bourbonic | Horse Racing Free Tips

TDN Belmont Preview

The trend of skipping the GI Preakness S. after a losing run in the GI Kentucky Derby has evolved as a standard 21st Century preparation for the GI Belmont S. This Saturday, five of the eight entrants follow that pattern. Over the past 20 years (not counting the pandemic-altered 2020), the Belmont has been won by nine horses that ran in Louisville then opted out of Baltimore. During that same time frame, seven horses won the Belmont after not having run in either the Derby or Preakness (only one entrant will try that this year). Of course, we had two Triple Crown winners during that era (Justify in 2018 and American Pharoah in 2015). Two others–Afleet Alex in 2005 and Point Given in 2001–ran in the Derby, won the Preakness, then also won the Belmont.

This week's Triple Crown feature ranks the Belmont entrants in “likeliest winner” order.

1) HOT ROD CHARLIE (c, Oxbow–Indian Miss, by Indian Charlie) O-Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing LLC & William Strauss; B-Edward A Cox (KY); T-Doug O'Neill; J-Flavien Prat. Sales
history: $17,000 Ylg '19 FTKFEB; $110,000 Ylg '19 FTKOCT. Equineline PPs.
This two-time Fasig-Tipton sales grad ($17,000 FTKFEB; $110,000 FTKOCT) has enough positive attributes to rate a narrow edge over the other top Belmont contenders. This son of Oxbow has a field-leading eight starts under his belt (last four Beyer Speed Figures: 94, 94, 99, 100), although his elite-level progression arc dates to lifetime start number five, a 94-1 runner-up effort in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. His Jan. 30 GIII Lewis S. third (beaten a neck in a three-way photo after stumbling at the break and jostling in deep stretch) stamped him as a seasoned competitor who can handle varying levels of pace pressure and in-race chaos. And even though Hot Rod Charlie wired the GII Louisiana Derby (never outkicked in a prolonged duel over the final 2 ½ furlongs), this tactically versatile colt is not a needs-the-lead speedster. In the Derby, Hot Rod Charlie kept his cool when briefly trapped on heels in the first quarter mile then stalked the pacemakers. Even though he looked poised to pounce three-sixteenths out, he was simply bested by the top two while digging in to run a very credible third. His connections aimed him for the Belmont straight away, even securing a commitment from in-demand Flavien Prat to ride back, which means Prat will be getting off his long-shot Preakness winner to honor this call. There are some trainer-related stats that are a cause for pause—Doug O'Neill is just 2-for-27 with dirt horses racing 10+ furlongs over the last five years, and he is only 3-for-34 at Belmont during that time. But what an accomplishment it would be for Hot Rod Charlie's dam, Indian Miss, to produce a 12-furlong Belmont winner after already foaling the 2019 sprint champ, Mitole.

2) ESSENTIAL QUALITY (c, Tapit–Delightful Quality, by Elusive Quality) O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad Cox; J-Luis Saez. Equineline PPs
Maybe you can win a bar bet this weekend knowing that the last time the beaten Derby favorite even ran in the Belmont was all the way back in 2003, when Empire Maker (who had skipped the Preakness) denied Funny Cide the Triple Crown. TDN Rising Star Essential Quality, fourth in Louisville at 2.9-1 odds, will likewise come in off a five-week freshening for this year's renewal, and this juvenile champ and 'TDN Rising Star' stands to benefit off that break after two demanding performances in April and May. Essential Quality had largely coasted through four straight wins at the start of his career without facing true in-race adversity or a heated stretch battle. But this athletic Tapit colt's GII Blue Grass S. score far and away rated as the most impressive–and arduous–prep race this spring (a round-the-track duel with a final furlong in :12.53), and it might have sapped him a touch for what ended up being a no-spark final two furlongs at Churchill. While it's true that Essential Quality endured mild roughhousing at the Derby break, Luis Saez opted to give up ground on both turns in order to work out the type of trip Essential Quality usually covets, stalking in fifth, outside and in the clear behind fast fractions. And yes, this colt delivered some fight when roused for run turning for home. But the effort lacked the emphatic punch of his previous races, setting up the $1.5 million Belmont question of whether Essential Quality can revert to divisional dominance when tasked with 12 furlongs. Over the last five years, trainer Brad Cox has zero wins and two in-the-money finishes from 12 dirt-race starters at 1 ¼ miles or longer.

3) KNOWN AGENDA (c, Curlin–Byrama {GB}, by Byron {GB}) O/B-St Elias Stable (KY); T-Todd Pletcher; Irad Ortiz, Jr. Sales History: $135,000 RNA Ylg '19 FTSAUG. Equineline PPs
The narrative surrounding Known Agenda has always been that he's a longer-the-better colt who's cut out to be of Triple Crown caliber. And then there's the longer-term metric that shows trainer Todd Pletcher consistently knows how to spot Belmont-capable horses, with three wins and nine other in-the-money finishes in this race. But you have to buy into both of those lines of reasoning to forecast a Belmont win for this Curlin homebred for St. Elias Stable ($135,000 RNA at FTSAUG), because Known Agenda's ninth in the Derby doesn't yield many cogent clues that point to an obvious form reversal. Perhaps it's best to treat his blah Derby as a throwout—Known Agenda caught a super-clean gate break despite drawing the dreaded one hole in a 19-horse field, but jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. couldn't get him to settle, and the colt appeared uncomfortable parked inside while well back before passing only stragglers late. Known Agenda's GI Florida Derby win suggests he's capable of enduring a covered-up trip and finishing with gusto, but the difference in that race was that he nailed every single hole that opened with rail-skimming precision in what equated to a gift-trip type of run. Maybe in that respect the shorter field in the Belmont will work to Known Agenda's advantage. He should be able to establish a behind-the-speed position anywhere Ortiz wants him placed in the eight-horse pack, and Known Agenda's three wins already at nine furlongs provide a solid enough stamina base to build upon.

4) ROMBAUER (Twirling Candy–Cashmere, by Cowboy Cal) O/B-John & Diane Fradkin (Ky); T-Michael W. McCarthy; J-John Velazquez. Equineline PPs
A bet on Rombauer to win the Belmont is essentially a vote of confidence that his 11-1 Preakness victory was a career-defining turning point that elevated him to A-level status within the 3-year-old division. Turning point? Yes, most definitely–that was an efficient, sustained run he uncorked in Baltimore. But I'm not quite ready to commit to the “A-level status” part of that argument. This Twirling Candy homebred's Preakness score resonates more as a well-executed mid-pack stalking move that enabled Rombauer to collar two spent leaders 1 ½ furlongs from the wire while nobody else was firing with a fresh, serious challenge. The 102 Beyer that Rombauer earned for the effort looks sharp at face value, but it also represents a sizable 14-point jump above this colt's previous best, and improving upon that type of rating while stretching out to 12 furlongs against a deeper Belmont crew is going to be a much more difficult task. Having said all that, it's always worth respecting multi-surface stayers at any level of the game, and Rombauer has now won on grass, Tapeta, and dirt. John Velazquez gets the call because Flavien Prat had committed before the Preakness to ride Hot Rod Charlie in the Belmont–not a bad pickup for the Rombauer team considering the vast Belmont Park oval is the Hall-of-Fame rider's home track.

5) ROCK YOUR WORLD (c, Candy Ride {Arg}–Charm the Maker, by Empire Maker) O-Hronis Racing LLC & Talla Racing LLC; B-Ron & Deborah McAnally (KY); T-John Sadler; J-Joel Rosario. Sales History: $650,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP. Equineline PPs
There's not much question that Rock Your World absorbed the worst of the multi-horse crunch out of the starting gate in the Derby. He got pinballed back to last (but righted himself professionally), picked off half the pack before the first turn, then gave up serious real estate on both bends. He covered 6,733 feet according to Trakus, the most in the 19-horse field and 90 feet more than the Derby winner. Rock Your World also got hip-checked pretty solidly at the top of the lane, and jockey Joel Rosario kept him in coast mode through the final furlong to save something for another day. This Saturday is the highly anticipated “reset” race for this $650,000 KEESEP colt by Candy Ride (Arg), but that horror trip in the Derby is sure to be baked into Rock Your World's underlaid pari-mutuel price, which I suspect will fall below his 9-2 morning line based on perceptions he could get away as the lone speed. Trainer John Sadler has said all along that Rock Your World is a smooth-energy horse whose maturity just needs to catch up to his large frame. And while the Kentucky Derby was an ambitious placement for a 3-for-3 colt who had only once won on dirt, that one non-turf victory in the GI Santa Anita Derby did come over Medina Spirit (Protonico), the next-out victor in the first leg of the Triple Crown.

6) BOURBONIC (Bernardini–Dancing Afleet, by Afleet Alex) O/B-Calumet Farm (KY). T-Todd Pletcher. J-Kendrick Carmouche. Equineline PPs
One theory going into the Derby was that if Bourbonic could close into such a pedestrian pace to win the GII Wood Memorial (the 1:54.49 clocking for nine furlongs was the slowest in the history of that stakes), he could be an off-the-tailgate threat in Louisville with a more robust pace to set up the tempo in his favor. It didn't work out that way. This Calumet homebred by Bernardini lagged in second-last behind closer-conducive fractions of :23.09 and :46.70 but never really fired, winding up 13th. Breaking from post one in the Belmont, it's unlikely that trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Kendrick Carmouche will want to alter the same save-ground-for-one-run strategy. But regardless of how the fractions unfold in front of him, Bourbonic is still going to have to come up with at least 15 points worth of Beyer improvement to be on par with the top contenders. Pedigree-wise though, it's hard not to notice that both of this colt's grandsires (A.P. Indy and Afleet Alex) were Belmont S. winners.

7) OVERTOOK (Curlin–Got Lucky, by A.P. Indy) O-Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier & Derrick Smith. B-Hill 'N' Dale Equine Holdings Inc. & Philip Steinberg (KY). T-Todd Pletcher. J-Manny Franco. Sales History: $1,000,000 yrl '19 KEESEP. Equineline PPs
This $1-million KEESEP colt by Curlin sports one lifetime win in a one-turn MSW mile last December but has been luckless twice while second and third over nine furlongs in two Grade III stakes since then. He has a grind-it-out way of going but hasn't been able to string together consistent performances, and is now hiking way up in class in the hope that the added distance will awaken him at a huge mutuel. Trainer Todd Pletcher adds blinkers. He is 2-for-20 with that equipment change in all graded stakes over the past five years (while 0-for-3 in just Grade Is).

8) FRANCE GO DE INA (Will Take Charge–Dreamy Blues, by Curlin) O-Yuji Inaida; B-Betz, Kidder, B & K Canetti & Jim Betz (Ky); T-Ricardo Santana Jr.; J-Joel Rosario; Sales History: $100,000 yrl '19 KEESEP. Equineline PPs.
Prior to the Preakness, the connections of France Go de Ina had announced an intention to remain stateside and run in the Belmont if the colt came out of the race healthy. The presence of a Japan-based horse in a Triple Crown event means the race can be simulcast into that country, so there are financial implications that work in favor of the host tracks if they court these imports. But it's difficult to make a plausible case that this $100,000 KEESEP yearling (by Will Take Charge out of a Curlin mare) will improve drastically off his subpar Preakness seventh against a more daunting field in the Belmont. In Baltimore, jockey Joel Rosario tried an aggressive, mid-race rush to try and catch the leaders unaware. That strategy didn't do anything to aid France Go de Ina's chances, but it did help to soften up the leaders for Rombauer's winning run. Now three weeks later, Rosario will be riding expected Belmont pacemaker Rock Your World. It will be an interesting twist of fate if France Go de Ina's new rider, Ricardo Santana Jr., opts to apply similar mid-race pressure that could alter the complexion of the pace at a crucial point in the 12-furlong journey.

The post TDN Belmont Preview appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Belmont a Weathervane for Calumet

The mystique around Calumet is such that it aptly discloses a nearly perfect anagram for “Camelot.” Both words evoke, not just an idealized past, but a yearning for the restoration of standards eroded during our unchivalrous times. Of course, Calumet has itself had its modern lapses, but there's no mistaking the wholesome intentions animating its latest ownership.

True, the methods of Brad Kelley and his team sometimes strike the orthodox observer as idiosyncratic, to put it mildly. But it makes sense to write a new chapter, in their own hand, rather than try to retrace the calligraphy of a bygone, irretrievable age. To some of us, moreover, the ends implicit in the Calumet program are as exemplary as the means can admittedly appear quixotic.

The volume is certainly industrial, yet with a superb contempt for the commercialism that sustain operations on a similar scale elsewhere. And someday the unfashionable values condensed in the stallion roster–hardiness, stamina, old-school genes and a good dash of turf quality–will perhaps be prized as critical to the regeneration of a breed corroded by short-term “pragmatism”: by pharmaceutical training, for instance, or fast-buck breeding.

These happen to be precisely those assets required in the GI Belmont S., the 153rd running of which has corresponding potential to measure the progress of the Calumet revival.

Most obviously, that's because the farm silks are carried by Bourbonic (Bernardini), winner of the GII Wood Memorial before failing to get involved in a GI Kentucky Derby dominated by those closer to the pace. His longshot success at Aqueduct had vindicated Calumet's familiar indifference to the wagering odds, and if Bourbonic can do the same Saturday, then you could measure his achievement against the rather surprising fact, given its record in the other Classics, that the farm has hitherto raced only two Belmont winners.

Both, moreover, were completing a Triple Crown. Of course, Alydar's epic duel with Affirmed, completing their Triple Exacta, arguably gave him as resonant a place in Calumet history as Whirlaway (1941) or Citation (1948), but one way or another Pensive (1944), Tim Tam (1958) and Forward Pass (1968) all found the Belmont a bridge too far.

Bourbonic is something of a bonus, having been acquired in utero when his Grade II-winning dam Dancing Afleet (Afleet Alex) was recruited to the broodmare band for $170,000 at the Keeneland November Sale of 2017. Arguably, then, the stakes are barely less high in Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), who is throwing a lifeline to a stallion drifting perilously close to the weir.

Oxbow entered Kelley's ownership just as he was ramping up his ambitions on the Turf, purchased for $250,000 at the 2011 September Sale the year before he took over Calumet. Bred by Colts Neck Stables, he had a wonderful two-turn pedigree: by Awesome Again out of an unraced sister to Tiznow (and so to Budroyale and the rest of the crew).

His debut at Saratoga the following summer could scarcely have been less auspicious, pulled up and vanned off. Within the year, however, he had completed a hectic career under D. Wayne Lukas. Having required another three attempts to break his maiden, he ran fourth in the GI Futurity on the synthetic at Hollywood Park. Lukas then put him through monthly Derby trials and, though his performances were uneven, they did include an 11-length romp in the GIII Lecomte S. and a narrow defeat by Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) in the GII Rebel S.

Lukas had laid his foundation and Oxbow's sixth to Orb (Malibu Moon) was a fine effort in what remains the last Derby to set up for a closer, stubbornly the last to relent among those exposed to the pace. Able to control a less exacting tempo at Pimlico, he duly lasted home for Calumet's eighth GI Preakness.

Proceeding to the Belmont, he was thwarted only by Palace Malice (Curlin) and duly qualified as the premier overall achiever across the Classics that year. Unfortunately, he then emerged from the GI Haskell Invitational with an ankle injury that brought down the curtain, but Oxbow had established himself as a throwback, speed-carrying scrapper with a pedigree worth recycling.

With the new regime at Calumet evidently finding its feet, Oxbow was launched with 110 mares at Taylor Made, but he came “home” for 2015. Here, with the broodmare band expanding, he was favored with a remarkable sequence of books, corralling 134, 153 and 187 covers through his second to fourth years.

Hot Rod Charlie is a graduate of that monster fourth book. By the time Bob and Sean Feld picked him out as a $17,000 short yearling, the last horse from the estate of Edward A. Cox Jr., Oxbow had already been renounced by the commercial market. Even the rise of his half-brother Mitole (Eskendereya) could not inflate an inspired pinhook beyond $110,000 when Dennis O'Neill found him back at Fasig-Tipton that October.

The big question is whether Hot Rod Charlie has broken out in time to redeem his sire. Oxbow's next three books plunged giddily to 78, 23 and 15. On the face of it, you would have to conclude that the Calumet team had themselves come to the same conclusion as the market. From nearly 600 covers across his first four seasons, he hadn't really seized his chance.

True, he came up with GII Gulfstream Oaks winner Coach Rocks from his first crop. But Oxbow had only one other graded stakes winner before Hot Rod Charlie, who will duly be credited by many to a mare who contrived to produce a champion sprinter by a stallion meanwhile exported to South Korea. Remember that Oxbow's close relative Paynter, retired in the same intake, is operating at almost double the strike-rate in terms of black-type winners and performers. Hot Rod Charlie, then, unmistakably finds his sire at a crossroads.

Now it may be that he has never really had much quality to back up the quantity. Yes, Calumet is throwing volume across the board–an approach, in 2019, that restored the farm as leading breeder by prizemoney for the first time since 1961, and its racetrack division (intended to develop families and support the breeding program) to second in the owners' table. But Oxbow's covering history suggests that he can't ever have had much outside support from mares that might have brought him a little commercial zip.

That's hardly surprising, in that he wasn't really priced to invite them. For if there has been one aspect of Calumet's roster that made even its admirers a little uncomfortable, it was a pricing structure that set a challenging premium on assets culpably under-rated by the marketplace. Fair enough: why should Calumet undervalue the breed's family silver just because others do? But that does make it hard to sell to outside clients aspiring to some kind of dividend at auction.

Take a look at the 2018 roster. To be fair, at $25,000 English Channel was becoming as accomplished a stallion as you can find anywhere, at that kind of price, but the puerile treatment of turf horses by the commercial market made him an option principally for end users. Next came Keen Ice, introduced at $20,000. Oxbow was standing at the same fee; Bal a Bali (Brz) and Big Blue Kitten were offered at $15,000; and Red Rocks (Ire) was $10,000.

This spring, however, Calumet joined virtually every other farm in making fee cuts in the pandemic economy. But their action was more decisive than most, and the result was a roster that suddenly looks far more accessible. English Channel, having been elevated to $35,000 as he increasingly stood comparison to Kitten's Joy, was trimmed back to $27,500. Keen Ice was cut from $20,000 to $9,500; as a relative newcomer, Ransom The Moon was pegged at $7,500, but rookie Bravazo was pitched into play at just $6,000; Bal a Bali was slashed from $15,000 to $5,000; and Big Blue Kitten, from $10,000 to $5,000. And Oxbow, freshly decorated by a GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up, was now trading at $7,500.

There's a timeless message on a splendid clocktower recently added to one of the colleges at Oxford University. On one side are carved the words: “It's later than you think.” On the next you read: “…but it's never too late.” That's just about where Oxbow stands now.

It would be a pity for this conduit of such good blood to dry up altogether. Paynter, as mentioned, is reiterating the potency of their family–he's out of another of Tiznow's unraced sisters–while their late sire Awesome Again has bequeathed a dynamism on dirt (seen at its mightiest in Ghostzapper) that has made him the vital linchpin of the Deputy Minister sire-line. That's especially comforting, given Deputy Minister's iconic influence not just as a broodmare sire, but also as a sire of broodmare sires. So whatever else Oxbow can still do, some breeders will surely try their luck with his daughters.

Calumet clients, incidentally, can tap into a double dose of Deputy Minister through Keen Ice. He's by Curlin (whose damsire is Deputy Minister) out of an Awesome Again mare, and showed the trademark Deputy Minister constitution in earning $3.4 million across four seasons. From an aristocratic family, Keen Ice now looks particularly good value for breeders who might retain a filly. His first juveniles are off the mark already, but we know that they will only get better.

By the same token, Oxbow may himself retain half a chance to claw a way back via the foothold he has found in Hot Rod Charlie. So many of this sire-line's premier achievers, from Knicks Go to Game On Dude, have thrived with maturity that perhaps a few others, among the maturing graduates of those big books, can now follow in Hot Rod Charlie's slipstream.

All in all, then, a Belmont success for either Bourbonic or a son of Oxbow would showcase precisely those speed-carrying, two-turn dirt genes that first exalted Calumet. With a positive test dangling over Medina Spirit (Protonico), many people have this spring been remembering the farm's promoted Derby winner Forward Pass. The disqualification of Dancer's Image that year was far too complex a tale to reprise here, but certainly created unease about the possibility of a Triple Crown falling into the lap of Forward Pass.

In 2021, however, the Belmont could help everyone recognize the service Calumet is offering a sport facing a painful battle with so many corner-cutting practices. Oxbow is the first Preakness winner to stand there since Forward Pass. And whether or not he can renew his career with Hot Rod Charlie, or Bourbonic ends up joining the likes of Keen Ice in fighting the good fight, Calumet is sketching out a new chapter, not just in its own long history but in that of the whole industry.

Kelley and his team have grasped that soundness and durability, backed up by deep pedigrees, can actually make a precarious business more sustainable. Someday, as such, breeding a horse for the sales ring might even become the same as breeding a horse for the racetrack. It's a long haul, for sure. But where better to start than a race like the Belmont?

The post Belmont a Weathervane for Calumet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Essential Quality Draws Post Two, Installed As 2-1 Favorite For Belmont Stakes

Godolphin homebred Essential Quality, just a length from being undefeated in his career, drew post position two and was installed as the 2-1 morning line choice for Saturday's Belmont Stakes. Trained by Brad Cox, the 3-year-old son of Tapit suffered his first loss in six starts when fourth in the Kentucky Derby, but the juvenile champion and jockey Luis Saez are all set to return for the third jewel of the Triple Crown.

Preakness Stakes winner Rombauer returns for the Belmont, albeit with John Velazquez picking up the mount for trainer Michael McCarthy. Flavien Prat was aboard Rombauer for his victory at Pimlico, but Prat opted to remain with Derby third-place finisher Hot Rod Charlie (Doug O'Neill) for the Belmont Stakes.

Other Grade 1 winners in the Belmont field include Known Agenda (Florida Derby) and Rock Your World (Santa Anita Derby). Wood Memorial winner Bourbonic is back for the Belmont, as is the graded stakes-placed Overtook, both trained by Todd Pletcher.

The wildcard in the field remains France Go De Ina, the Japan-trained colt who ran seventh in the Preakness Stakes.

Another expected foreign entry, UAE Derby winner Rebel's Romance, was removed from consideration early Tuesday morning by trainer Charlie Appleby due to an infection in the colt's hind leg.

The full field for the Belmont Stakes is as follows:

Bourbonic – Kendrick Carmouche, Todd Pletcher – 15/1
Essential Quality – Luis Saez, Brad Cox – 2/1
Rombauer – John Velazquez, Michael McCarthy – 3/1
Hot Rod Charlie – Flavien Prat, Doug O'Neill – 7/2
France Go De Ina – Ricardo Santana, Jr., Hideyuki Mori – 30/1
Known Agenda – Irad Ortiz, Jr., Todd Pletcher – 6/1
Rock Your World – Joel Rosario, John Sadler – 9/2
Overtook – Manny Franco, Todd Pletcher – 20/1

The post Essential Quality Draws Post Two, Installed As 2-1 Favorite For Belmont Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Pletcher Triumvirate Log Final Workouts For Belmont

Friday morning was a busy one for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher as he worked Known Agenda, Bourbonic and Overtook in their final moves for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

The trio of runners completed their preparations for the third leg of the Triple Crown under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 60s, while dodging heavy rain expected for the Nassau County region on Friday evening.

Arriving at the main track around 8:45 a.m. in the first set after the break, Known Agenda, with Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, breezed in tandem with stablemate and fellow St. Elias Stable color-bearer Dr Post, ridden by exercise rider Hector Ramos.

NYRA clockers caught the pair through splits of 24.60 and 36.00 with Known Agenda, to the inside, finishing off ahead of his workmate in 1:01.00 while Dr Post completed his five furlongs in 1:01.20.

There were some slightly anxious moments during the breeze as the pair found themselves in behind another pair of workers. Despite the unexpected close company, Pletcher said that neither he nor Ortiz, Jr. were fazed.

“We got caught in behind a couple of horses and they were kind of off the rail and spread out a bit which made it a little tricky,” Pletcher said. “In the end, Irad thought it was good. He said that Known Agenda had more of a target, jumped into the bridle and was on the muscle. He finished up and galloped out well. Dr Post had to eat a little bit of dirt, that's just kind of the way it worked out. After the break it can be a little bit busy.”

Ninth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby last out, Known Agenda won the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 27 at Gulfstream Park with a ground-saving trip from fifth before drawing clear in upper stretch to a 2 ¾-length win. A maiden winner at second asking defeating eventual graded stakes winner Greatest Honour by a head, Known Agenda was fifth in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs before defeating winners at Gulfstream Park by 11 lengths.

“He's obviously an experienced horse,” Pletcher said. “He's unfazed. Irad was able to place him where he wasn't getting much kickback. Dr Post got more of the kickback, so I told Irad to get away from that and hold him out at that point. In his case, it worked out very well. Dr Post, I would have preferred not to take much kickback, but he seemed to handle it fine. Irad liked the way he handled it and so did I. He thought it was a positive. He took a bit [of kickback in the Derby], but not a ton. With the trip he got in the Florida Derby and in Tampa, he's got plenty of experience, so we aren't worried about that.”

While Known Agenda targets the Belmont Stakes, Dr Post, second in last year's running, will point to the Grade 1, $1 million Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap.

About ten minutes later, Bourbonic and Overtook put the final touches on their Belmont Stakes preparations when caught through an opening quarter-mile in 23.60 before completing the half-mile work in 48.49. The pair galloped out five furlongs in an authoritative 1:00.80. Jockey Manny Franco was aboard Overtook while exercise rider Amelia Green piloted Bourbonic.

A winner of the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino at 72-1 odds, Bourbonic finished 13th in the Kentucky Derby and will attempt to give historic Calumet Farm their first Belmont Stakes triumph in 73 years since Citation swept the Triple Crown in 1948.

Pletcher indicated that Bourbonic typically displays a strong gallop out in his works.

“He's a horse that at times will work like he's capable of stepping up,” Pletcher said. “The one thing he does is gallop out strongly. He's always given indications that the distance would suit him.”

Pletcher said he has been particularly impressed with Overtook since his late-closing third in the Grade 3 Peter Pan and that the regally bred son of Curlin has been showing improvement into his next engagement.

“Overtook is historically not an overly ambitious work horse, but I thought he went well this morning,” Pletcher said. “I was looking for him and Bourbonic to just show they have some decent energy. I think his two breezes since the Peter Pan have been better than what we were seeing beforehand, so I'm happy with that.”

Both Bourbonic and Overtook boast pedigrees that should suit the 12-furlong distance, being out of mares sired by Belmont Stakes winners. A son of Bernardini, Bourbonic is out of graded stakes winner Dancing Afleet who is by 2005 Belmont Stakes winner Afleet Alex. Overtook, by Curlin, is out of Grade 1-winner Got Lucky, a daughter of 1992 Belmont Stakes winner A.P. Indy.

“The one thing they both have going for them is that they're bred for the distance. It seems like that should be helpful,” Pletcher said. “[Bourbonic is by] Bernardini and out of an Afleet Alex mare, so there are a lot of Belmont wins in that pedigree. Same thing with Overtook, being by Curlin out of an A.P. Indy mare, it seems that his breeding also should be helpful with the distance.”

A $1 million purchase from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Overtook is a direct descendant of prestigious broodmares Numbered Account and La Troienne. He is owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable in partnership with Coolmore triumvirate Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith.

A victory with any of his three runners would give Pletcher a fourth Belmont Stakes triumph, putting him on even terms with fellow Hall of Fame inductees Max Hirsch, R.W. Walden and former boss D. Wayne Lukas. Pletcher previously saddled Rags to Riches [2007], Palace Malice [2013] and Tapwrit [2017] to Belmont scores.

Earlier in the morning, Robert and Lawanna Low's Colonel Liam logged his final work for the Grade 1, $750,000 Resorts World Casino Manhattan over the Belmont training track. The two-time Grade 1-winning son of third-crop sire Liam's Map went in company with Promise Keeper as the pair finished off their four-furlong breeze in 48.62 seconds.

“I was very happy with both of them,” Pletcher said. “It was a good, steady breeze for them both. I was particularly pleased with the gallop out. They went well in hand and very relaxed. It's kind of what we have come to expect from Colonel Liam. It was a good breeze from Promise Keeper as well.”

Woodford Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm and Rock Ridge Thoroughbreds' Promise Keeper, a winner of the Grade 3 Peter Pan on May 8, is not in pursuit of the Belmont Stakes, “unless there is a major defection.” Pletcher plans to ship the son of third-crop sire Constitution to Thistledown for the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby on June 26.

The post Pletcher Triumvirate Log Final Workouts For Belmont appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post