Classy Yanks vs. Euro Invaders in Hill Prince

You wouldn’t be out of line if you called the $500,000 Hill Prince Stakes for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park Oct. 4 the best grade III race of the year.

The 1 1/8-mile inner turf grass test would have been a top-class race with just the presence of major stakes horses Mr Speaker, Ring Weekend, Tourist, and Sheldon. But a surprising three-pronged European attack adds more luster to the race.

Mr Speaker is a grade I winner, capturing the Belmont Derby in July before trying the dirt in the Travers Stakes (gr. I), where he finished a respectable fifth. Ring Weekend, winner of the grade II Tampa Bay Derby earlier in the year, is coming off an impressive three-length victory in the Saranac Stakes (gr. IIIT) over Smooth Daddy, who also is in the field of 10.

The speedy Tourist and the late-running Sheldon are coming off second and third-place finishes, respectively, in the Secretariat Stakes (gr. IT) on the grass at Arlington International Racecourse. Aidan O’Brien won the 1 1/4-mile event with Adelaide, so the American pair will be looking for revenge against the three Europeans, one of whom has been turned over to Christophe Clement.

That horse is the hard-knocking Blacktype, a former French-trained colt who comes to America off two wins, two seconds, and two thirds in his last six starts. Last time out he was second in the Prix du Bois de Boulogne at Longchamp under 130 pounds.

Jeremy Noseda sends over the lightly raced Sloane Avenue, a son of Candy Ride   who won both his starts in England on a synthetic track, but was fifth at Newmarket in his only turf start.

The final European is Cabral, a son of Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) runner-up Henrythenavigator, who has been in the money in six of his seven career starts including a victory at Deauville in his last start.

Both Blacktype and Sloane Avenue will race on Lasix for the first time.

We have no idea how good these Euros are and how they will fare in America, but they will have to run the race of their lives in order to defeat the talented group of Americans.

Mr Speaker, trained by Shug McGaughey, has won the Dania Beach Stakes (gr. IIIT) on grass and the Lexington Stakes (gr. II) on the fromer Polytrack surface at Keeneland. In his Belmont Derby victory he closed with a big late run to collar the heavily favored Adelaide, who came right back and won the Secretariat.

Ring Weekend, owned by St. Elias Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds, was on the Triple Crown trail after his 14-1 score in the Tampa Derby, but was a well-beaten second in the Calder Derby. The son of Tapit   followed that up with a fifth in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), and after being pulled up in the grade III Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park, was returned to the grass, where he was second in the Sir Cat Stakes at Saratoga before easily winning the Saranac.

Tourist was the wire-to-wire winner of the Sir Cat and then set all the pace in the Secreteriat Stakes, opening a big lead early and battling on gamely to finish a clear-cut second over the improving Sheldon.