Curalina, who overcame a disastrous start to rally from last and win Saturday’s Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park, likely will make her next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga on July 26, trainer Todd Pletcher said.
With five starts in the first five months and a week in 2015, Wedding Toast, the winner of the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park, could get a little freshening.
Topara failed at odds of 1-to-2 in his Indiana Grand debut, but he could be a more appealing proposition at several times that price in the six-furlong, $85,000 Sagamore Sired Stakes for Indiana-sired 3-year-olds on Wednesday at Indiana Grand.
Long or short? One turn or two? Those are two of the main questions trainer Shug McGaughey must now entertain when it comes to his newly minted Grade 1 millionaire Honor Code, who zoomed from last to first to win last Saturday’s $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.
The second half of the Belmont Park spring-summer meet – also known as the calm after the storm – kicks off Wednesday with a nine-race card highlighted by a competitive $85,000 third-level allowance race scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf.
Frosted had moved into second leaving the five-sixteenths pole of Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, and for a moment, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin allowed himself to get excited.
After winning the Triple Crown, what can a horse do for an encore? It is a question that has not been asked for 37 years, but as with the 11 who preceded him, American Pharoah will get a chance to further cement his legacy with a post-Triple Crown campaign before he goes off to stud.
If you plan to do handicapping Wednesday, leave plenty of time for the two stakes at Delaware Park. The $50,000 Justakiss, for fillies and mares on the turf, has been split into divisions, and sorting out the fields is no easy task.
Fury Stakes winner London Tower finished her preparation for Sunday’s $500,000 Woodbine Oaks last Friday with a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.40 on the turf training track.
Lucky Willy appears primed to get his second win in a first-level allowance race for 3-year-olds and up that will serve as the feature race on Wednesday night at Northlands Park.
