Bakken faces six quality rivals in sprint feature
While there is no stakes race at Belmont Park on Thursday per sé, the featured optional claimer with third-level allowance conditions could easily pass for one.
Carded as race 8, and thus the penultimate leg of the pick six and the late pick four, the $85,000, six-furlong dash attracted a salty field of seven that includes Bakken, the runner-up in last year’s True North; and Catron, who has won 3 of 5 starts, including both Belmont outings by a combined margin of nearly eight lengths.
Also likely to have a say in the outcome is Scarly Charly, the fourth-place finisher in the Grade 2 Kelso when he last ran over “Big Sandy” last fall.
Loki’s Vengeance and John’s Island, a pair of New York-breds who finished first and third, respectively, in the Affirmed Success Stakes during the opening week of the meeting, lend additional depth to the field.
Doubledown Again and Castaway are in for the $80,000 optional-claiming price, and look to be in tough while seeking their first victories over the track.
KEY CONTENDERS
Bakken (Last 3 Beyers: 101-84-83)
◗ Returned from a four-month layoff on the third day of the meeting, he was a close second in an optional claimer to eventual Diablo Stakes winner Stallwalkin’ Dude, whose four-race win streak recently came to an end with a second-place finish in the True North.
◗ Trainer Chad Brown thought enough of him to run in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint, in which he was beaten 3 1/2 lengths after racing wide, being bumped, and having the rider lose the whip.
◗ He is the only member of the field to have recorded two triple-digit Beyer Figures.
◗ He picks up meet-leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Bakken. Finished second at this level last out, and the race yielded three next-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Catron (Last 3 Beyers: 102-84-89)
◗ Although the Todd Pletcher-trained horse has been idle since garnering his second-level allowance condition early at Belmont’s 2014 spring-summer session, he is perfect from two starts over the track, and has won both of his previous six-furlong starts.
◗ He has had a published workout at Saratoga every 6 to 7 days since arriving upstate in early May, including two bullets.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Catron. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 13-0-0-3 over the past five years in sprints following a layoff of one year or more; 7-0-0-2 when favored. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Scarly Charly (Last 3 Beyers: 91-89-96)
◗ Three appearances at Belmont include respectable efforts in the Met Mile and the Kelso, along with a preliminary allowance win. His Beyers for those races were 97-96-96, respectively.
◗ He gets weight from the field with meet-leading apprentice Eric Cancel in the irons.