Star-Studded Super Saturday at Belmont
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Flat Out (outside) looks to win his third Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday at Belmont Park (Photos courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire).
For East Coast horses seeking to punch a ticket to the Breeders’ Cup, the Super Saturday card at Belmont Park this weekend features six Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” races. So for many of racing’s top stars, Belmont will be the final stop on the road to this year’s World Championships on Nov. 1-2.
Saturday’s card features five Grade 1 races and is highlighted by the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, which brings together two-time defending winner Flat Out and some of the best older horses in the country with two of the top 3-year-olds of 2013 who will face older horses for the first time.
Flat Out has a special affinity for Belmont Park, where he has five wins and one third in six career starts. In addition to the 2011 and 2012 editions of the Jockey Club Gold Cup, he also has won the Suburban Handicap twice at Belmont.
Flat Out can join some elite company with a win in the 2013 Jockey Club Gold Cup. The only horse in Jockey Club Gold Cup history to win the race more than twice was Kelso, who won the iconic race a remarkable five years in a row from 1960-1964.
“I think it's great a horse can participate in it three times in a row,” said Flat Out’s Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who trains Flat Out for Preston Racing. “It's a testament to the horse's durability and class.”
Flat Out’s only defeat at Belmont came in the Met Mile earlier this year, a race in which Cross Traffic finished ahead of him in second. Cross Traffic came back and won the Whitney Handicap in August to stamp himself a big-time contender for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
SUPER SATURDAY: GET IN THE GAME
Kentucky Derby winner Orb and Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice will be tested against older horses for the first time in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, a 1 ¼-mile test that has for years pitted the best 3-year-olds against older competition as a measuring stick of true ability.
Orb enters the Jockey Club Gold Cup off a third-place finish in the Travers Stakes in his first race since competing in all three legs of the 2013 Triple Crown.
“I think the Travers helped him,” said Shug McGaughey, Orb’s Hall of Fame trainer.
“I thought he ran a very good race in the Travers and he came out of it very good. … I think we've got a fresh horse that's going in the right direction with a good, solid race under his belt.”
Palace Malice finished a troubled fourth in the Travers after winning the Jim Dandy Stakes.
The winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup earns an automatic starting spot in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The Beldame Invitational Stakes provides perhaps the best head-to-head matchup of an action-packed weekend of racing across the country when Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar faces two-time champion Royal Delta.
ROYAL DELTA WILL BE ATTEMPTING TO WIN HER SECOND BELDAME INVITATIONAL
Princess of Sylmar has reeled off three straight Grade 1 wins and won five of six races third year to establish herself as the clear leader of the 3-year-old division. In Royal Delta, she will face a 5-year-old with 12 wins in 20 starts, including back-to-back editions of the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (a name that was switched back to the Distaff this year), and earned more than $4.6 million. Royal Delta, like Princess of Sylmar, has been in great form with Grade 1 wins in the Delaware and Personal Ensign Handicaps in her two most recent starts.
The Beldame, a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares, drew six contenders and offers the winner an automatic spot in this year’s Distaff. For fans, it offers the chance to watch to of the best female racehorses in training meet on the track.
KENTUCKY OAKS WINNER PRINCESS OF SYLMAR WILL BE FACING OLDER HORSES FOR THE FIRST TIME
The Super Saturday card also features the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes. Run at 1 ¼ miles on the grass, the Turf Classic is a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Turf. The signature showdown in the Turf Classic is between Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes winner Big Blue Kitten and Arlington Million Stakes winner Real Solution, both homebreds of Ken and Sarah Ramsey.
Grade 1 winner Laughing puts her three-race winning streak on the line in the $600,000 Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes, which offers the winner a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
The $400,000 Vosburgh Stakes serves as a steppingstone to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with a “Win and You’re In” berth on the line. The $400,000 Kelso Handicap drew Grade 1 winners Graydar, Jackson Bend and Hymn Book with a starting spot in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile up for grabs.
$1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup
Race 10, 5:49 p.m. ET
3-year-olds and older, 1 1/4 miles (Dirt)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
1
Ron the Greek
Jose Lezcano
126
Bill Mott
2
Orb
Javier Castellano
122
Shug McGaughey
3
Last Gunfighter
Rajiv Maragh
126
Chad Brown
4
Vitoria Olimpica
Irad Ortiz Jr.
126
Todd Pletcher
5
Alpha
Joe Bravo
126
Kiaran McLaughlin
6
Flat Out
Junior Alvarado
126
Bill Mott
7
Palace Malice
Mike Smith
122
Todd Pletcher
8
Cross Traffic
John Velazquez
126
Todd Pletcher
$600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes
Race 9, 5:17 p.m. ET
3-year-olds and older, 1 1/2 miles, Turf
PP
Horse
Jockey
Trainer
1
Nutello
Jose Lezcano
Graham Motion
2
a-Imagining
John Velazquez
Shug McGaughey
3
b-Big Blue Kitten
Joe Bravo
Chad Brown
4
Slumber
Junior Alvarado
Bill Mott
5
b-Real Solution
Alan Garcia
Chad Brown
6
Twilight Eclipse
Javier Castellano
Tom Albertrani
7
a-Boisterous
John Velazquez
Shug McGaughey
8
b-Joes Blazing Aaron
Rajiv Maragh
Mike Maker
9
King Kreesa
Irad Ortiz Jr.
Jeremiah Englehart
10
Little Mike
Mike Smith
Dale Romans
a- Phipps Stable entry. b- Ken & Sarah Ramsey entry.
All assigned 126 pounds.
$600,000 Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes
Race 8, 4:45 p.m. ET
3-year-olds and older, fillies and mares, 1 1/4 miles (Inner Turf)
PP
Horse
Trainer
Jockey
Weight
1
Tannery
Alan Goldberg
Javier Castellano
121
2
Mystical Star
Christophe Clement
Junior Alvarado
119
3
Somali Lemonade
Michael Matz
Luis Saez
119
4
Valiant Star
Graham Motion
Irad Ortiz Jr.
119
5
Kissable
Roger Attfield
Mike Smith
119
6
Qushchi
Graham Motion
Edgar Prado
119
7
Laughing
Alan Goldberg
Jose Lezcano
123
8
White Rose
Bill Mott
John Velazquez
115
$400,000 Vosburgh Invitational Stakes
Race 7, 4:13 p.m. ET
3-year-olds and older, 6 Furlongs
PP
Horse
Jockey
Weight
Trainer
1
Forty Tales
Javier Castellano
122
Todd Pletcher
2
Justin Phillip
John Velazquez
124
Steve Asmussen
3
Bahamian Squall
Luis Saez
124
David Fawkes
4
Strapping Groom
Junior Alvarado
124
David Jacobson
5
The Lumber Guy
Mike Luzzi
124
Michael Hushion
6
Palace
Cornelio Velasquez
124
Linda Rice
7
Candyman E
Joe Bravo
124
Michael Mareina
8
Private Zone
Martin Pedroza
124
Doug O'Neill
$400,000 Kelso Handicap
Race 6, 3:41 p.m. ET
3-year-olds and older, 1 mile (Dirt)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
1
a-Easter Gift
Mike Smith
116
Chad Brown
2
Graydar
Edgar Prado
120
Todd Pletcher
3
Praetereo
Junior Alvarado
114
David Jacobson
4
a-Jackson Bend
Javier Castellano
118
Stanley Gold
5
Hymn Book
John Velazquez
116
Shug McGaughey
6
Souper Speedy
Jose Lezcano
115
Tom Albertrani
7
Brujo de Olleros
Alan Garcia
115
Rick Mettee
a – Robert LaPenta entry
$400,000 Beldame Invitational Stakes
Race 5, 3 p.m. EDT
3-year-olds and older, fillies and mares, 1 1/8 miles (dirt)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Weight
Trainer
Odds
1
Roman Invader
Junior Alvarado
123
David Jacobson
20-1
2
Princess of Sylmar
Javier Castellano
120
Todd Pletcher
2-1
3
And Why Not
Luis Saez
123
Michael Matz
20-1
4
Royal Delta
Mike Smith
123
Bill Mott
3-5
5
Centring
Rajiv Maragh
123
Tom Albertrani
8-1
6
Lady Cohiba
Irad Ortiz Jr.
123
Christophe Clement
15-1