Euro Five Take on American Five in Belmont Oaks

The rich New York turf races for 3-year-olds have become a fascinating, ongoing test match between Europeans and Americans, and this year's Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1T) continues the tradition.

Chad Brown saddled five of the last 10 winners of the race, and Irish maestro Aidan O'Brien sent out two of the last four, so it's no surprise that between them they have four of the 10 set to chase a $700,000 purse in the July 9 renewal. Overall, it's five-on-five, Europeans versus locals.

The contingent from Ireland, England, and France, however, is not the European A team, as only two of the five come to Long Island with a group stakes victory in the bag. The locals boast a lot more recent success in graded- stakes competition, so the question to be answered is the relative merit of those races.

Agartha , trained by Joseph Patrick O'Brien, won a group 3 at Leopardstown in July of 2021 and followed with a victory in the Alpha Centauri Debutante Stakes (G2) at the Curragh. She was second in each of her first two 2022 starts but a well-beaten fifth in her most recent, the Tattersalls Irish One Thousand Guineas (G1) May 22.

Bred by Anne Marie O'Brien's Whisperview Trading and racing for Heider Family Stables, Agartha's strength may be a stamina-loaded pedigree.

"She's a filly that's interesting," Scott Heider told Belmont's publicity team. "She's by Caravaggio  . In Europe they remember him being an incredibly fast son of Scat Daddy . Anne Marie, as she often does, crossed speed with stamina... The female family is just full of high-class group 1 and group 2 winners. The vast majority all were stayers."

Concert Hall , a Dubawi  filly trained by Aidan O'Brien, also won at the group 3 level as a 2-year-old but was third in the Irish One Thousand Guineas, then fourth in the Cazoo Oaks (G1) at Epsom, and fifth, placed fourth, in the Alwasmiyah Pretty Polly Stakes (G1) at the Curragh June 26.

Godolphin's homebred filly With The Moonlight  certainly has the pedigree to compete at the top level. She's by Frankel  out of the Dubawi mare Sand Vixen , and Frankie Dettori is booked to take the mount for trainer Charlie Appleby. The performance has not matched the genes, though, as With The Moonlight ran 11th in the Cazoo Oaks, 26 1/4 lengths adrift of the winner, Tuesday .

Appleby attributed the Oaks flop to soft ground at Epsom and compared his filly's preferences to those of his Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational (G1T) hopeful, Nations Pride , himself eighth in the Cazoo Derby In Memory of Lester Piggott (G1T).

"Back to a mile and a quarter and back on a sound surface should suit," he said. "They have very similar profiles, and if they both turn up fit and well, they'll be very competitive."

Hot Queen  arrives with three wins from 11 starts in her native land. Know Thyself , a Galileo  filly, also has raced in France, with a single win to show from five trips.

On form, the Americans look well prepared to defend the home turf.

Brown's trio includes Haughty  and Consumer Spending , the close-up third- and sixth-place finishers, respectively, from November's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) at Del Mar. Both are off to good starts this season, with Consumer Spending, a More Than Ready   filly racing for Klaravich Stables, coming off a win in the Wonder Again Stakes (G2T) at Belmont Park and Haughty, by Empire Maker , last seen winning the Penn Oaks.

McKulick  completes the set. The Frankel filly this year has run second in both the Edgewood Stakes Presented by Forcht Bank (G2T) and the Regret Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs, and Brown said she's capable of better than the Louisville efforts. 

"They were paceless races and she's looking for a mile and a quarter," Brown said. "She'll improve as she runs longer."

The Edgewood winner, New Year's Eve , also is in the field. The Kitten's Joy   filly, trained by Brendan Walsh, is 3-for-4, and her late-running style could suit the added distance facing most of the field.

Cairo Memories  arrives from California off back-to-back victories in the Providencia Stakes Presented by The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G3T) and the Honeymoon Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park. The Cairo Prince   filly is 4-for-5 on the grass, with the only loss a ninth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup by just 2 3/4 lengths.

Entries: Belmont Oaks Invitational S. (G1T)

Belmont Park, Saturday, July 09, 2022, Race 7

• Grade I
• 1 1/4m
• Inner turf
• $700,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 4:06 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1McKulick (GB)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	121	Chad C. Brown	6/1
2	2Cairo Memories (KY)	Mike E. Smith	121	Robert B. Hess, Jr.	12/1
3	3Haughty (KY)	Flavien Prat	121	Chad C. Brown	5/1
4	4With The Moonlight (IRE)	Lanfranco Dettori	121	Charles Appleby	6/1
5	5Consumer Spending (KY)	Manuel Franco	121	Chad C. Brown	5/1
6	6New Year's Eve (KY)	Luis Saez	121	Brendan P. Walsh	6/1
7	7Hot Queen (FR)	Stephane Pasquier	121	Pia Brandt	20/1
8	8Know Thyself (IRE)	Julien R. Leparoux	121	Francis - Henri Graffard	20/1
9	9Agartha (IRE)	John R. Velazquez	121	Joseph Patrick O'Brien	10/1
10	10Concert Hall (IRE)	Ryan L. Moore	121	Aidan P. O'Brien	3/1