Catholic Boy to Try Dirt in Remsen

Since he was first brought into training at Bridlewood Farm, the connections of Catholic Boy have done their best to figure him out and put him in the best spots.

Their instincts so far have been pretty spot-on. Robert LaPenta's More Than Ready  colt won his debut in July going two turns on the grass at Gulfstream Park, stepped up into graded competition to win the With Anticipation Stakes (G3T), and came within a head of placing in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T).

But according to LaPenta's racing manager John Panagot, Catholic Boy is still growing and developing, so without a big turf target late in the year, they're going to find out if he is a dirt horse in the $250,000 Remsen Stakes (G2) Dec. 2 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"It's a little bit of an experiment," Panagot said of the 1 1/8-mile Remsen. "If there was a race for a half-million dollars on the turf, it would be hard to pass up. ... But we know the horse now. What we want to know now is if he can run the way he trains on the dirt. If he can, we can open up a whole new avenue. He's a mile-and-an-eighth or a mile-and-a-quarter horse. He's going to want the distance. The hope is he wants it on the dirt."

The idea that the Jonathan Thomas-trained Catholic Boy needs more ground to work with has been a challenge from the start. Early on as a 2-year-old, two-turn opportunities are not all that plentiful, so the reason he was sent out for his debut on the grass had more to do with the distance (7 1/2 furlongs) than the surface.

"He always trained well on the dirt, but we started him on the turf because it was a two-turn race at Gulfstream," Panagot said. "He needed the 7 1/2, because we didn't want to mess around with a dirt sprint. He was a steady work horse—kinda one-paced, maybe—but he was good enough to win that day, and then we had the guts to take him to Saratoga."

They may have had the guts, but the bettors weren't convinced in the Aug. 30 With Anticipation. Off at 12-1 he displayed that steady grind in upper stretch, but had a nice burst late to pass Irish Territory and win by a length.

LARUE: Catholic Boy Prevails in With Anticipation

Catholic Boy's Breeders' Cup run wasn't ideal for a few reasons—he was shuffled back and lost a length or two in the first turn, and the mile distance isn't his sweet spot—but he certainly was competitive and finished fourth, just a length and a half behind winner Mendelssohn.

So what will the Catholic Boy crew do if he wins or runs well in the Remsen? Well, that's not so easy to say.

"It definitely would (complicate things)," Panagot said. "I'd have to really see—and I do play the hypothetical game, because that's a big part of management—but I'd have to see how he runs and how good the race is, and do we believe in it. We can run him on dirt in March before you have to miss an opportunity on the grass. Before May we want to have the horse figured out. Is he turf? Is he dirt? Is he both?"

While Catholic Boy has done all his racing on the grass, Godolphin's Avery Island has been locked in on the dirt. The Street Sense  colt trained by Kiaran McLaughlin has had little competition in his last two starts, first in his maiden-breaking victory at Belmont Park (by 5 1/4 lengths) and then in his stakes debut at Aqueduct in the Nov. 5 Nashua Stakes (G2), when he scored by 4 3/4 lengths.

SHEA: Avery Island Spurts Away in Nashua Stakes

"He's doing very well and just had a nice work, so he's ready to go. Hopefully he keeps improving, since the races are going to get tougher," McLaughlin said of the likely Remsen favorite. "But we think he'll like the mile and an eighth. He's doing everything right. He's stepped up before and we think he'll like the distance."

Entries: Remsen S. (G2)

Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, December 02, 2017, Race 9

• Grade II
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 2 yo
• 3:45 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Bandito (KY)	Luis Saez	116	Dale L. Romans	15/1
2	2Triple Dog Dare (KY)	Javier Castellano	116	Rudy R. Rodriguez	6/1
3	3Avery Island (KY)	Joe Bravo	122	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	3/1
4	4Biblical (KY)	John R. Velazquez	116	Todd A. Pletcher	8/1
5	5Catholic Boy (KY)	Manuel Franco	120	Jonathan Thomas	5/1
6	6Millionaire Runner (KY)	Oscar Ulloa	116	Jaime Mejia	50/1
7	7Alkhaatam (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	116	Chad C. Brown	7/2
8	8Vouch (KY)	Joel Rosario	116	Arnaud Delacour	6/1
9	9V. I. P. Code (MD)	Carlos Quinones	116	Phil Schoenthal	20/1
10	10Tap Rap Strike (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	116	John C. Servis	8/1