probable: Capla Temptress (Bill Mott); Significant Form (Chad Brown); Stella Di Camelot (Brown)
Possible: Valedictorian (Kelly Breen)

Sunday, September 22

Grade 2, $300,000 Gallant Bloom
Probable: Carrera Cat (John Morrison); Come Dancing (Carlos Martin)

$125,000 John Hettinger
Probable: Belle of the Spa (Bruce Brown); Classic Lady (Jorge Abreu); Fifty Five (Brown); Kreesie (David Donk); Munchkin Money (Phil Serpe); Wegetdamunnys (Englehart); Wish Upon (Terranova)
Possible: Dynamite Kitten (John Kimmel)

$125,000 Ashley T. Cole
Probable: Dot Matrix (Brad Cox); Gucci Factor (Clement); Offering Plan (Brown); Red Knight (Mott); Startup Nation (Brown) Therapist (Clement); Winston's Chance (Debra Reed)