Belmont: Imagining looks to be the Bowl Game speed

ELMONT, N.Y. – Speed has been deadly on the inner turf lately, which bodes well for morning-line favorite and probable pacesetter Imagining in Thursday’s $100,000 Bowl Game overnight stakes.

The Bowl Game, scheduled for 1 1/4 miles on the inner course, is race 8 and the penultimate leg of a pick 6 with a $35,850 carryover.

A baker’s dozen were entered for turf, while Cease would only run in the event of a switch to the main track at 1 1/8 miles.

The lineup includes eight horses who have won stakes on three continents. Among them is Imagining, who has solid credentials and drops from a sixth in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, a race in which he brushed repeatedly with the eventual runner-up turning for home. Over the past two seasons, the Phipps Stable homebred is 4 for 4 against non-graded stakes company, winning those races by a combined 15 3/4 lengths, the most recent score coming in the Idle Rich overnight stakes at Saratoga. That was the first start in blinkers for Imagining, who cruised on the lead and was not fully extended to record a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He’s a very talented horse, and he’s a free-running horse,” said trainer Shug McGaughey, who put the blinkers on after Imagining appeared to jump tire tracks in a Fair Hill workout. “He doesn’t want you to mess with him.”

Nine of 16 races on the inner turf from Oct. 6-14 went to front-runners, and Imagining should be able to make the lead, because although Hobbs and Quick Casablanca led early in their last starts, that’s atypical for both.

Quick Casablanca, a dual Group 1 winner in South America, has run four times in the United States for Christophe Clement. His two fastest races have been delivered at 1 1/4 miles on the inner course, most recently a fourth in the Grade 2 Bowling Green at boxcar odds. “Obviously, it was a very ambitious spot,” said Clement.

Toting 123 pounds, London Lane takes the worst of the weights under the allowance conditions, due to his shocking 50-1 upset in the Grade 2 Colonial Turf Cup three starts back.

“The horse always tries,” said Maryland-based trainer Larry Murray. “It may not always show in the final results, but he never gives up.”

Royal Bench, a Group 2 winner in France, recently won the Cape Henlopen Stakes at Delaware Park for trainer Tom Voss.