Brown pair back from layoffs

Officially there is no stakes racing Sunday at Belmont Park, a void left when the $100,000 Saginaw for New York-breds failed to fill. That being said, the afternoon’s main event, a $96,000 allowance test carded at 1 1/8 miles on turf, is certainly worthy of graded stakes status with a field that includes Olympico, Cross Border, and the undefeated, Group 1 Chileanbred Breakpoint, who will be making his U.S. debut.

Olympico will look to snap a seven-race winless streak that dates back to a victory in the Grade 3 Fort Marcy in his North American debut in May 2019. He will be making his first start since a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Knickerbocker eight months ago. He is one of two horses trainer Chad Brown will send out in Sunday’s headliner along with Breakpoint.

“I feel lucky we were able to find an allowance race and didn’t have to throw him right into a stakes to start him back, although this race came up pretty tough for an allowance,” Brown said of Olympico. “He had a few little issues after his last start, so we turned him out in Kentucky for a while. He seems to have gotten over everything. He’s training well and is ready to start back.”

Breakpoint is without a doubt the most intriguing member of the field. Perfect in five starts in his native Chile, the 4-year-old son of Constitution closed his 3-year-old campaign by winning three consecutive Group 1 races on grass at distances ranging from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/2 miles at the Club Hippodromo of Chile. Owned in partnership by his breeder, Haras Don Alberto, and Three Chimneys Farms LLC, Breakpoint has not missed a beat in the morning prepping for his return, most recently breezing five furlongs over the Belmont turf in 1:00.60 last Sunday in company with Group 1 winner Sovereign.

“I’m excited to finally get him started,” Brown said. “We’ve had him for a while now and he’s trained steadily right along. We’ll still have to see how he adapts over here, but he’s certainly settled in nicely over the course of time he’s been here with us – particularly in his last few works. He’s held his own with some proven horses in the morning.

“He doesn’t have a big turn of foot, steady is the best way to describe him, and I believe he’s the kind of horse who will want more ground down the road.”

Cross Border will return to the allowance ranks for the first time in more than a year. He became a Grade 2 winner, via disqualification, in the 2020 Bowling Green at Saratoga and was Grade 1-placed on two other occasions during that period. Now 7, Cross Border finished third in both the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf and Grade 2 Pan American this past winter at Gulfstream Park and was beaten only two lengths despite an eventful trip in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs in his most recent start.

Carom, off a wire-to-wire victory against $50,000 claiming competition here last month, and Megacity should ensure a legitimate pace in a field that also includes the Grade 3-placed He’s No Lemon in his 2021 debut.