Friday, May 28, 2010
Contact: NYRA Press Office
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- Stately Victor, Stay Put arrive at Belmont
- Stakes fields for Friday,
ELMONT, N.Y. – Belmont hopeful Stately Victor arrived at Belmont Park a few hours behind schedule Thursday, but no worse for the trip.
"Everything went smoothly, but the plane was a little late," trainer Mike Maker said at his
Maker said that the son of Ghostzapper, owned by Thomas and Jack Conway, galloped an easy 1 ¼-miles Thursday morning before preparing to ship.
"He'll gallop Saturday morning at 5:30 a.m. and breeze Monday or Tuesday after the break," Maker said. "Usually I prefer just to ship right on top of a race, but I thought that coming here, I would prefer to have a work over this track. Another positive on our side is that Alan Garcia (jockey) has won a
Garcia piloted Stately Victor to his improbable 40-1 win in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 10, as well as an eighth-place finish in the May 1 Kentucky Derby. In 2008, he rode longshot Da'
Also stabled in Maker's barn is Donald R. Dizney's expected
"Look, he's scared of Stately Victor," Maker joked. "Everything is fine. Our horse is happy and healthy, so here we are."
Arriving Thursday night on the same flight as Stately Victor was Stay Put, who also appears to be acclimating to his new surroundings, trainer Steve Margolis said by phone from
"He shipped well and he's getting settled," said Margolis, who trains Stay Put for Richard, Bertram, and Elaine Klein. "He came up with my longtime assistant Loren Diego, who rides him in the mornings. He'll gallop tomorrow after the break, then work a half-mile and gallop out five-eighths first thing after the break on Sunday."
Stay Put enters the
Margolis said he would join the horse on Tuesday morning, arriving in time for training hours.
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In addition to Stay Put, a number of other Belmont Stakes hopefuls are scheduled to have their final serious works for the race over the holiday weekend.
Preakness runner-up First Dude will go out Saturday morning on the main track following the renovation break, with trainer Dale Romans in attendance. Uptowncharlybrown, third in the
Grade 2 Dwyer runner-up Drosselmeyer will likely work Sunday, said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, and Make Music for Me, fourth in the Kentucky Derby, will have his final tune-up Sunday morning for trainer Alexis Barba.
In
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The Belmont Stakes Day undercard on June 5 will also feature three other Grade 1 races in the $300,000 Betfair TVG Acorn for 3-year-old fillies, the $400,000 Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap, a turf race for horses 3 and up, and the $400,000 Just a Game, also on turf for fillies and mares. A pair of Grade 2 sprint contests, the $250,000 Woody Stephens presented by Emirates Airline and the $250,000 True North, will also be run Saturday.
Nine fillies are probable for the Betfair TVG Acorn according to The New York Racing Association, Inc.'s, stakes coordinator, Andrew Byrnes, including Amen Hallelujah, Buckleupbuttercup, Champagne d'Oro, Dances With Ashley, Indian Burn, Much Rejoicing, Quiet Temper, Seeking the Title and Streaker.
Four-time Grade 1 winner Gio Ponti will try for a repeat in the Woodford Reserve Manhattan, which is also expected to draw Expansion, Grand Couturier, Interpatation, Jet Propulsion, Just as Well, Pinckney Hill, Strike a Deal and Take the Points.
Proviso, fresh off a victory over males in the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile, will only face females in the Just a Game. Also probable for the one-mile turf affair is Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile winner Phola, Grade 3 Beaugay heroine Dynaslew, Carribean Sunset, and Speak Easy Gal. My Princess Jess and Czechers are also under consideration.
In the Woody Stephens presented by Emirates Airline, the speedy Eightyfiveinafifty will make a return to sprinting following a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3, one-mile Derby Trial at Churchill Downs on April 24. Also expected for the race are D' Funnybone, Discreetly Mine, and Thank U Phillipe, with Quiet Invader and Conveyance under consideration as well.
The six-furlong True North is expected to draw last year's Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap winner Bribon, along with Checklist, Custom for Carlos, Fantasy Free, and Gato Go Win. El Brujo, Elusive Warning and Formidable are possible.
Friday, June 4, features two stakes, the Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap and the Grade 3 Hill Prince presented by Ram.
Last year's Grade 2 Brooklyn winner Eldaafer leads the cast in this year's renewal, which will carry a purse of $200,000 and be contested over 1 ½ miles on the main track. The regally-bred son of A.P. Indy and Habibti tuned up for this effort with a 4 ½-length victory in a May 20 starter allowance. Also probable for the race are the 2009 Greenwood Cup winner Alcomo, who has returned to the United States following three starts in Dubai; Tiger's Rock, a two-time stakes winner over the Aqueduct inner track this winter; American Dance; Gabriel's Hill; Stones River; and Tranquil Manner. Gangbuster is questionable.
Interactif, winner of the Grade 3 With Anticipation and Grade 3 Bourbon on the grass as a juvenile, will return to the turf in the Grade 3, $100,000 Hill Prince presented by Ram after finishing second in the Grade 2 San Felipe and fourth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass. The Hill Prince is also expected to include Grade 3 Transylvania winner Nordic Truce, Krypton, and the maiden Avenging Spirit.
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