An alert start would help Easter's chances in turf marathon
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ELMONT, N.Y. – The odds board suggested that Easter, not Highland Chief, had the better chance to upset last month’s Grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont for trainer Graham Motion.
The odds board, not always an accurate predictor of outcomes in horse racing, was proven wrong when Highland Chief won the Man o’ War as the 19-1 longest shot in the field while Easter could do no better than fourth at 14-1.
Thursday, Easter figures to be a shorter price when he returns to the first-level allowance ranks in a 1 3/8-mile turf race that serves as Belmont Park’s feature on a twilight program that begins at 3:05 p.m.
Thursday’s card kicks off a rare five-day race week at Belmont, one that concludes with a July Fourth program on Monday. That is followed by a three-day race week (July 8-10) before racing moves to Saratoga on July 14.
Easter, a French-bred gelding by Exosphere, made his North American debut at Aqueduct on Good Friday, finishing third in this same condition going 1 1/16 miles after breaking slow. In the Man o’ War, Easter was again hampered by a pedestrian break.
“He has been very sluggish getting out of the gate, which is part of the reason why I want to run him again at that distance,” Motion said Monday. “He’s hurt himself with his gate antics. I think Flavien [Prat] knows him a little bit now. He’s a little bit of a quirky horse.”
The tardy start and slow pace in the Man o’ War definitely hindered Easter, who did make a rally along the rail. He was second to Highland Chief approaching the eighth pole but was overtaken by Grade 1 winners Gufo and Yibir in the lane. All told, Easter was beaten only four lengths by Highland Chief, who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Manhattan in his subsequent start.
“He wasn’t beaten very far,” Motion said of Easter. “If he can duplicate that effort, hopefully, he should be very competitive.”
Prat rides Easter from post 7.
Q F Seventy Five, trained by Christophe Clement, may have the tactical edge in this 11-furlong race. The 4-year-old gelding looks like the primary speed under Joel Rosario. He used those front-running tactics to win a 1 1/8-mile maiden race at Gulfstream Park in February. Most recently, he ran away to a large advantage in an allowance race only to be run down late when finishing second in this condition over yielding ground.
Balthus, trained by Chad Brown, comes off a dominant six-length win versus maidens going 1 1/4 miles here May 20. Prior to that, he was beaten a neck in a 1 1/8-mile race at Aqueduct. Those two races came with blinkers on and were superior to his previous starts without them.
Beauty Amazed makes his first start in the United States, first for Todd Pletcher, first as a gelding, and first on Lasix. He won a 1 1/4-mile maiden race over the synthetic surface at Dundalk in February.
Hard Rye Guy, Dante’s Fire, Trending, Hilliard, and Conquer the World complete the field on turf. Therisastormbrewin is entered as a main track only.