Arrest Me Red has pace edge

ELMONT, N.Y. – Before heading across the pond to spend what he hopes is a fruitful week at Ascot, trainer Wesley Ward will make a brief stopover in New York, where he will send out Arrest Me Red as the likely favorite and horse to beat in Saturday’s Grade 1 Jaipur on the turf at Belmont Park.

Despite drawing a full field of 13, the six-furlong Jaipur has come up short of early speed, which should be to the advantage of Arrest Me Red, who won the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational in wire-to-wire fashion last October in his only local appearance.

The Belmont Turf Sprint was the second of three straight victories Arrest Me Red registered during his perfect 2021 campaign, all of which came after joining Ward’s stable earlier in the year. A 4-yearold homebred son of Pioneerof the Nile owned by Lael Stables, Arrest Me Red has started just twice this season. He rebounded from a third-place finish in Gulfstream Park’s Silks Run Stakes with an impressive 1 3/4-length triumph in the Grade 2 Turf Sprint on May 6 at Churchill Downs.

Irad Ortiz Jr., who has ridden Arrest Me Red in three of his last four races, has the assignment once again in the Jaipur. Ortiz will be aboard all five of Ward’s starters next week at Ascot.

“Irad will play the break and see where we’re at, but if the pace is slow I’m sure he should be right there with the lead,” Ward said from Keeneland on Wednesday.

Ward is also keeping a close eye on the weather, hoping the prediction for rain in the days leading up to the Jaipur will put a little give in the course on Saturday.

“His only bad race for me – and it wasn’t really that bad – was down in Florida at Gulfstream, where the course was very hard and was stinging his feet,” said Ward. “He came out of the race lame the following day. But he bounced back and ran arguably his biggest race last time at Churchill Downs, where the course was listed as firm but was clearly not.”

A lack of pace could prove a bit of an obstacle to Casa Creed, who rallied from the rear of the field to a two-length victory over Chewing Gum in the 2021 Jaipur. Casa Creed, who earned a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure for that effort, has gone winless in five subsequent starts and will be making his first North American appearance since an eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Casa Creed opened his 2022 season finishing a game second in the Group 3 Turf Sprint in Saudi Arabia before remaining in the Middle East to run fifth in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai.

Scuttlebuzz has quietly become a serious member of the turf sprint division over the past six months, having posted three straight victories, culminating with a one-length decision over Therapist in the seven-furlong Elusive Quality Stakes at Belmont in his 2022 debut on April 30. He looms a major contender in the Jaipur along with Gear Jockey, who finished fourth, just two lengths behind Arrest Me Red despite a very eventful trip in the Turf Sprint at Churchill.