Intrepid Heart Hopes to Take Flight in Peter Pan

Experience may not be Intrepid Heart's forte coming into the $300,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) May 11 at Belmont Park.

He's only raced twice and will be making his stakes debut in the 1 1/8-mile, one-turn steppingstone prep for the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1).

Yet Intrepid Heart seems as good a candidate as anyone to be a key player in the 3-year-old division, especially during a year in which the disqualified winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) began his career in a $16,000 maiden claimer and two starter races, the horse placed first in the Run for the Roses was eligible for a first-level allowance race, and none of the top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby will race in the May 18 Preakness Stakes (G1).

Trained by three-time Belmont Stakes winner Todd Pletcher, Robert and Lawana Low's son of Tapit  enters the Peter Pan off a pair of wins in as many starts, following a schedule mapped out by Pletcher to prepare his colt for the Peter Pan and beyond.

"He's one we've always had high hopes for. The Peter Pan is something that's been on our radar, and we felt this was the best way to bring him along. We're hoping a good performance in the Peter Pan could earn him a berth in the Belmont," Pletcher said.

Set to face just four 3-year-olds in the Peter Pan, Intrepid Heart began his career with a smashing 7 3/4-length victory in a Feb. 18 two-turn maiden special weight test at Oaklawn Park as a 4-5 favorite. Pletcher then sent him to Keeneland for a 1 1/16-mile allowance race April 5 that Intrepid Heart captured by a half-length.

"We had a few issues with him as a 2-year-old. Just baby stuff. We shipped him to Oaklawn for his debut at a mile and then felt the Keeneland allowance race was the best way to get him ready for the Peter Pan," Pletcher said. "The timing was very good and it kept him at two turns. He stepped up and ran a big race, and hopefully he continues to move forward."

Intrepid Heart's pedigree should not be a problem as three sons of Tapit have won the Belmont since 2014. Out of the Touch Gold mare Flaming Heart, he's a half brother to grade 3 winner Laugh Track and Commissioner , a son of A.P. Indy who fell a head short of winning the Belmont for Pletcher in 2014.

Commissioner's narrow defeat in the Belmont came at the hands of Tonalist , another son of Tapit.

Intrepid Heart was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm and Winchell Thoroughbreds, and the gray colt was bought for $750,000 by the Lows at the 2018 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

The other four starters are also hoping the Peter Pan can be as successful of a Belmont springboard as it was for Tonalist and Commissioner, who ran 1-2 in both races.

Sagamore Farm and WinStar Farm's Global Campaign won his first two starts but was fifth most recently in the March 2 Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

Tracy Farmer's Sir Winston was on the Triple Crown trail as well, finishing seventh in the April 6 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) at Keeneland in his last start.

The Lows and Pletcher are also sending out Federal Case, who was third in the Robert Hilton Memorial Stakes at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races and second in the Hutcheson Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

And then there's Final Jeopardy. He's owned by Gary and Mary West and trained by Jason Servis, the connections who saw Maximum Security taken down in the Kentucky Derby. Coincidentally, Final Jeopardy is coming off a similarly rough race, a sixth-place finish in the April 6 Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack in which he was squeezed at the start and never threatened after.

Entries: Peter Pan S. (G3)

Belmont Park, Saturday, May 11, 2019, Race 4

• Grade III
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $300,000
• 3 yo
• 3:08 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Intrepid Heart (KY)	John R. Velazquez	116	Todd A. Pletcher	7/5
2	2Federal Case (KY)	Javier Castellano	116	Todd A. Pletcher	8/1
3	3Global Campaign (KY)	Luis Saez	116	Stanley M. Hough	8/5
4	4Sir Winston (KY)	Joel Rosario	120	Mark E. Casse	8/1
5	5Final Jeopardy (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	116	Jason Servis	3/1