Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Oscar Performance set for bow
ELMONT, N.Y. – It’s later than perhaps planned, but Oscar Performance, a three-time Grade 1-winning turf male, will make his 4-year-old debut in Sunday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Poker Stakes at Belmont Park.
The one-mile turf race will be the first for Oscar Performance since he finished ninth in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar.
Trainer Brian Lynch said Oscar Performance had a little bit of a colic issue in May that forced him to miss a potential allowance prep for the Poker.
“Fortunately, it didn’t amount to anything, and he’s come back and had some solid works since,” Lynch said. “He seems like he’s in the game. Looking forward to kicking it off.”
Oscar Performance hasn’t run a mile since he captured the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in 2016 at Santa Anita.
As a 3-year-old, Oscar Performance was gradually stretched out in distance to where he eventually won the Belmont Derby and Secretariat – both Grade 1 races at 1 1/4 miles.
When he faced older horses last fall, he finished third in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and ninth in the BC Turf, both at 1 1/2 miles.
“Towards the end of the year last year he was a 3-yearold starting to feel the wear and tear of a hard campaign,” Lynch said.
Lynch said the Poker could give him a good idea at what distances he should race Oscar Performance the remainder of the year.
“This comeback race is going to help us make that decision, whether we continue to stretch him out or keep him around a mile,” Lynch said.
Lynch said the manner in which Oscar Performance finishes the race would be a factor in that decision.
Complicating matters is that Lynch already has a talented mile turf runner in Heart to Heart, winner of the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile, who is being pointed to the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga on Aug. 11.
Oscar Performance drew post 3 and will be the 124-pound highweight under Jose Ortiz. He will concede 2 to 8 pounds to a field that includes Force the Pass, Vulcan’s Forge, defending Poker winner Ballagh Rocks, Made You Look, Black Tide, Voodoo Song, and Fire Away.
Stewards talk to Geroux
The Belmont Park stewards on Thursday talked to jockey Florent Geroux regarding his ride on Restoring Hope in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.
New York State Gaming Commission steward Steve Lewandowski would only confirm that he, Jockey Club steward Jimmy Edwards, and backup NYRA steward Juan Dominguez spoke to Geroux. He referred all other inquiries to the gaming commission office.
As of 3 p.m. Thursday, the gaming commission had not responded to inquiries from Daily Racing Form.
Some horsemen, led by owner Mike Repole, were quite vocal in their displeasure over Geroux’s ride on Restoring Hope in the Belmont. The horse broke slowly and Geroux rushed him into contention and then took him wide in front of Noble Indy entering the first turn and then, around the turn, back toward the inside, where ultimately he kept Bravazo bottled up.
Restoring Hope, like Justify – who won the Belmont Stakes completing a Triple Crown sweep – is trained by Bob Baffert. Restoring Hope, owned by Gary and Mary West, finished eighth as the longest shot on the board at 37-1.
On Thursday, Geroux reiterated that he felt he didn’t do anything wrong and believed that the stewards contacted him as a result of media attention focused on the first part of the race.
“I didn’t bother anybody, I didn’t shut anybody off,” Geroux said. “If there was something, I think they would have contacted me right away to review the race.”
On Sunday morning, Geroux said the horse had gotten aggressive with him after the slow start and that he wanted to put the horse in the clear but keep him away from Justify or else he would have gotten more aggressive.
The only action the stewards could take on Geroux would be a fine or a suspension if they decided that his actions resulted in careless riding.
Sower to Victory Ride
Sower, the 4 3/4-length winner of Sunday’s $150,000 Jersey Girl Stakes, will be pointed to the Grade 3, $150,000 Victory Ride Stakes at Belmont on July 8, trainer Linda Rice said.
Sower remained unbeaten in three starts with her frontrunning victory in the Jersey Girl. That was a step up for her following two victories in Maryland.
“I was really very pleased and very impressed the way she handled the competition in the Jersey Girl,” Rice said. “We’ll move on to the next one, which is a Grade 3, which is significant for a filly, and the timing’s good.”
Depending how things go in the Victory Ride, Sower could be a candidate for the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga on Aug. 4.