BC Sprint Berth on the Line in Vosburgh

Following the untimely retirement of the ultra-talented GISW Volatile (Violence) earlier this week, an evenly matched field of six will line up for Saturday’s GII Vosburgh S. at Belmont Park, a ‘Win and You’re In’ for the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

The 2-1 morning-line favorite Engage (Into Mischief), winner of last fall’s GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. at Keeneland, makes his first start since finishing a non-threatening fourth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita. He’s been training steadily at Steve Asmussen’s Churchill base for this.

Belmont horse-for-course Firenze Fire (Poseidon’s Warrior), just a nose short in last year’s heart-stopping renewal of this race, contested then as a Grade I, was last of 11 in a Saratoga downpour in the GI Forego S. last time Aug. 29. He’s posted three career graded stakes victories at Belmont, led by a tally in the 2017 GI Champagne S. He also has a win in the GII True North S. June 27 over this course on his resume as well.

Funny Guy (Big Brown) followed a pair of sharp stakes victories versus fellow New York-breds with a close fourth as the 3-1 favorite after a troubled trip in the Forego.

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Arriaga Hopes $16,000 Claim Share The Ride Continues To Improve In Vosburgh

Share the Ride, trained by Antonio Arriaga for Silvino Ramirez, enters Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Vosburgh at Belmont Park off a sparkling front-running performance in the Mr. Prospector at Monmouth Park that garnered a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

The 5-year-old Candy Ride gelding, bred in Kentucky by Dixiana Farms, set splits of 22.45 and 44.94 under Ferrin Peterson in the six-furlong Mr. Prospector en route to a 3 3/4-length win in a final time of 1:09.18.

Arriaga said he was surprised to see such fast fractions last out.

“We didn't expect that,” said Arriaga. “He was supposed to go easy to the front, but she sent him all the way and the horse was doing it comfortable.”

Manny Franco will take over on Saturday from post 4 in a six-horse field led by Firenze Fire and the John Terranova-trained duo of Funny Guy and Stan the Man.

Arriaga said he will let the 2020 Belmont Stakes-winning rider dictate the tactics.

“He can come from off the pace too but let's see what Manny has to say. He's been riding really good,” said Arriaga.

Share the Ride was claimed for $16,000 on July 5 out of a winning effort in a Monmouth Park sprint. He followed with a good second in an optional-claiming sprint on August 9 at first asking for new connections ahead of two even efforts on the Monmouth turf when fourth in the 5 1/2-furlong Get Serious on August 23 and fifth in the one-mile Grade 3 Red Bank on September 5.

Arriaga said the addition of blinkers for his last two starts is the only major change in equipment for Share the Ride since the claim.

“We put the blinkers on but other than that it took him a month to start eating well when we first claimed him,” said Arriaga. “Some horses when they get older, they get better. Good horses get better if you take care of them the right way, feed them the right way and spoil them and they're happy.”

After winning the Mr. Prospector on one week's rest, Share the Ride returns to action in the Vosburgh with two weeks between starts.

“He's doing good,” said Arriaga. “He gallops and jogs. With these fast horses, I try not to work them too much because they can blow their race in the workout if they go fast.”

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Firenze Fire Headlines Wide-Open ‘Win And You’re In’ Vosburgh

Six-time graded stakes winning millionaire Firenze Fire will take on five others in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Vosburgh at Belmont Park.

The six-furlong event over the main track is named in honor of the late Walter S. Vosburgh, the official handicapper for the Jockey Club and for the New York racetracks from 1894-1934, and is a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” event, which offers an automatic entry into the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint on November 7 at Keeneland.

The prestigious race has been championed by all-time greats Bold Ruler (1957), Dr. Fager (1967-68), Forego (1974) and Ghostzapper (2003), while also helping cement Champion Sprint Horse honors for My Juliet (1976), Dr. Patches (1978), Plugged Nickel (1980), Guilty Conscience (1981), Groovy (1987), Housebuster (1991), Rubiano (1992), Not Surprising (1995), Artax (1999), Kodiak Kowboy (2009).

Owned by Ron Lombardi's Mr. Amore Stable and trained by Kelly Breen, Firenze Fire has won four of his seven starts over Big Sandy, including a 1 ½-length score in the Grade 2 True North on June 27 three starts back. During his juvenile season, the Florida homebred son of Poseidon's Warrior bested subsequent Champion 2-Year-Old Good Magic in the Grade 1 Champagne on October 2017 and was a runaway nine-length winner of the Grade 3 Dwyer in July 2018, where he earned a career-best 107 Beyer Speed Figure.

Boasting the highest amount of lifetime earnings in the field with $1.95 million Firenze Fire made a successful 2020 debut with a four-length win in the Grade 3 General George on February 15 at Laurel Park.

Firenze Fire will attempt to make amends after a distant 11th-place finish in the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga on August 29. He breezed a sharp five furlongs in 59.20 seconds over the Belmont Park main track on September 17 in his first move since the Forego.

Jockey Jose Lezcano will have the mount from post 5.

Trainer John Terranova will send out two strong contenders in multiple New York-bred stakes winner Funny Guy and two-time stakes winner Stan the Man.

Owned by R.A. Hill Stable, Gatsas Stable and Swick Stable, Funny Guy was a last out fourth in the Grade 1 Forego on August 29 at Saratoga Race Course, where he finished a game fourth as the lukewarm favorite, beaten 2 ½ lengths over sloppy and sealed going.

“The conditions that day were just horrendous in that rainstorm,” Terranova said. “There was so much water it was like a river down on the inside. He tried to make a couple of moves and didn't get beat far, but it just didn't work out.”

The 4-year-old Big Brown bay has defeated his Empire State-bred counterparts at distances ranging from 6 ½ furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, including triumphs in last year's NYSSS Times Square at Aqueduct and the Albany at Saratoga. He began his 2020 campaign with a victory in the Commentator on June 12 going a one-turn mile over Big Sandy, where he garnered a career-best 101 Beyer and followed with a win in the John Morrissey on July 30 at Saratoga.

Funny Guy has trained forwardly since returning to Terranova's downstate division at Belmont Park, most recently logging a five-furlong move in a bullet 59.66 seconds on September 20.

“The race looked like a good opportunity and I loved his workout the other day,” Terranova said. “He's obviously shown that he's a versatile horse when it comes to distance and he's done well at distances like this one. He's doing great right now and this just seemed like a really good spot for him.”

Funny Guy has shown versatility in distance as well as pace tactics. In the Commentator, he came from five or six lengths off the pace to victory and tracked just a length off frontrunners in his John Morrissey triumph.

“It's hard to say what he'll do from a pace standpoint,” Terranova said. “He's a real smart horse and he just puts you right where he needs to be. He's the type of horse that you can do different things with.”

Jockey Joel Rosario has piloted Funny Guy in his trio of starts this season and retains the mount from post 2.

“Joel knows the horse really well, he knows what he has underneath him,” Terranova said.

Long Lake Stables' Stan the Man arrives at the Vosburgh off a victory as the favorite in the restricted Tale of the Cat on August 20 at the Spa. The 6-year-old son of Broken Vow is in pursuit of his first graded stakes victory but has twice placed against such caliber with runner-up efforts at Belmont Park in the Grade 3 Westchester last May at and the Grade 2 True North on June 27.

“He's a good horse also. He's been a bit of an off-the-pace sprinter and he's able to do a few different things as well,” Terranova said. “The good thing is that both horses are doing really well at the moment.”

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, a three-time winner of the Vosburgh, has the mount from post 3.

Calumet Farm's True Timber has put together a resume which includes eight placings against graded stakes company and lifetime earnings of $1,038,650, but will seek his first stakes win for trainer Jack Sisterson.

The 6-year-old Mineshaft bay was a last out third in the Grade 1 Forego, when matching strides with Complexity in the early stages, but was unable to hold off a devastating late charge from Win Win Win and finished 1 ½ lengths as a 37-1 longshot. True Timber made his debut for Sisterson two starts back when running third in a 6 ½-furlong allowance optional claiming event at Keeneland on July 12 behind next-out winners C Z Rocket and Copper Town.

“Going into the Forego, we didn't think there would be too much speed, we thought Chad's horse [Complexity] would go out there and set the pace,” Sisterson said. “We had the [Grade 2] Kelso [on Saturday, October 3] in mind, but the Vosburgh ended up becoming more of a wide open race so we figured we would give it a shot. I think he's the type of horse that can run over just about anything. He just has a lot of class.”

True Timber has run a respective second and third in the last two runnings of the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. Sisterson said he hopes that third time is the charm for True Timber, and that he plans on pointing towards a third attempt in the $250,000 event set for December 5 at the Big A.

“We're targeting the Cigar Mile at the end of the year with him,” Sisterson said. “He's cutting back to three-quarters for this race and may stretch out next time. We'll just see how he does Saturday and take it from there. But for now, the Cigar Mile is the long term goal.”

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche, who piloted True Timber in the Forego, will climb back aboard from post 1.

Woodford Racing's Engage will seek a victory off a nearly 11-month layoff in Saturday's race. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the son of Into Mischief last saw action in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint on November 4 at Santa Anita, where he was fourth beaten four lengths to stable mate and Champion Sprinter Mitole. Engage will seek his third graded stakes victory having won the Grade 2 Phoenix last October at Keeneland over Grade 1-winner Whitmore and the Grade 3 Futurity at Belmont Park during his juvenile campaign in October 2017.

Jockey Jose Ortiz, who guided Takaful to a 2017 Vosburgh win, will ride Engage for the 11th time from post 6.

Completing the field is Silvino Ramirez's New Jersey invader Share the Ride for trainer Antonio Arriaga.

The 5-year-old son of Candy Ride will attempt back-to-back wins after a wire-to-wire triumph in the Mr. Prospector at Monmouth Park, which he won by 3 ¾ lengths while securing a 104 Beyer.

Jockey Manny Franco will ride from post 4.

The Vosburgh is slated as Race 9 on Saturday's 10-race program, which offers a first post of 1:00 p.m. Eastern. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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Vekoma Likely to Miss Forego

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–Though he has recovered from a leg issue that interrupted his training schedule, two-time Grade I winner Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) looks to be a long shot to compete in the GI Forego S. Aug. 29.

Trainer George Weaver said Friday said the 4-year-old colt, co-owned by Randy Hill’s R.A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables, was “50-50” to make the seven-furlong Forego. Vekoma has been treated for an abscess in the coronet band of his left front leg and has not had a timed work since his 1 1/4-length victory in the GI Met Mile July 4 at Belmont Park.

“It’s not looking promising right now,” Weaver said.  “I need to get a work in him, and it’s a day-to-day thing. He has a little abscess. We are just about ready to do something with him, but it’s a day-to-day decision.”

Weaver said if Vekoma does not make the Forego, he would likely be pointed toward the six-furlong GI Vosburgh S. Sept. 26 at Belmont Park. The Vosburgh is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge, “Win and You’re In” series of races that guarantees a fees-paid entry and travel expenses. Vekoma already has won two Breeders’ Cup Challenge races: the GI Carter S. for a berth in the Sprint and the Met Mile for the Dirt Mile.

Weaver said that Vekoma, unbeaten in three starts this year and a winner of six of eight in his career, has been going to the track for his morning exercise.

“He has galloped the last few days,” Weaver said. “He is moving good now. The faster you go, the more it may aggravate that tissue, so it’s just a matter of me getting to the point where I think he can put some speed work on it.”

Though Vekoma was given the rest of the year off after the 2019 GI Kentucky Derby–where he was moved up to 12th from 13th by the DQ of Maximum Security (New Year’s Day)–Weaver said the chestnut has not had many problems during his three seasons of competition.

“He grabbed a quarter when he was 3-year-old,” Weaver said. “All horses have issues from time to time. We ask them to be athletes and it’s part of the game. He is a very, very good horse.”

Hill praised Weaver and said that missing the Forego with Vekoma–whom he expects will be the Eclipse Award-winning sprinter– was not a big deal. Funny Guy (Big Brown), a Hill-Gatsas-Swick Stable horse trained by John Terranova, is a probable for the Forego.

“I think that George has managed this horse perfectly,” Hill said. “Sometimes you get frustrated as an owner. I always let the trainer do their job. If you look at the way that George has handled this horse, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t think any other trainer would have this horse where he is now.”

Noting that Vekoma was a May foal, Hill said the decision to put him away after the Derby made sense and has yielded a top 4-year-old.

“George gave him the time off to come back and be a big, strong man,” Hill said. “So if George thinks he needs a little more time…. I think if we don’t make the Forego, George is talking about the Vosburgh, which I kind of like, because it’s six furlongs.  We can see how he reacts again at six furlongs. We haven’t seen him at six in a long time. Then we’ve got the choice of six or the mile. I’ve got Funny Guy in the Forego. Of course, my dream is that Funny Guy wins the (BC Dirt Mile) and Vekoma wins the (BC Sprint) and I win two races.”

Vekoma won the GII Blue Grass S. in 2019 and is no stranger to two-turn races, but Hill sees him as more of a sprinter/miler-type now and said it is unlikely he would go to the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

“We do what we do best,” he said. “I think we will be sprinter of the year. I think we are now. Everybody loves Volatile (Violence), but I can’t wait to race against him. I think Vekoma will tie him in a knot. I do. I think he’s a good horse. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a very nice horse, but I want to see when he comes up against some good horses. You look at what Vekoma did in the Met Mile. He was turning for home and five Grade I horses swallowed him up and he just re-engaged. I haven’t seen anything like that in a long time. I don’t think anybody can beat us. I don’t say that. I’m pretty realistic as an owner.”

All five of Funny Guy’s victories have come against New York-bred company and Hill said the Forego will be a good test for the 4-year-old colt.

‘We’ll see how he does,” Hill said. “We’ve got to find out about this horse. He’s a New York-bred. Everybody says he hasn’t faced anything yet. He’s a New York-bred, let’s go and look. John said ‘let’s see how good we are.’ He’s training great. He’s getting better and better.”

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