Absent Maven, Tremont Stakes is wide open

ELMONT, N.Y. – Maven, a debut winner with an 84 Beyer Speed Figure at Aqueduct in April, would most likely have been favored in Friday’s $150,000 Tremont Stakes for juveniles at Belmont Park. But on Wednesday, trainer Wesley Ward put him on a flight to England, where he will run in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 20.

Thus, the Tremont, at 5 1/2-furlongs on dirt, becomes a wide-open affair with the likely favorites being Memorable, a debut winner for Steve Asmussen at Churchill Downs on May 2, and Fore Left, a debut winner for Doug O’Neill at Santa Anita on May 19.

Ward is still expected to be represented in the Tremont by the filly Dixie Mo, who was expected to scratch from Thursday’s $150,000 Astoria Stakes here. Rookie Salsa, the only two-time winner in the field, and maidens Theitalianamerican, Now Is, and Federale complete the field.

In his debut, Memorable, a son of Uncle Mo, dueled outside the filly Lady Delaware, repelled a challenge from Enforceable, and went on to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

“I was impressed with it. Didn’t break great and accelerated immediately,” Asmussen said. “He looked handy.”

Asmussen noted that Memorable isn’t very big, but “he’s a solid horse that is very quick and deserves this chance.”

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Fore Left, a son of Twirling Candy, showed good speed in his 4 1/2-furlong debut at Santa Anita, and just held on by a neck over Phantom Boss. He is coming back in just 19 days, shipping cross-country, and stretching out an additional furlong.

Mid-Atlantic shippers Our Braintrust and He Hate Me have won the last two runnings of the Tremont. Thursday, Rookie Salsa, the only two-time winner in the field, ships in from Maryland for trainer Jeremiah O’Dwyer. Already, Rookie Salsa has won a maiden race at 8-1 and shipped to Churchill Downs to win the Kentucky Juvenile at 27-1 on May 1.

“I don’t believe my horse has plateaued. I still believe there’s more to come. We’re going to keep going forward,” O’Dwyer said. “I tried to give him an easy week when he came from Kentucky, but he was tearing the place down and we had to go back to the track. He’s a genuine, straightforward horse who loves his training, loves his work.”

Ward scratched Dixie Mo out of Thursday’s Tremont because he didn’t want to run her against Ms Headley. Dixie Mo won her debut by four lengths at Indiana Grand on May 10, but Ward has seen a different filly in her two subsequent works.

“She’s kind of a big, lanky kind of filly, but her works since have been really good, like the light bulb went on,” Ward said.

Theitalianamerican, a New York-bred trained by Gary Contessa, was well bet in his debut on May 10 at Belmont. He appeared to be struggling on the turn, was 12 lengths back, but made up a ton of ground to be beaten just a head.

Phil Gleaves has entered the maidens Now Is and Federale. Now Is, owned in part by former Daily Racing Form publisher Steven Crist, finished third here on May 25. Federale was a runner-up to Tomato Bill in a May 22 maiden affair at Delaware.