belmont derby invitational | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pletcher Points Sainthood To Belmont Derby; Happy Saver Suburban Bound

The Grade 2, $200,000 Pennine Ridge did not end up being the turf debut that Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher had in mind for Sainthood when inclement weather forced the nine-furlong test onto the main track at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Nevertheless, Sainthood recorded his first graded stakes triumph, registering a career-best 86 Beyer Speed Figure.

Since finishing 11th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby earlier this month, Pletcher breezed the Mshawish colt twice on grass. His anticipated turf debut will come in his next start however, as Sainthood is targeting the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational on July 10, first leg of the Turf Triple series.

Owned by WinStar Farm and CHC, Sainthood broke his maiden over the main track at Fair Grounds Race Course en route to a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 20 over the all-weather surface at Turfway Park.

“I talked to [WinStar Farm CEO and racing manager] Elliot Walden after the race and felt like the Belmont Derby is probably the logical place to point,” Pletcher said Sunday morning. “He still has to prove himself on turf but judging by the way he ran on synthetic and the way he breezes on the turf, he should take to it. It's a big race and we have the option of going back to the dirt down the road, but we'll focus on the turf for now.”

Pletcher said Wertheimer et Frere's Happy Saver will return to graded stakes action in the Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban on July 3, a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” event for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic.

The son of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, also trained by Pletcher, made his 4-year-old debut a winning one on Friday against salty allowance company going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park. The conquest, which garnered a 96 Beyer, kept his undefeated record intact with his previous effort taking place in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup in October.

A start in the historic 10-furlong test could result in a rematch with Group 1 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide, who previously finished second to Happy Saver in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and also is targeting the Suburban.

“He came out of it in good order, I thought he ran well off the bench,” Pletcher said. “We didn't have him fully cranked up, so being able to come back and win off the layoff off sort of a moderate work tab was good. Hopefully, he'll move forward off that, the Suburban is on the radar. Timing wise, it's good, he's bred to go a mile and a quarter and obviously has already won at that distance. That's the most likely target.”

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Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Winner Fire At Will Back To Grass, Aims For New York’s Turf Triple Series

Three Diamonds Farm's Fire At Will eyes a return to grass for his next start with the intention on making an eventual appearance in the Turf Triple series.

Trained by Mike Maker, the son of Declaration of War capped a stellar 2-year-old campaign with a victory in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland. Last out, Fire At Will switched to dirt in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on Feb. 27 at Gulfstream Park but finished a distant eighth.

Jordan Wycoff, who manages Three Diamonds with his father Kirk Wycoff, said the Grade 2, $500,000 American Turf on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs could be his next start with the intention of spring boarding into the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational on July 10 – the first leg of the Turf Triple series.

“He will be back on the grass and we're looking at some of these grass races, but we're thinking the American Turf on Derby weekend would be a logical spot to then jump into the Turf Triple series,” Wycoff said. “We wanted him to try the dirt again and that question was answered and now we want to get him to the path that was the goal for him.”

Implemented by NYRA in 2019 as the turf equivalent of the Triple Crown series, with all the legs contested at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, the Belmont Derby Invitational will again launch the male division of the Turf Triple series that encompasses the Saratoga Derby this summer and the Jockey Club Derby during the Belmont fall meet.

Fire At Will has been back to work since his last start, recording two breezes over the Gulfstream Park main track. Last Saturday, he went five-eighths in 1:00.17 over the South Florida oval, the third fastest of 47 recorded works at the distance.

“All is well. It was a big ask especially off the layoff, but we clearly know that he will be a grass horse going forward,” Wycoff said.

Through a record of 5-3-0-0, Fire At Will broke his maiden in an off-the-turf edition of the With Anticipation on September 2 at Saratoga before winning the Grade 3 Pilgrim over the inner turf at Belmont Park, where he beat next-out stakes winner Step Dancer.

Bred in Kentucky by Troy Rankin, Fire At Will is out of the Kitten's Joy mare Flirt making him a close relative to Grade 1-winner Decorated Invader. He was bought for $97,000 from the Select Sales consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

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Gufo Up In Time For Belmont Derby Invitational Victory

Otter Bend Stables Gufo rallied from off the pace to win Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The victory gave the Christophe Clement-trained 3-year-old son of Declaration of War a fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Turf as part of the Challenge Series Win and You're In races for the Nov. 6-7 world championships at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

Gufo raced past No Word and Mo Ready in deep stretch under Junior Alvarado, winning by one length, then had to wait out a stewards inquiry for possible interference at the top of the stretch when drifting out in front of Moon Over Miami.

The 7-5 favorite in the field eight 3-year-olds, Gufo paid $4.90 to win after covering 1 1/4 miles on firm turf in 2:02.25.

No Word held second, with Mo Ready third and Ajourneytofreedom fourth.

Mo Ready worked his way to the front as the fielded rounded the clubhouse turn, getting the opening quarter mile in :24.48 with pressure from the outside by Moon Over Miami.

Those two raced 1-2 down the backstretch, with fractional times of :50.61 for the half mile and 1:15.56 for six furlongs, and were joined by No Word approaching the far turn. Gofu, meanwhile, was saving ground while in the second flight approaching the turn, swung off the rail and took aim at the leaders with two furlongs to go, the mile in 1:39.26.

Mo Ready proved stubborn on the lead, aided by soft fractions, and was finally overtaken by No Word. But Gufo had all the momentum and grabbed the lead inside the final sixteenth of a mile.

“I had to do my homework,” said Alvarado, riding Gufo for the first time. “He's not a hard horse to ride, but it can be a little tricky with him to make sure he doesn't fall too far back or it takes him too long to get home. I kept him between horses; he was paying attention to everything and he was focused. When I turned for home, I knew I had a lot of horse under me.

“I definitely thought it was close. The way he was travelling there, I knew I had plenty of horse to still finish. He was in a nice, nice rhythm the whole way around so I was pretty happy. [Christophe] said, 'You have to ride him turning for home, it takes him a little bit to give you a nice kick'.”

The victory was the fifth in seven starts for Gufo, who had a four-race win streak broken when second to Domestic Spending in the Saratoga Derby Invitational in his last start on Aug. 15.

“He won well,” said Clement. “I thought he had a great trip from Junior [Alvarado] and when he asked him to quicken, he really quickened well in the stretch. He's a good horse. If you look at all his races this year, he's been running well all year round. I know he got beat last time but he actually ran a winning race when you look back at it.”

Clement wouldn't commit to a start in the Breeders' Cup.

“I'm not sure,” the trainer said. “We'll have to check with the owner and see how he comes out of it. There's also the Hollywood Derby [G1 on Nov. 28 at Del Mar] going a mile and an eighth.”

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All Grade 1 Cross Country Pick 5 Features Free Equibase Past Performances

A Cross Country Pick 5 that encompasses five Grade 1 contests across Belmont Park and Keeneland Race Course will highlight exciting action on Saturday in a wager hosted by the New York Racing Association, Inc.

Live coverage will be available with America's Day at the Races on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Top-caliber racing will start at Belmont in Race 7 at 4:03 p.m. Eastern with the $250,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/2 miles on the Widener course. Grade 1-winning multimillionaires Channel Maker and Sadler's Joy will face one another for the 15th time, while 2-1 morning-line favorite Rockemperor will look to build on a last-out third-place effort to stablemate Digital Age in the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic on September 5 at Churchill Downs. In his prior effort, he was second, beaten by a neck to stablemate Instilled Regard, in the Grade 1 Manhattan on July 4 at Belmont, earning a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure. New York-bred Cross Border, the winner of the Grade 2 Bowling Green on August 1 at Saratoga, also will contend in the seven-horse field.

Keeneland will host the first of its three races in the sequence with the $350,000 First Lady for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up going one mile on the turf in Race 8 at 4:51 p.m. Trainer Chad Brown trains two of the field's six entrants for a race that is a “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf on November 7 at the same track, saddling 2019 champion grass mare Uni and Newspaperofrecord, winner of the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas will send out Crystal Lake, with the field also comprising Beau Recall, Dalika and Daddy Is a Legend.

Another Breeders' Cup qualifier will highlight the third leg back at Belmont, where a nine-horse field of sophomores will compete in the 71st running of the Grade 1, $250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational going 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf in Race 9 at 5:06 p.m. A spot in the Grade 1, $4 million Breeders' Cup Turf on November 7 will be on the line for a race that features the top-three finishers of the Saratoga Derby Invitational – Domestic Spending, Gufo and No Word – all returning for a rematch. The Brown-trained Domestic Spending, who outlasted the Christophe Clement-conditioned Gufo by a head in August, has three wins in four career starts. Other contenders include Mo Ready, South Bend, Pixelate, Venezuelan Hug, Moon Over Miami and Ajourneytofreedom.

Keeneland will conclude the wager with the final two legs, starting with the $400,000 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles on the main track in Race 8 at 5:24 p.m. A spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile will be on the line, with Godolphin homebred Essential Quality, a winner on Kentucky Derby Day last month at Churchill Downs, headlining a nine-horse field. King Fury, trained by two-time Breeders' Futurity winner Kenny McPeek, was a 2 ¾ length debut winner going 1 1/16 miles on September 3.

The finale will be the $750,000 Shadwell Turf Mile for 3-year-olds and up in Race 10 at 5:57 p.m. Halladay, the winner of the Grade 1 Fourstardave this summer at Saratoga, will look for additional glory in a race that's an automatic qualifier to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile on November 7, though Halladay earned a spot in the race with his last-out victory. Other contenders looking to punch a return ticket to Keeneland include Grade 1-winners Bowies Hero and Raging Bull, as well as Group 1-victors in Without Parole [Great Britain] and Ivar [Brazil].

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, October 3:

Leg 1 – Belmont, Race 7: G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (4:03 p.m.)
Leg 2 – Keeneland, Race 8: G1 First Lady (4:51 p.m.)
Leg 3 – Belmont, Race 9: G1 Belmont Derby Invitational (5:06 p.m.)
Leg 4 – Keeneland, Race 9: G1 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (5:24 p.m.)
Leg 5 – Keeneland, Race 10: G1 Shadwell Turf Mile (5:57 p.m.)

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