Aqueduct's Hill Prince Attracts Field of 10

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Aqueduct's Hill Prince Attracts Field of 10
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Lauren King
Grand Sonata returns after winning the Kitten's Joy Stakes at Gulfstream Park

With October past its midway point, the curtain will come down Oct. 22 on the graded turf stakes schedule at the transplanted Belmont at the Big A meet.

Males and females will each get an opportunity to secure black type on turf with Saturday's card featuring the $300,000 Hill Prince Stakes (G2T) for 3-year-olds and the $150,000 Noble Damsel Stakes (G3T) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.

The Hill Prince, at a 1 1/8-mile distance over Aqueduct Racetrack's inner turf course, attracted a field of 10 featuring grade 3 winner Grand Sonata  from trainer Todd Pletcher's barn.

The homebred son of Medaglia d'Oro   opened 2022 for Whisper Hill Farm with a pair of stakes wins, including the Kitten's Joy Stakes (G3T), but is winless in his last five starts. Fourth by a length in the Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T), the son of the A.P. Indy mare A.P. Sonata was second in the Big Ass Fans Dueling Grounds Derby (G3T) last time out.

Pletcher will also be represented by Repole Stable's Be Better , an Uncle Mo   homebred making his turf debut.

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Trainer Shug McGaughey will send out an interesting duo in Limited Liability  and Celestial City , both homebreds owned by Stuart S. Janney III.

The grade 2-placed Limited Liability, a son of Kitten's Joy  , was a troubled third in the New Kent County Virginia Derby (G3T) after finishing seventh while racing wide in the Belmont Derby.

"That was kind of a shame. I was pointing him for that race, so it was unfortunate he got the trip that he did," McGaughey said about the Virginia Derby. "He seems to be fine and he's doing well, so we'll see what happens here."

Celestial City, an Uncle Mo colt, won a Sept. 24 allowance race at the Big A after finishing second in the Saranac Stakes (G3T) and second in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (G2T), both at Saratoga Race Course.

Klaravich Stables will chase its fifth Hill Prince win and trainer Chad Brown his fourth with Unanimous Consent , who was fourth in the Virginia Derby.

Brown will also send out a newcomer to his barn in ERJ Racing, Madaket Stables, and Dave Kenney's Mackinnon , who was third in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) for trainer Doug O'Neill.

Plum Ali heads field of 5 in Noble Damsel

The 4-year-old Plum Ali  will seek her first graded stakes win since her 2-year-old campaign when she tops a field of five in the mile Noble Damsel over the inner turf course.

Owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, and Michael Caruso, the $787,042 earner boasts a record of 5-3-1 in 16 starts for trainer Christophe Clement but has not landed a graded stakes win since the 2020 Miss Grillo Stakes (G2T).

A daughter of First Samurai   bred by Stone Farm, Plum Ali is exiting second-place finishes in both the All Along Stakes and Fasig-Tipton De La Rose Stakes.

Clement, a five-time winner of the Noble Damsel, also entered Blue Devil Racing Stable's Messidor , a Vadamos  filly who is seeking her first stakes win since moving from Europe to the United States in 2021. She has won three of her last five starts, with all of the wins coming in allowance races.


Entries: Noble Damsel S. (G3T)

Belmont at the Big A, Saturday, October 22, 2022, Race 3

  • Grade IIIT
  • 1m
  • Turf
  • $150,000
  • 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
  • 1:42 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Kept Waiting (NY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Robert N. Falcone, Jr. 3/1
2 2Plum Ali (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Manuel Franco 124 Christophe Clement 8/5
3 3Evvie Jets (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Eric Cancel 122 Mertkan Kantarmaci 3/1
4 4Messidor (IRE) Javier Castellano 122 Christophe Clement 2/1
5 5Por Que No (KY) Abner Adorno 122 J. Tyler Servis 15/1


Entries: Hill Prince S. (G2T)

Belmont at the Big A, Saturday, October 22, 2022, Race 7

  • Grade IIT
  • 1 1/8m
  • Turf
  • $300,000
  • 3 yo
  • 3:48 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Celestial City (KY) Jose Lezcano 118 Claude R. McGaughey III 7/2
2 2Grand Sonata (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Junior Alvarado 120 Todd A. Pletcher 5/1
3 3Constitutionlawyer (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Dylan Davis 118 Raymond Handal 15/1
4 4Nantasket Beach (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Abner Adorno 118 James L. Lawrence, II 30/1
5 5St Anthony (KY) Javier Castellano 118 Neil D. Drysdale 15/1
6 6Be Better (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 118 Todd A. Pletcher 6/1
7 7Mackinnon (KY) Flavien Prat 118 Chad C. Brown 9/2
8 8Unanimous Consent (GB) Manuel Franco 118 Chad C. Brown 6/1
9 9Wicked Fast (KY) Trevor McCarthy 118 Michael J. Maker 15/1
10 10Limited Liability (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 118 Claude R. McGaughey III 4/1