Mohaymen, Connect Start Season in Westchester
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Mohaymen has not raced since an off-the-board finish in the Aug. 27 King’s Bishop
Shadwell Stable's Mohaymen is set to return to the races in the $200,000 Westchester Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park May 6 after an extensive layoff.
Mohaymen will be making his 4-year-old season debut for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. After finishing off the board in four straight races, the son of Tapit was sent to Shadwell Farm near Lexington, Ky., where he has been thriving and adding weight.
Prior to his losses, which included fourth place finishes in the Xpressbet.com Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (both G1), Mohaymen was undefeated in five starts, four of which were grade 2 races.
Mohaymen has been working steadily at Belmont since shipping there at the beginning of April from Palm Meadows Training Center.
Grade 1 winner Connect is the 4-5 morning-line favorite in the one-mile race for 4-year-olds and older. Trained by Chad Brown for Paul Pompa, Connect is also making his season debut.
In his last race, the 4-year-old son of Curlin finished a head in front of Divining Rod to take the Nov. 26 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack. Finishing third in his only start as a 2-year-old, Connect went on two win five out six races during his 3-year-old season. His only loss came in the grade 1 Travers Stakes, which was won in record time by champion Arrogate.
WINCZE HUGHES: Connect Edges Divining Rod in Cigar Mile
Joining the seven-horse field in the Westchester, Greenpointcrusader will be making his third start of the year. After an allowance/optional claiming win Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park going a mile, the grade 1-winning son of Bernardini finished seventh in the Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3) last time out March 4.
Greenpointcrusader, owned in partnership by St. Elias Stable, MeB Racing Stables, and Brooklyn Boys Stables, won the Champagne Stakes (G1) as a juvenile and finished that year with a seventh-place run in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Keeneland.
At 3 Greenpointcrusader raced only twice, finishing second in the Lambholm South Holy Bull and then seventh in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (both G2).
Trainer Barclay Tagg will send out the improving Realm, who he owns in partnership with Eric Dattner and Harry Astarita. Realm broke into graded stakes company with a third-place finish in the Cigar Mile in his ninth start after previously competing at the allowance level.
The Haynesfield gelding finished third in the Hal's Hope Stakes (G3) at the start of 2017 and was seen last in the Fred W. Hooper, where he finished second by 1 1/4 lengths.
Westchester S. (G3)
Belmont Park, Saturday, May 06, 2017, Race 10
- 1m
- Dirt
- $200,000
- 4 yo's & up
- 5:48 PM (local)
| PP | Horse | Jockey | Wgt | Trainer | M/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1Greenpointcrusader (KY) |
Kendrick Carmouche | 117 | Todd A. Pletcher | 8/1 |
| 2 | 2Virtual Machine (KY) |
Christopher P. DeCarlo | 117 | David A. Cannizzo | 15/1 |
| 3 | 3Mohaymen (KY) |
Manuel Franco | 123 | Kiaran P. McLaughlin | 3/1 |
| 4 | 4Connect (KY) | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | 123 | Chad C. Brown | 4/5 |
| 5 | 5Realm (VA) | Paco Lopez | 115 | Barclay Tagg | 5/1 |
| 6 | 6Vorticity (KY) |
Trevor McCarthy | 115 | Cathal A. Lynch | 20/1 |
| 7 | 7Frammento (KY) |
Angel S. Arroyo | 117 | Nicholas P. Zito | 30/1 |