Unbeaten Analyze It Looms Large in Pennine Ridge

Twenty-four hours before his champion stablemate stamped his readiness for the most significant 3-year-old race in the sport, Analyze It had some wondering whether the claim of best sophomore male runner in trainer Chad Brown's barn was still up for grabs.

In his season debut and third career start, the son of Point of Entry  kicked off a productive opening weekend at Keeneland for his two-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner when he left his 10 challengers toiling during his 5 1/4-length triumph in the April 6 Kentucky Utilities Transylvania Stakes (G3T). Though his barn mate, juvenile champion and eventual Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) runner-up Good Magic, prevailed in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) one day later, the explosiveness Analyze It showed over the yielding course that afternoon resonated.

"All around, he's just a real special horse," Brown said.

The next opportunity for William Lawrence's unbeaten colt to bolster the already high regards his connections have for him comes June 2 when he faces seven challengers in the $200,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes (G3T) on the inner turf at Belmont Park.

It was on the Belmont Widener Course in October where Analyze It provided the first sample size of his ability, winning a one-mile maiden test by 6 1/4 lengths in his career debut. A test against stakes company was the next logical step—one the bay colt hurdled with ease in the form of a gate-to-wire, 4 1/4-length victory in the Nov. 26 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes (G3T) at Del Mar.

Having been on or near the front end in those first two starts, Analyze It showed he had the handiness to work out a trip in the 1 1/16-mile Transylvania when he broke from the outside post in the 11-horse field and rated kindly in third for jockey Jose Ortiz behind longshot pacesetter Beer Pressure.

"He got the race he needed," Brown said of the Transylvania. "He's had plenty of time since, and we hope he takes another step forward."

Bred in Kentucky by Headley Bell, Nancy Bell, and NATO, Analyze It will break from post 4 in the 1 1/8-mile Pennine Ridge, which is slated to serve as a prep for the June 8 Belmont Derby Invitational (G1T).

Multiple graded stakes winner Catholic Boy, who gave some admirable accounts of himself on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, is set to return to the lawn for the first time since his fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) in November. The son of More Than Ready  was switched to the main track after the Breeders' Cup outing and put himself in the mix as a potential classic runner with a victory in the Dec. 2 Remsen Stakes (G2).

Following a runner-up finish in the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) and a fourth-place run in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) in his two starts this year, Catholic Boy was moved back to the turf, the surface on which he captured the Aug. 30 With Anticipation Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Race Course and won his career debut at Gulfstream Park in July.

"The only hindrance in the Pennine Ridge is that Analyze It is an absolute beast," said Jonathan Thomas, trainer of Catholic Boy. "He's a tremendous horse trained by a tremendous trainer, but that's what happens when you run in New York in these races. It's OK. We're really pleased with our horse and where we stand. We're trying to learn a little bit, and it gives us a look for the Belmont Derby and to see if this is the direction we want to take.

"We're not really cranked, cranked for this. We gave him a little time, but the timing is coming up well, and it's a good spot to get started for the summer."

The Graham Motion-trained Untamed Domain also returned to the turf following a brief dirt flirtation with the run-up to the first Saturday in May. Second to Mendelssohn in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Untamed Domain tried the main track in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) but tired to finish sixth. The son of Animal Kingdom  has only been off the board once in seven turf starts, and he backed up that solid form last time out when he finished in a dead-heat for second in the May 5 American Turf Stakes presented by Ram Trucks (G2T) at Churchill Downs.

Entries: Pennine Ridge S. (G3T)

Belmont Park, Saturday, June 02, 2018, Race 9

• Grade III
• 1 1/8m
• Inner turf
• $200,000
• 3 yo
• 5:50 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Up the Ante (KY)	David Cohen	117	Christophe Clement	10/1
2	2Hawkish (KY)	Manuel Franco	117	James J. Toner	7/2
3	3Catholic Boy (KY)	Javier Castellano	123	Jonathan Thomas	4/1
4	4Analyze It (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	121	Chad C. Brown	4/5
5	5Irish Territory (IRE)	Junior Alvarado	115	William I. Mott	15/1
6	6Untamed Domain (KY)	Joe Bravo	121	H. Graham Motion	5/1
7	7Archaggelos (KY)	Rajiv Maragh	121	Michael W. Dickinson	20/1
8	8Channel Cat (KY)	Luis Saez	117	Todd A. Pletcher	20/1