Azar, Next Shares to Meet Again in Pilgrim

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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Azar (left) and Next Shares (right) finished 1-2 in the With Anticipation Stakes on Sept. 2.

The top two finishers from the With Anticipation Stakes (gr. IIT), Azar and Next Shares, will battle again Sept. 26 at Belmont Park in the $200,000 Pilgrim Stakes (gr. IIIT), a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 2-year-olds.

Alto Racing's Azar secured his maiden win in the With Anticipation, when the Scat Daddy   juvenile raced in third behind early leader Next Shares through a half-mile in :47.63 before using a strong run through the stretch—despite altering course—to score a three-quarter-length victory in that 1 1/16-mile test Sept. 2 at Saratoga Race Course.

Azar is trained by Todd Pletcher and regular rider John Velazquez is scheduled to be aboard Saturday, where the colt will be the 122-pound highweight.

"He came out of [the With Anticipation] well and has been in good form since," Pletcher said of the three-time starter. "I thought it was a big effort for a maiden to win a stakes. He seems to have improved with each start, so I hope he continues on that pattern."

Brous Stable, Gary Barber, and Wachtel Stable's Next Shares carried 118 pounds in the With Anticipation—two more than Azar that day when Next Shares held second—but is scheduled to tote 116 Saturday, six less than Azar. Joel Rosario will be back for a second straight ride on the maiden Archarcharch   colt, who is trained by Bill Mott.

Chad Brown will send out a pair of promising maiden winners in Eidmilaad and Ray's The Bar. Shadwell Stable's Eidmilaad was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite off his clear victory in an Aug. 30 maiden race at Saratoga, while Ray's The Bar will make his first U.S. start after winning his debut in a maiden race at Ascot.

Both Eidmilaad, a son of Malibu Moon  , and Ray's the Bar, a son of Exceed And Excel, will receive race-day Lasix for the first time before Saturday's race, which is expected to feature 10 starters.

Pilgrim S. (gr. III)

Belmont Park, Saturday, September 26, 2015, Race 8
  • 1 1/16m
  • Inner turf
  • $200,000
  • 2 yo
  • 4:51 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Weight Trainer
1 Ray's The Bar (GB) Javier Castellano 118 Chad C. Brown
2 Highland Sky (KY) Cornelio H. Velasquez 118 Barclay Tagg
3 Pagan (NY) Junior Alvarado 118 Dominick Schettino
4 Dissident (KY) Joe Bravo 116 Todd A. Pletcher
5 Isotherm (KY) Jose Lezcano 118 George Weaver
6 Eidmilaad (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 118 Chad C. Brown
7 Next Shares (KY) Joel Rosario 116 William I. Mott
8 Azar (KY) John R. Velazquez 122 Todd A. Pletcher
9 Forever in Love (NY) Jose L. Ortiz 118 Linda Rice
10 Brass Compass (KY) Luis Saez 118 Edward Plesa, Jr.