All eyes on First Captain, making stakes debut in Dwyer

ELMONT, N.Y. – It remains to be seen if First Captain will be able to join the elite of the 3-year-old male division later this year, but he will enter Monday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Dwyer Stakes as the horse to beat in the one-mile dirt race, which highlights the nine-race Belmont Park card.

First Captain, a $1.5 million yearling purchase at Fasig Tipton Saratoga in 2019, has won his first two starts, both at this meet. In his debut, at seven furlongs, he rallied to beat Mahaamel, who came back to win his maiden impressively next out. On May 29, facing winners for the first time and racing a mile in the slop, First Captain was passed by Hometown in the stretch, but came back on in the final sixteenth to beat that horse by one length.

Trainer Shug McGaughey had originally planned to wait and run First Captain the Curlin Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile race for non-stakes-winning 3-year-olds at Saratoga on July 30, but a combination of this race losing a few key players and how well the horse is doing prompted a change of plans.

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“He lost his whole 2-year-old year, so he’s a bit behind, but the way he came out of his last race and watching him in his stall, he’s just a different horse,” McGaughey said. “He’s starting to catch on, he’s getting more aggressive.”

First Captain is a son of Curlin out of the graded stakes-winning mare America. On June 27, he worked a half-mile in 48 seconds, the fastest of 38 breezes at the distance on the Belmont main track.

Jose Ortiz rides First Captain from post 2.

Snow House is under the radar on trainer Brad Cox’s roster of 3-year-olds. But the son of Twirling Candy is 2 for 2 on dirt, including a tenacious first-level allowance victory over Wayakin at Churchill Downs on May 29. Those two hooked up early on down the backside and sustained their battle to the wire. He was scratched out of Friday night’s Iowa Derby for this spot.

Snow House breaks from the outside post.

“It was nice to see him win a race that was scheduled for the dirt,” Cox said. “We’re happy with how he’s training. … I kind of like the way the Dwyer was coming up and I think it’s a good spot, good post. I think he needs to move forward, but I think he can.”

Gershwin would be the only stakes winner in the field provided he runs. Gershwin was entered in Saturday’s Grade 3 Kent Stakes, scheduled for the turf at Delaware Park. If that race were to stay on the turf, Gershwin would run in the Dwyer.

Gershwin won of the off-the-turf Penn Mile at Penn National on May 28. He is a half-brother to Mystic Guide, the Dubai World Cup winner.

Ridin With Biden was scheduled to scratch from Sunday’s Manila Stakes for this spot, according to trainer Butch Reid. Ridin With Biden has won his last two starts, since he became a calmer horse, Reid said.

“He was a high-energy horse in the stall and on the racetrack,” said Reid, based at Parx. “At Gulfstream Park, he lost his cool going to the gate, jumping all over the place. Since we got him back here, we worked on getting him to settle down and it’s paid dividends.”

Civil War, who has been well beaten in three graded stakes tries, completes the field.