Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Brown has favorites in five-horse Poker
ELMONT, N.Y. – Coming off a weekend where he won four graded turf stakes here and enjoying a meet where he has captured seven graded turf races, trainer Chad Brown stands an odds-on chance to add to those laurels in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Poker Stakes at Belmont Park.
In Masen and Public Sector, Brown sends out the two top choices in the one-mile race, oddly one that Brown has never won. Brown has sent out 13 starters in seven runnings of the Poker with three seconds and five thirds. He has sent out the beaten favorite in four of the last seven runnings, including by Raging Bull (2021) and Projected (2017), who both suffered narrow defeats. Value Proposition was also second in 2020.
Masen figures to hover around 2-5 in this five-horse field. A 4-year-old gelding by Kingman, Masen was beaten a nostril in the last jump by Shirl’s Speight in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland on April 15, his first start in six months and first for Brown. Masen came back four weeks later to romp by five in the three-horse Seek Again at Belmont. That effort was easy enough to alleviate concerns about Brown running him back a second time in four weeks.
“I factored that in to bringing him back in just under a month,” said Brown, whose objective with Masen is the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga on Aug. 13. “He’s definitely a Grade 1 horse, he showed that at Keeneland. He’s very high quality.”
Flavien Prat rides Masen from the rail.
Though Brown cross-entered Public Sector in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Monmouth Stakes, he said Thursday he is likely to keep the horse in New York for the Poker. Public Sector won twice over the Belmont course in 2021, includingthe Grade 2 Hill Prince.
This year, Public Sector was scratched by Brown from the Maker’s Mark due to a bad post. Public Sector finished sixth in the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, “a course he hated,” according to Brown.
“I want to get him back on track and I think maybe running him in a shorter field at a mile where he could be finishing well might provide me with the fresh start that he needs,” Brown said.
His three graded stakes wins last year means Public Sector carries high weight of 124 pounds Saturday, including Jose Ortiz.
Wolfie’s Dynaghost, who set the pace before basically being eased in the Seek Again, could be the primary speed again in the Poker. He did finish a solid second to Phantom Currency in the Grade 3 Appleton at Gulfstream Park on April 2. Luis Saez rides from post 5.
Sanctuary City is winless in his last nine starts but has four runner-up finishes including two in stakes. Penalty, sixth in this race a year ago and 0 for 2 this year, completes the field.
The Poker goes as race 6 on a 10-race card that begins at 1 p.m.