Belmont Stakes May Lack Extra ‘Star Power,’ But Connections Are Excited To Kick Off Triple Crown

The past several weeks' three major defections from the 3-year-old season – Charlatan, Nadal, and Maxfield – may have turned this Saturday's Belmont Stakes into a smaller field, but connections were still quick to express their excitement for the the non-traditional first leg of the Triple Crown during an NTRA conference call Monday afternoon.

“My original thought was that it could potentially be a race that would oversubscribe, but now it looks like it's going to be more in the neighborhood of an eight or a nine-horse field, max,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, who plans to enter the pair of Dr. Post and Farmington Road. “That does surprise me a little bit, and I think that's partly due to some bad luck for some horses and also the uncertainty due to the timing of everything.”

The changing schedule of the Triple Crown, caused by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, saw the Kentucky Derby pushed back from the first Saturday in May to the first Saturday in September. The Preakness was rescheduled for the first Saturday in October, and the Belmont was pushed back three weeks from its originally-scheduled date, and is now the first leg of the classic series.

Rather than running the Belmont at the traditional 1 1/2-mile distance, the New York Racing Association made the decision to shorten it to nine furlongs, turning the “Test of the Champion” into a one-turn affair.

“I had spoken to people three or four weeks ago, and said that in many ways I felt  I thought the Belmont was going to be this year's Kentucky Derby, because its the first time that the best horses in training were going to be meeting each other, the West Coast and East Coast and in-between,” echoed Jack Knowlton, co-owner of likely favorite Tiz the Law. “Clearly because of the injuries in Bob's two horses, and now with Maxfield out, there isn't the star power that we all expected.

“But, I feel good about the race being a mile and an eighth. We know that Tiz the Law can handle Belmont, he trains on it, he won the G1 Champagne there. I think the configuration, with a long run down the backside, Manny (Franco's) gonna have an opportunity to put him where he wants to put him. He'll be able to make the run that he's made in all four of his wins, just kind of stalking a little bit off the pace, then moving forward around the turn and winning the race in the stretch.”

It is not yet clear whether any owners will be able to attend the Belmont Stakes, which Knowlton especially acknowledged was a new challenge. His Sackatoga Stable group became famous when they won the 2003 Kentucky Derby with Funny Cide, after riding several school busses from their hotel to Churchill Downs with a 53-person entourage.

This time around, the majority of the Sackatoga group plans to watch the Belmont Stakes from a restaurant patio in Saratoga.

“Funny Cide was a once in a lifetime for an outfit like ours,” Knowlton said. “To have it happen again, it looks like lightning really has struck twice… so the school bus will be reserved for Louisville, and we're hopeful we will be able to have owners and a number of fans at Churchill.”

Meanwhile, Knowlton has all the faith in the world in veteran trainer Barclay Tagg.

“Barclay's been in the game for 50 years, and he's got all the experience you need,” Knowlton said. “He doesn't get horses like Funny Cide or Tiz the Law very often, but when he does, he makes the most of it.”

Looking to upset the favorite will be a recent allowance winner trained by Mark Casse, who also took time to speak to media during Monday's teleconference. The 3-year-old son of Tapit broke his maiden at Saratoga back in August, and Casse immediately started thinking about bigger and better things.

“After he broke his maiden, I told (owner) Mrs. Weber, 'I think this colt could win the Breeders' Cup this fall, but it's going to be a bit of a rush, and we're going to have to run him two turns in his next start,'” Casse recalled.

His first two-turn race, the Breeders' Futurity, was a bit of a disaster when he missed the start, rushed up and fought with jockey Tyler Gaffalione, and faded to finish 10th. Trying again in the listed Street Sense Stakes, Tap It To Win was gashed up at the start and again finished at the rear of the field.

“He couldn't hardly walk for a couple weeks after, and it turns out a piece of bone actually died, so we had to operate on him,” Casse explained. After taking the winter off, Tap It To Win “came back with a vengeance, and with a much better attitude. He's always shown, from the time we got him, that he was something exceptional.”

He won his first start off the layoff, and his second start on June 4 resulted in a five-length romp at Belmont Park.

“Johnny (Velazquez, jockey) is the one that kind of convinced me for sure that the Belmont is the way to go.” Casse said. “He felt like he finished with something left, and he said he galloped out very strong.”

The Belmont will be the colt's third race off the layoff, and Tap It To Win could be poised for a career-best performance.

Meanwhile, Pletcher's pair of Farmington Road and Dr Post, both sired by Quality Road, are also preparing well for Saturday's big test. The lightly-raced Dr Post got a “good education” last out when he won the listed Unbridled Stakes at Gulfstream Park, Pletcher said, and should be close enough to the pace to make his presence felt.

Farmington Road hasn't shown the same success rate on the track as his stablemate, and Pletcher admitted that the 1 1/2-mile distance might have been more his style.

“He's come close to a breakthrough performance, and he would appreciate a good honest pace up front,” Pletcher said. “On paper, it looks like it should have solid pace. Because of the one-turn dimension, horses lay a little closer to the pack because the first turn doesn't spread them out… that's to the benefit of Farmington Road because he won't be so far out of contention early.”

Also expected for Saturday's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes are: Jungle Runner, Max Player, Modernist, Pnuematic, and Sole Volante.

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Baffert Tabs Authentic For July 18 Haskell; Mike Smith To Ride

Following the first loss of his career in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, Authentic will be pointed to the Grade 1 Haskell on July 18 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., reports the Daily Racing Form.

The 3-year-old son of Into Mischief breezed a half-mile on Monday at Santa Anita, covering the distance in 48 4/5 seconds. It was his first work since finishing second to Honor A.P. on June 6.

Trainer Bob Baffert was encouraged by the workout, and has sent out the winner of the Haskell a record eight times over the course of his career. Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will have the riding assignment.

Earlier this year, the colt won the G3 Sham Stakes and the G2 San Felipe while beginning his career with three straight victories.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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MyRacehorse.com Buys into Authentic

If you’ve got a dream and $206 you, too, can own a piece of a contender for the GI Kentucky Derby. MyRacehorse.com has purchased a 12.5% interest in GI Santa Anita Derby runner-up Authentic (Into Mischief) and will soon begin the process of selling micro shares in the horse to clients. The transaction includes buying into the horse’s stallion career, which is a first for the racing partnership that specializes in selling very small shares in horses for a few hundred dollars or less.

Launched by CEO and Founder Michael Behrens in 2018, MyRacehorse has taken the traditional racing partnership and turned it into something almost anyone can afford. Rather than sell 20 or 25 shares in Authentic, MyRacehorse will sell 12,500. Behrens expects the final price for a share to be $206. For one share, the client will own .001% of the breeding and racing rights in the horse.

MyRacehorse often partners with Spendthrift Farm and was given the opportunity to purchase a part of Authentic after Spendthrift bought a majority interest in the 3-year-old earlier this month.

MyRacehorse has never sold more than 6,000 shares in a horse, but Behrens expects the offering on Authentic to sell out quickly. He cannot officially sell shares until getting approval from the SEC, which, he says, typically takes between five to 15 days. Partners can buy more than one share, but their total active investments cannot exceed 10% of a person’s annual income or total assets.

“We started out with more modest horses, but now we are seeing what people really want,” Behrens said. “This is what people desire. People love the action on the big days. We keep getting feedback. This is what they want, a shot at the Derby, a shot at the Breeders’ Cup.”

MyRacehorse has bought into high-profile horses before, most notably Street Band (Istan), who won the GI 2019 Cotillion S., and Lazy Daisy (Paynter), the winner of the 2019 GII Pocahontas S. But this is their most ambitious venture yet.

“We think this is a great chance to bring in people on the periphery or maybe people who have become a little less involved in a game they used to love,” Behrens said. “What we are seeing over and over again is people get re-energized by something like this because it is such an easy way to enjoy the sport you like. We’re hoping this brings in a lot of new people.”

With all prior partnerships, the horses were sold at the end of their racing careers and whatever monies were available were distributed to the owners. In the case of Authentic, Behrens is counting on even greater interest than normal because the owners will be in on his stallion career.

“We decided it would be really cool, not only for people to have the opportunity to have a Derby prospect, but also to stay in as he becomes a stallion,” he said. “We never had any desire to move into the stallion, breeding games. But with all the growth and all the people we have who are particpatory, we thought we should try this. The idea will be that you buy in for  racing and breeding equity and will own your pro rata percentage. We want to take people on the same great journey we always do. It will be fun to have a shot at the Kentucky Derby and also the chance to own a part of a great stallion. I think the ability to participate in that side of the game is going to attract a lot of people.”

Trained by Bob Baffert, Authentic won the GII San Felipe S. before finishing second as the 6-5 favorite in the Santa Anita Derby. He is considered by many to be top five threat for the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby.

The MyRaceHorse perks include getting reports on the horses at least twice a week and access to the winner’s circle. Behrens said that if fans are allowed in for the Kentucky Derby and Authentic runs, the stable will buy as many seats as possible and then hold a lottery in order to figure out which partners get the seats.

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Man in the Can to Target Blue Grass

Jrita Young Thoroughbreds’ Man in the Can (Can the Man) will be aimed at the July 11 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland following his allowance score as the 5-2 favorite at Churchill Friday (video).

“That sure was an impressive turn of foot,” trainer Ron  Moquett said of his charge’s 1 1/2-length victory in the nine-furlong event. “I wasn’t expecting him to go off as that big of a favorite, but he ran against some stiff Arky-bred competition in his last couple of starts at Oaklawn. I think the bettors saw that before the race and that’s why he ended up going off favorite. He definitely deserves a shot in the Blue Grass. There have been so many top Kentucky Derby contenders that have gone off the trail this week that it’s really anyone’s game.”

A debut winner at Remington Park last December, Man in the Can defeated fellow Arkasas-breds to win the six-furlong Rainbow S. Apr. 17 and the 1 1/16-mile Arkansas Breeders’ Champions S. May 1.

The rescheduled Blue Grass will award the top four finishers 100-40-20-10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Should Man in the Can qualify for the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby, he would become the first Arkansas-bred to run in the race since Barbizon Streak, who finished 16th in 1971.

Bruce Lunsford’s Art Collector (Bernardini) was another promising 3-year-old allowance winner at Churchill last week. The colt, an off-the-pace 2 3/4-length winner of a seven-furlong allowance in Louisville May 17, was a front-running 6 1/2-length victor going 1 1/16 miles Saturday (video).

“He’s certainly getting better at the right time,” trainer Tommy Drury said. “That is as impressive as it gets to kick clear as he did. I asked Bruce to let us enjoy this one for a couple of days and then we’d get together and talk about our next options.”

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