Sadler's Joy, Channel Maker Meet Again in Tiller Stakes

The June 4 Tiller Stakes at Belmont Park only features a purse of $80,000, but the return of New York racing has helped draw an accomplished field of older horses for the 1 3/8-mile turf event.

Among 13 entrants (plus two for the main track only) is Woodslane Farm's homebred multimillionaire Sadler's Joy. The 7-year-old son of Kitten's Joy  has come across trouble in his two starts at Gulfstream Park this year. He was bumped at the start and raced wide in the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) but rallied from 12th to finish sixth. Then in the Feb. 29 Mac Diarmida Stakes (G2T), he was steadied at the quarter pole before getting up for third. Both races were won by Zulu Alpha.

"We've had a long break with him between races, but he runs well off the bench," trainer Tom Albertrani said. "He seems to be training as well as he's ever been, and we're excited to get back going again. He's had a tough trip in his last two races. In the Pegasus, he got banged pretty good leaving the gate and lost a lot of ground early on in the race. In his last race, he had a little traffic trouble in the last turn, but he still managed to run well."

Albertrani said the Tiller could be a race that sets up Sadler's Joy for a third go at the July 4 Manhattan Stakes (G1T) at Belmont. Sadler's Joy was third in the 2017 Manhattan and second, beaten a neck, in 2018. He broke through at the top level in the 2017 Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course and has placed in eight other grade 1 races.

"We've been fortunate enough to have horses in the barn like Twilight Eclipse, who was still running when he was 8 years old. Sadler's Joy still has the same kind of energy that we've seen in him when he was a 4-year-old," Albertrani said. "As long as we like how he's training and he shows that energy, we'll keep going forward with him."

Javier Castellano will be back aboard Sadler's Joy, who will break from post 8.

Sadler's Joy will face a familiar rival in Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R. A. Hill Stable, and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Channel Maker. The two horses have taken turns finishing ahead of the other. In the Mac Diarmidia, Sadler's Joy bested Channel Maker for third by a nose. Channel Maker bested his foe when he scored his first grade 1 win, the 2018 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1T), on soft turf, with Sadler's Joy third. The Bill Mott trainee picked up another top-level score in last year's Man o' War Stakes (G1T).

Channel Maker, also a multimillionaire, was eighth last out in the March 21 Muniz Memorial Handicap (G2T) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, a short race for him at 1 1/8 miles. The 6-year-old English Channel  gelding will break from post 13 under Irad Ortiz Jr.

Sadler's Joy and Channel Maker will both carry 124 pounds, as will Standard Deviation, a multiple stakes winner who was third in the Nov. 30 Hollywood Derby (G1T); Petit Fils, a group 3 winner in France; Highland Sky, the winner of the off-the-turf John's Call Stakes last summer; Dot Matrix, who took the Jan. 26 John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes (G3T); and Focus Group, looking for his first win since the Pan American Stakes (G2T) in March 2019.

Todd Pletcher has two horses entered: Noble Indy, the 2018 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) winner, who enters off a frontrunning 1 1/8-mile allowance score March 15 on Gulfstream's turf; and Current, who was third, beaten a neck, in the March 28 Pan American and is looking for his first win since the 2018 Dixiana Bourbon Stakes (G3T).

Corelli, Paret, Go Poke the Bear, and Hayabusa One complete the body of the field. Rocketry and Its All Relevant are entered for the main track only.

Entries: Tiller S.

Belmont Park, Thursday, June 04, 2020, Race 9

• STK
• 1 3/8m
• Turf
• $80,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 5:36 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Standard Deviation (KY)	John R. Velazquez	124	H. Graham Motion	4/1
2	2Petit Fils (FR)	Eric Cancel	124	Christophe Clement	15/1
3	3Corelli (KY)	Dylan Davis	118	Jonathan Thomas	10/1
4	4Highland Sky (KY)	Junior Alvarado	124	Barclay Tagg	20/1
5	5Dot Matrix (NY)	Joel Rosario	124	Brad H. Cox	10/1
6	6Noble Indy (KY)	Jose Lezcano	120	Todd A. Pletcher	15/1
7	7Focus Group (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	124	Christophe Clement	15/1
8	8Sadler's Joy (KY)	Javier Castellano	124	Thomas Albertrani	5/2
9	9Paret (AUS)	Frankie Pennington	118	James L. Lawrence, II	20/1
10	10Go Poke the Bear (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	120	Michael J. Maker	30/1
11	11Current (KY)	Manuel Franco	118	Todd A. Pletcher	12/1
12	12Hayabusa One (FR)	Kendrick Carmouche	118	Mark E. Casse	20/1
13	13Channel Maker (ON)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	124	William I. Mott	9/2
14	14Rocketry (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	118	James A. Jerkens	8/5
15	15Its All Relevant (KY)	Romero Ramsay Maragh	120	Rudy R. Rodriguez	5/2