Stubbins Takes Aim at Grade 1 Win in Jaipur

After a busy season in which he found turf sprinting to his liking last season, Stubbins will try for a victory at the top level in the $250,000 Jaipur Stakes Presented by America's Best Racing (G1T) June 20 at Belmont Park.

Trained by Doug O'Neill, Stubbins opened his 4-year-old season May 23 in the Daytona Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park where his typical late rally came up a half-length short as he finished third in that 5 1/2-furlong turf test. The son of Morning Line will stretch out a bit for Saturday's six-furlong test on the inner turf where the rail is scheduled to be 18 feet out.

McShane Racing's Stubbins started nine times last year, earning a maiden win in January on the 6 1/2-furlong downhill course at Santa Anita and returning to the hillside course in February for an allowance-level win. Although he stretched out to win the one-mile Pasadena Stakes in March on a sloppy main track in a race moved off the turf, he returned to turf sprints in the summer and fall, earning his first graded stakes win in the Woodford Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select (G2T) in October at Keeneland.

For Stubbins to secure a top-level win, he'll have to defeat veteran Pure Sensation, who won the 2016 edition of the Jaipur when it was a grade 3 race. Pure Sensation closed last season by finishing fifth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), just behind Stubbins.

Saturday's test will mark the season debut for Pure Sensation, a 9-year-old Zensational gelding who races for his breeder, Patricia Generazio. Trained by Christophe Clement, Pure Sensation has won at least one stakes race six seasons in a row. He's a seven-time stakes winner on the Parx Racing turf.

"He's an older horse and this is his first race back, but he's been working very well over the turf," Clement said. "We know he's a fast horse, and we're excited to see how he runs. We know he loves Parx, but they're not racing yet, so there's really no choice as to where to bring him back. We're based in New York, we train in New York, so we'll run in New York."

Clement also will send out Robert Evans' grade 1-placed White Flag, a homebred son of War Front  who captured the 2018 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship Stakes. After three starts without a win last year, White Flag will return to the course where he won the 2017 Allied Forces Stakes.

"White Flag just had two good works on the Belmont turf, and we know he likes this course," Clement said. "He struggled last year, but he's been doing very well, he's been quiet, so we'll see."

Stubbins isn't the only Jaipur runner entered off a start in the 2020 Daytona as the fourth-place finisher from that race, Texas Wedge, also will make the trip east. Trained by three-time Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint-winning trainer Peter Miller, Texas Wedge opened the year with a pair of turf sprint victories: the Joe Hernandez Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita and the World of Trouble Turf Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

The Jaipur is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race, awarding a "Win and You're In" spot for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

The field also includes Kanthaka, making his first start since finishing third in the 2019 Daytona; mare Oleksandra, who opened the year with a close second in the Monrovia Stakes (G2T) against fillies and mares at Santa Anita; Hidden Scroll, who gets a second try at turf racing after stumbling and losing jockey John Velazquez this month; and stakes-placed Lonhtwist.

Entries: Jaipur S. (G1T)

Belmont Park, Saturday, June 20, 2020, Race 9

• Grade I
• 6f
• Inner turf
• $250,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 4:53 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Kanthaka (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	120	H. Graham Motion	10/1
2	2Oleksandra (AUS)	Joel Rosario	117	Neil D. Drysdale	7/2
3	3Texas Wedge (KY)	Javier Castellano	124	Peter Miller	4/1
4	4Pure Sensation (FL)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	122	Christophe Clement	5/2
5	5Stubbins (KY)	Luis Saez	124	Doug F. O'Neill	3/1
6	6Hidden Scroll (KY)	John R. Velazquez	120	William I. Mott	8/1
7	7White Flag (KY)	Junior Alvarado	120	Christophe Clement	8/1
8	8Lonhtwist (KY)	Eric Cancel	120	Keith O'Brien	50/1