Bob Le Beau / NYRA Photo

Bob Le Beau seeks double in G1 New York Turf Writers 'Chase

by NYRA Press Office

The Fields Stable's Bob Le Beau completed the circuit of the New York Racing Association's Grade 1 steeplechase races earlier this month, and Thursday he will bid for his second straight victory in the Grade 1, $150,000 New York Turf Writers Cup at Saratoga Race Course.

The 2 3/8-mile New York Turf Writers is the crown jewel of Saratoga's steeplechase lineup, and the Irish-bred will be shooting for a rare back-to-back score. The New York Turf Writers is Thursday's first race with a 1 p.m. post time.

Trained by Elizabeth Voss, Bob Le Beau comes into the New York Turf Writers from a facile one-length victory in the Grade 1 $125,000 A. P. Smithwick Memorial on August 4 at the Spa. The Smithwick win gave him an unprecedented sweep of NYRA's three top-rated steeplechase races over a 12-month period, having also won the Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory Handicap in September at Belmont Park.

Jack Doyle, Bob Le Beau's regular jockey, will again ride the 9-year-old Irish-bred. Voss also will saddle The Fields' Portrade, who set the early pace in the Smithwick and held on well to finish third under regular jockey Gus Dahl.

Bob Le Beau will carry 162 pounds and will concede 12 pounds to Bruton Street US's Scorpiancer, who showed tenacity in finishing second in the Smithwick. Trainer Jack Fisher named Connor Hankin to ride the Irish-bred, who is looking for his first win of the year.

Fisher, the National Steeplechase Association's reigning champion trainer, also will saddle Edith Dixon's Schoodic, who finished sixth in the Smithwick after winning the Radnor Hunt Races' Grade 3 National Hunt Cup on May 21. Sean McDermott will ride.

Champion owner Irv Naylor will be represented by Charminster, who finished second to Schoodic in the National Hunt Cup after winning the Virginia Gold Cup's Grade 2 David Semmes Memorial two weeks earlier.

Cyril Murphy, Charminster's trainer, is tied with Fisher at the top of this year's leader board by wins (13) with a 47 percent win percentage. Regular jockey Ross Geraghty will be aboard Irish-bred Charminster.

Paddy Young, the reigning champion jockey now coming back from a hard fall at Parx Racing in July, will be aboard Ballybristol Farm's Andi'amu for his wife, trainer Leslie Young. The French-bred most recently finished fourth in a Saratoga overnight handicap on August 3 after winning a Monmouth Park Ratings Handicap in June.