Messier Returns to Action in Forty Niner

After a successful spring at Aqueduct Racetrack, multiple graded stakes winner Messier  is back in action at the New York oval Oct. 26 as he faces seven competitors going a one-turn mile in the $250,000 Forty Niner Stakes (G3).

A participant in the 2022 Kentucky Derby (G1), Messier struggled to find his footing in the following 1 1/2 years. Joining the barn of trainer Rick Dutrow for his 5-year-old campaign seems to have gotten the son of Empire Maker back on track.

In his first start with Dutrow, he finished second in a Jan. 27 allowance optional claimer at Laurel Park before crossing the wire first in both the 1 1/8-mile Excelsior Stakes and one-mile Westchester Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct. He would be disqualified and placed second for interference in the Excelsior.

Following his victory in the May 3 Westchester, Messier had surgery to remove a knee chip but has logged two bullet workouts in October in preparation for his return.

Video: Westchester S. (G3)

"He does it very handily. He's a big, long-striding horse and it comes very natural to him," jockey Jose Gomez said. "He can set pretty quick fractions in the afternoon, too. You let him do his own thing. That's how he likes doing it, so we let him tell us what he likes to do."

A four-time winner from 14 starts, Messier has earned $593,690 for a large ownership group that includes SF Racing, Madaket Stables, Lansdon Robbins III, Tom Ryan, Robert Masterson, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Golconda Stable, and Siena Farm.

Among his competitors are the recent 1-2 finishers in the Sept. 21 Parx Dirt Mile Stakes at Parx Racing, Coastal Mission  and Repo Rocks , as well as stakes winners Stage Raider  and Film Star , who was fourth in this race last year.

Top Gunner Looks to Go 2-for-2 For New Connections

One race prior, older male sprinters will have a shot at graded glory when they travel six furlongs in the $175,000 Bold Ruler Stakes (G3).

Like Messier, Top Gunner  got a fresh start when switching barns. He was claimed for $62,500 out of an Aug. 4 allowance optional claimer at Saratoga Race Course by owner Michael Dubb and trainer Brad Cox. In his first start for the new barn, he posted a solid 2 1/2-length victory in the Sept. 21 Parx Sprint Stakes going 6 1/2 furlongs. It was the 7-year-old Into Mischief   gelding's first stakes victory Since May 2022.

Among his chief competitors will be LNJ Foxwoods' Scotland , who returned to stakes company for the first time in one year to finish second to Mufasa , a leading contender for either the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) or Sprint (G1), in the Sept. 28 Vosburgh Stakes (G3).

After a pair of high-quality starts going seven furlongs, including a Saratoga allowance optional claimer victory in July, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was hesitant about racing the 4-year-old Good Magic   gelding six furlongs. However, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who was last aboard in a six-furlong runner-up effort at Churchill Downs in June, is confident the distance suits.

"We've gone back and forth with him. There was a lot of deliberation on (running him in the Bold Ruler)," Mott said. "If it was at seven, that would make it easier. When Irad rode him before, he felt shorter might be a little better."

Also in the field are grade 3 winners Little Vic , Surveillance , and Runninsonofagun .