Irish War Cry returns as favorite
Probable first-choice Classic Empire out of Belmont with hoof injury
Irish War Cry is returning to the Triple Crown trail as the 7-2 favorite for the Belmont Stakes.
The colt claimed that status after expected favorite Classic Empire was forced out earlier Wednesday because of an abscess in his right front hoof.
Irish War Cry finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby and skipped the Preakness.
No one was more surprised at the turn of events than Graham Motion, who trains Irish War Cry. He left his base in Fair Hill, Maryland, early in the day and by the time he arrived in New York, his colt was the favorite in the 12-horse field for Saturday’s race.
“He’s had a good couple of weeks,” said Motion. “I can honestly say this was not my original plan. After the Derby, when he ran so disappointingly, I wanted to go home and just forget about the Triple Crown, which is what the Derby does to you when you don’t run well.”
Irish War Cry drew the No. 7 post under jockey Rajiv Maragh.
“I don’t really think there’s a bad post for this horse,” Maragh said. “We have to see the running style of all the horses now and decide what we want to do in the race. He’s a very maneuverable horse, very easy to handle. He can do whatever I want him to do, I think, so it just depends on what’s happening in the race. I just want Irish War Cry to be able to show what he’s really made of ... and if it’s good enough, he’ll win.”
Japan-based Epicharis is the 4-1 second choice. He arrived at Belmont Park last week, and on Tuesday had his final prep for Saturday’s race, covering five furlongs in 1:06 over the training track while picking up the pace throughout.
“He went good early,” trainer
Kiyoshi Hagiwara said through interpreters. “He was good down the backstretch. I think it might be better to get some position behind some horses. He’s recovered from the long flight well, better than Dubai. So, he’s in good form.”
Lookin At Lee was made the third choice on the morning line at 5-1. He will be the only horse to run in all three legs of the Triple Crown.
Fourth in the Preakness, the son of Lookin At Lucky has been competing at the highest level since his stakes score in the Ellis Park Juvenile last summer, including runnerup finishes in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and the Grade 3 Iroquois, thirds in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and Grade 3 Southwest, and a fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
He will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., who won last year’s Belmont aboard Creator, from post position 6.
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay, who bought an interest in Creator just prior to his victory in last year’s Belmont, is hoping to follow the same route after purchasing 25 percent of J Boys Echo Wednesday morning before the draw at Rock Center Café in Manhattan.
Trained by Dale Romans, J Boys Echo was 15th in the Derby after getting knocked around at the start but has been training forwardly since, including a five-furlong breeze in 1:00 on June 3 at Churchill Downs.
“If you watch the (Derby) replay and the head-on, everybody got pushed but he actually got slammed into,” said Romans. “But he came back and he’s trained well. And it’s a bad answer, but last Saturday was the best work he’s ever put in in his life. It was the most energy he’s showed and, today, he was bouncing and playing. The mile and a half should help him and hopefully we’re going to see the best of him. He’s got a good rhythm to the way he runs and I think that’s important going that far.”
Saratoga-bred Twisted Tom drew the rail and will likely be a longshot at 20-1 on the morning line.
Classic Empire forced out
Classic Empire has an abscess in his right front hoof that will prevent him from running Saturday in the final leg of the Triple Crown series.
Trainer Mark Casse said the abscess was found Wednesday and is a recurrence of the same problem that bothered the colt after his loss in the Holy Bull in February.
“Right now, he’s standing in the hot tub,” Casse said. “We’re trying to get it to break open. As soon as that happens, he’ll have instant relief. We are not going into the Belmont off something like that.”
Classic Empire was coming off a runner-up finish in the Preakness on May 20 after being fourth in the Kentucky Derby.
“He’s such a tough horse, he doesn’t really let you know until it’s really painful to him,” Casse said. “If he hadn’t, he would have run in the race and probably not run as well, and then have it flare up. I’m looking toward it as a bright spot, that he showed it three days out and not the day after.”
Casse said Classic Empire will be pointed toward the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth this summer.