Stars ready for big day at Belmont
Five stakes worth a combined $3.7 million up for grabs
ELMONT, N.Y. » Several Grade 1 winners, including 2015 Travers winner Keen Ice and 2016 Woodward winner Shaman Ghost are ready for Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Suburban as part of the Stars & Stripes Racing Festival at Belmont Park.
The Suburban, Race 9, is one of five stakes races — along with The Dwyer, The Belmont Sprint, The Belmont Oaks and the Belmont Derby — worth a combined $3.7 million in purses on the card. The action can be seen from 4:30-6 p.m. on NBC and from 6-7 p.m. on FS2.
Shaman Ghost, the 2016 Woodward winner at Saratoga Race Course, is the probable favorite. He turned in a strong gallop Friday according to trainer Jimmy Jerkens.
“He’s been doing good,” Jerkens said of the 5-year-old son of Ghostzapper. “He didn’t have a blowout or anything, but we let him stretch his legs around the final turn here (Friday).”
The 1 ¼-mile Suburban on Big Sandy will mark Matt King Coal’s first stakes start in New York since a fourth-place finish in the 2016 Grade 1 Wood Memorial.
Owned by Lady Sheila Stable, the 4-year-old posted his careerbest Beyer Speed Figure, registering a 102 in cracking triple digits for the first time in 10 career starts in a winning Mountainview effort on June 3 at Penn National.
“It’s a huge step up for him to run against the likes of Shaman Ghost but it’s time for us to give it a try,” trainer Linda Rice said. “He broke his pelvis in the Wood Memorial, but we’re delighted with the way he’s come back. He’s matured into a nice 4-year-old. I didn’t feel the Met Mile was the appropriate spot, so I took him to Penn National. Now, we’re stepping into the deep end of
the pool.”
Matt King Coal drew post 2 in the six-horse Suburban field and is listed as 7-2 on the morning line.
Belmont Derby
On target for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.2 million Belmont Derby, Pia Brandt’s European invader Called To The Bar got acquainted with the Belmont turf on Wednesday, registering a three-furlong breeze in 38.48 seconds. The 3-yearold gelding by Henrythenavigator has been training mostly over Belmont’s main track since clearing quarantine
on Monday, said Carl Brandt.
Called To The Bar hasn’t finished worse than second in four career starts and is exiting back-to-back wins in May, both in frontrunning fashion, including a two-length score in the Group 3 Prix du Lys at Saint-Cloud on May 23. In his debut at Chantilly last fall, he closed well to finish second in a field of first-timers, two lengths behind the well-regarded Waldegeist, who went on to win a Group 1 the following month.
“His form is quite good and he’s really easy,” said Brandt, assistant to his wife. “He’s run well in France coming from behind, and he’s got a little bit of early speed. I just hope
he’s fast enough, but he’s not complicated at all.”
Called To The Bar will be the Brandts’ second New York starter, following French stakes winner Rymska, who shipped from Europe to run a game second in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo last fall at Belmont.
Belmont Sprint
Centennial Farm’s Grade 2, $350,000 Belmont Sprint Championship contender Unified has enjoyed an easy second half of the week following a sharp blowout Wednesday at Belmont Park, said trainer Jimmy Jerkens on Friday.
The 4-year-old Candy Ride colt went 35.02 seconds over the training track in a three-furlong blowout,
a normal tool in Jerkens’ training canon.
“He’s had a long time between races and I like to do it if they haven’t run in a while,” said Jerkens. “It all depends on what they’ve done leading up to the race too, but if more than a week goes after their last work and the race is coming up in a few days, I like to do a little something. Just to make sure he has his air, make sure he’s sharp enough.”
Unified is installed as the 5-2 second-choice behind 9-5 morning-line favorite Mind Your Biscuits in Saturday’s Sprint, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint on November 4 at Del Mar.