Connections Hope Risk Taking Bounces Back in Peter Pan

In a race that typically produces a Belmont Stakes (G1) starter or two, grade 3 winner Risk Taking  will start from the outside in an expected field of six 3-year-olds in the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) May 8 at Belmont Park.

After rolling to a 3 3/4-length victory in the Withers Stakes (G3) Feb. 6 at Aqueduct, Klaravich Stables' Risk Taking was sent off as the 2-1 favorite in the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2) April 3 at Aqueduct but he bobbled at the start and failed to launch a rally, finishing seventh. The Medaglia d'Oro   colt will attempt to return to top form in Saturday's 1 1/8-mile test, contested at one turn at Belmont.

Risk Taking boasts top connections in a pair of multiple Eclipse Award winners in jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and trainer Chad Brown. The latter noted that in the Wood, Risk Taking faced some tough challenges for a young horse.

"He did take a lot of dirt and was a little wide. We quite liked his chances in that race," said Brown, who will be looking for his third Peter Pan win following Timeline (2017) and Country Grammer (2020). "He's come back and worked really well. His last work was particularly good for him. It was the best we've seen from him. We're giving it another shot in here to see if he can get back on track."

Three-time Peter Pan winner Todd Pletcher will counter with a pair of runners in Overtook , who finished second in the Withers; and Promise Keeper , who has posted wins of five lengths or more in two of his four starts.

Pletcher said he had planned to start Overtook in the Wood but when he didn't train well in Florida, those plans were scrapped. He noted that the son of Curlin  , who is campaigned by Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Susan Magnier, is now looking great in the mornings.

"It took him a little while to find his best, so we decided to wait for the Peter Pan. It seems like the last two or three weeks, he's really come around," Pletcher said of Overtook, who has earned the bullet in two of his past four works. Pletcher noted that with his breeding, Overtook would be a Belmont candidate off a strong outing Saturday.

As for Woodford Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm, and Rock Ridge Racing's Promise Keeper, the son of Constitution   struggled in his graded stakes debut in March in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) but turned heads in an April 8 allowance-level tilt at Keeneland.

Entries: Peter Pan S. (G3)

Belmont Park, Saturday, May 08, 2021, Race 9

• Grade III
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 3 yo
• 5:12 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Overtook (KY)	John R. Velazquez	118	Todd A. Pletcher	6/1
2	2Nova Rags (KY)	Junior Alvarado	118	William I. Mott	5/2
3	3Promise Keeper (KY)	Luis Saez	118	Todd A. Pletcher	7/2
4	4Wolfie's Dynaghost (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	Thomas Albertrani	9/2
5	5I Am the Law (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	118	John P. Terranova II	30/1
6	6Risk Taking (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	123	Chad C. Brown	7/5