Bay of Plenty returns from five-month break in Wednesday feature
ELMONT, N.Y. – An impressive winner twice on this circuit in the spring, Bay of Plenty seemed ready to emerge as a 3-year-old to watch for the second half of the year. Unfortunately for him, his second half is now only a quarter as he returns from a five-month layoff Wednesday in a salty second-level allowance race at Belmont Park.
A field of eight was entered for the optional-claiming race, run at a mile with an $80,000 purse, including graded stakes winner Vinceremos, multiple graded stakes-placed Saint Vigeur, and recent first-level allowance winner Mosler.
For Bay of Plenty, Vinceremos, and Mosler, this race could lead to a start in the Grade 3 Discovery at Aqueduct on Nov. 1.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Bay of Plenty. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is 35-11-8-5 with a $2.06 ROI over the past five years on dirt with horses following a win and returning from a layoff of between 61 and 180 days. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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KEY CONTENDERS
Bay of Plenty (Last 3 Beyers: 97-93-76)
◗ He was hampered by slow starts in his first two races this year at Gulfstream Park. When he came to New York, he won a maiden race over Aqueduct’s inner track by 7 1/4 lengths in March and then galloped to a 9 1/4-length, first-level allowance win at Belmont.
◗ He was being considered for the Easy Goer or Dwyer stakes before a foot injury took him out of training for several weeks.
“We had to proceed cautiously,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said. “He was tender mainly on one foot. We’re happy he’s back in the game and doing fabulous. It came up a quality race for an allowance, but we’re happy to get him going.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the last three years, McLaughlin is 21 for 99 with a $1.61 return on investment when bringing a horse back off a layoff of 61 to 180 days on dirt.
◗ “He’s ready to run,” McLaughlin said. “The [rail] is not ideal, and it’s a pretty tough race.”
Vinceremos (Last 3 Beyers: 55-48-90)
◗ The winner of the Grade 2 Sam F. Davis in February, Vinceremos has not raced since finishing 17th in the Kentucky Derby.
◗ Trainer Todd Pletcher said the horse was simply given a vacation at WinStar Farm and has come back “training very well, although he landed in an extremely tough two-other-than.”
◗ He won a one-turn, one-mile race at Gulfstream in January before winning the Sam Davis.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Vinceremos. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 15-6-1-2 with a $2.72 ROI over the past five years with John Velazquez aboard horses in dirt routes returning from a layoff of between 61 and 180 days. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past two years, Pletcher is 32 for 116 with a $2.16 ROI when bringing horses back off a 61- to 180-day layoff on dirt.
Saint Vigeur (Last 3 Beyers: 88-88-78)
◗ This 4-year-old has not started since finishing third in the Coastal Stakes here last Oct. 9. Prior to that, he ran second to Moreno in the Grade 2 Dwyer and second to Freedom Child in the Grade 2 Peter Pan.
◗ Trainer Chad Brown said Saint Vigeur was plagued by little issues that caused him to miss a lot of time.
Mosler (Last 3 Beyers 85-53-78)
◗ The son of War Front is 2 for 2 in one-turn, one-mile races at Belmont.
◗ He was allowed to get away with soft early fractions when taking a first-level allowance race by a half-length last time out here.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Saint Vigeur. Trainer Chad Brown is 12-6-0-1 with a $2.60 ROI over the past two years with horses returning from a layoff of more than 180 days in dirt routes. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan