Value Proposition Back to Sprinting in Elusive Quality

Klaravich Stables' multiple graded stakes-placed, stakes-winning Value Proposition  will return to sprinting for the first time since November when he contests a field of 11 in the April 30 $100,000 Elusive Quality Stakes for 4-year-olds and upward going seven furlongs over the Widener turf course at Belmont Park.

Trained by Chad Brown, Value Proposition returns just three weeks after finishing a pacesetting third in the April 9 Danger's Hour Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack. The versatile son of Dansili  began his 2022 campaign with a runner-up effort to Clear Vision  in Gulfstream Park's Tropical Turf Stakes (G3T) Jan. 8, where he rallied from off the pace.

Brown said Value Proposition fares better with a fast pace to stalk, like the scenario he faced in the Tropical Turf.

"The way the race shaped up, I urged Manny (jockey Franco) to go ahead and take the lead if nobody else wanted it," said Brown of the Danger's Hour effort. "I didn't want to be wired off a slow pace and he's not effective off a slow pace. We tried it, but it didn't really work out for him. We'll regroup and with cutting him back, we'll probably get him off the pace again."

Franco retains the mount.

Trainer Mark Casse will send out recent allowance optional claiming winner Proven Strategies  in his first start at seven furlongs since a third-place effort in the Connaught Cup (G2T) last July at Woodbine.

Owned in partnership by D. J. Stable, Jonathan I. Green, and Empire Racing Club, the seasoned gelding ended a six-race losing streak dating back to January 2021 when he prevailed in a one-mile allowance optional claimer March 13 at Gulfstream. He earned a career-best 107 Equibase Speed Figure.

"He's doing great," Casse said. "He ran well and we just shipped him up from South Florida. This race is a little shorter, so we don't know how he'll handle that, but he's done well sprinting on the turf. He's a solid performer. Obviously, it's a step up in class and it's not going to be easy. I actually think he really likes this distance."

Dylan Davis will ride Proven Strategies for the first time Saturday.

The veteran Snapper Sinclair  will make his first start since returning stateside from a trip to Meydan Racecourse in Dubai where he finished a distant 10th in the March 26 Godolphin Mile Sponsored by Nakheel (G2).

Racing for the silks of Bloom Racing Stable, the 7-year-old son of City Zip  has made a majority of his 38 starts over the dirt, owning a 3-for-11 turf record with all victories over the lawn coming at the stakes level. In his last two runs over the grass, he was victorious in the $400,000 TVG Stakes at Kentucky Downs last September and finished a close second, beaten a half-length by Lieutenant Dan, in the Oct. 1 Eddie D Stakes (G2T) on Santa Anita Park's downhill turf course.

Trevor McCarthy picks up the mount on the Steve Asmussen trainee.

Entries: Elusive Quality S.

Belmont Park, Saturday, April 30, 2022, Race 9

• STK
• 7f
• Turf
• $100,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 5:32 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Penalty (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	William I. Mott	10/1
2	2Big Package (NY)	John R. Velazquez	118	David G. Donk	15/1
3	3Proven Strategies (FL)	Dylan Davis	118	Mark E. Casse	8/1
4	4Majestic Dunhill (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	118	George Weaver	30/1
5	5Scuttlebuzz (NY)	Javier Castellano	118	Rudy R. Rodriguez	12/1
6	6Value Proposition (GB)	Manuel Franco	122	Chad C. Brown	3/1
7	7Snapper Sinclair (KY)	Trevor McCarthy	122	Steven M. Asmussen	4/1
8	8Toro Strike (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	124	Todd A. Pletcher	6/1
9	9Milton the Monster (KY)	Frankie Pennington	120	John C. Servis	12/1
10	10American Monarch (KY)	Jose Lezcano	118	William I. Mott	15/1
11	11Therapist (NY)	Joel Rosario	118	Christophe Clement	5/1