LUNG POWER

MARATHON SPECIALIST SCUBA HAS STAMINA FOR BIRDSTONE,

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tu Brutus will be the odds-on favorite and should be extremely tough to beat in Thursday’s $100,000 Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga – if he runs.

But barring an unexpected change of heart, trainer Gary Contessa plans to scratch Tu Brutus from the Birdstone to compete instead in Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney. That will leave the 1 3/4-mile Birdstone with a wide-open field of seven starters, including defending race winner Turco Bravo, who also is trained by Contessa.

Tu Brutus figures to control the pace if he starts in the Birdstone. He comes off a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Brooklyn and an 11-length victory going 11 furlongs in the Flat Out in May at Belmont Park. But Tu Brutus’s strongest race came in his U.S. debut on April 8, when he earned a 118 Beyer Speed Figure for his second-place finish in the Grade 3 Excelsior.

“Tu Brutus will more than likely run in the Whitney,” said Contessa. “I think he’ll rate, he’s training great, and it’s the perfect time to try it. A Grade 1 means a lot more to his career right now than winning the Birdstone.”

As for Turco Bravo, Contessa said the 8-year-old may not be as sharp as he was when he won this race a year ago, but he’s training well and has run well for Javier Castellano, his jockey on Thursday.

Turco Bravo has seen his form tail off dramatically since his one-length tally over a sloppy track in the 2016 Birdstone. He has finished off the board in all five subsequent starts. Contessa will put blinkers on Turco Bravo for the first time since he finished far back in the Jazil Stakes at Aqueduct during the winter of 2016.

“We’re putting the blinkers on to try to spark his interest

again,” Contessa said. “Most of his career with me, he wore blinkers. He just doesn’t have that punch right now in his race, although in the morning, he does with blinkers.”

With Tu Brutus out, Scuba and Hard Study may attract the most attention from bettors. Scuba is another looking to regain his best form following a series of somewhat disappointing efforts to start the year. He closed out his 2016 campaign with three victories, including an easy win in the Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Marathon. He, too, will put blinkers back on for the Birdstone.

“At this time last year, he hadn’t won a race yet either, and it looks to me like he’s coming back around to that form again,” said Brendan Walsh, who trains Scuba for DARRS Inc. “He’s starting to act like he did at this point last season, and I really think he’s sitting on a big run. If he doesn’t put in a big effort in the Birdstone, I’ll be scratching my head afterwards.”

Hard Study continues to hold his form extremely well for trainer Todd Pletcher, although he proved no match for the white-hot Seymourdini when finishing a distant second in the State Dinner overnight stakes at Belmont on July 3. Hard Study had won allowance races in his two previous starts and has hit the board in eight straight outings dating to his maiden win under a $40,000 claiming tag last fall.

The big question for Hard Study is the distance, as he’s yet to run farther than 1 1/8 miles or win beyond 1 1/16 miles.

Munjaz, who will race with blinkers for the first time, Rum Tum Tugger, Sea Raven, and Archanova complete the field.

DEBRA A. ROMA