This Saturday is “Belmont Stakes Day”, the biggest day of thoroughbred racing in New York State. In addition to the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes there will be five other Grade 1 Stakes and a Grade 2 Stakes over the course of the day. The Belmont Stakes wraps up this year’s Triple Crown Series (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes) and concludes what is referred to as the first half of the stakes season for 3 year olds.
While we (Woodford Racing) will not have a horse running in the Belmont Stakes, we will have Campaign running in the Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn Stakes. Like the Belmont Stakes, the Brooklyn Stakes is 1 1/2 miles on the dirt which is truly a marathon distance. Campaign ran fourth in the Brooklyn Stakes in 2019, losing by 3/4’s of a length in a blanket finish. With the addition of blinkers I’m hopeful Campaign will be closer to the pace than he customarily is. He is a deep closer who likes to come from far back which is not a racing style that normally wins marathon races.
As the second half of the stakes season for 3 year olds kicks off, we are excited to see our two promising 3 year old colts enter the picture. First Captain followed up his maiden win on April 24 with a gutsy win on May 29 at Belmont Park. Racing on a muddy track for the first time, First Captain lost the lead in deep stretch but fought back to gain the victory. The distance of the race was a mile which was a nice progression for him. His maiden victory was at 7 furlongs (7/8th’s of a mile).
Click here for First Captain race replay.
First Captain came out of the race in good order and will likely race next at Saratoga Racetrack in late July. While his trainer Shug McGaughey has not picked out a target for his next race, it would seem logical he will try stakes competition going a slightly longer distance. Two options would be the Curlin Stakes on July 30 or the Jim Dandy Stakes on July 31. Both are 1 1/8 miles and are traditional preps for the Grade 1 Travers Stakes on August 28 at Saratoga.
Click here for First Captian (Rising Star) article.
Our other promising 3 year old colt is doing well 3,000 miles away from First Captain. Flightline continues to train at Santa Anita Park in California. His trainer (John Sadler) is in the process of mapping out race targets for the second half of the year. The current thinking is he will run next when racing shifts from Santa Anita Park to Del Mar (San Diego) in early July. Flightline has certainly received a lot of attention since his terrific maiden win on April 24 and we are anxious to see him build on the victory.
Flightline
Flightline
While the Belmont Stakes is one of the smaller fields (8 horses) in recent history, it’s a competitive field. I’m going with Known Agenda who last raced in the Kentucky Derby. Known Agenda’s chances in the Derby were decided when he drew the very difficult post position #1. Hopefully he runs like he did when winning the Florida Derby on March 27 at Gulfstream Park.