Belmont week stakes lure overseas shippers

ELMONT, N.Y. – Seven overseas shippers are set to participate in stakes races at Belmont on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, including a rare European starter in the Metropolitan Handicap.

The 4-year-old Galileo filly Brandybend starts Thursday for trainer Marco Botti in the new Belmont Coronation Invitational for fillies and mares going 1 15/16 miles on turf. Brandybend races with Lasix and might appreciate what ought to be fairly firm ground here. But she has never run beyond 1 1/2 miles and will need a career-best performance to factor.

The three Euros on Friday’s card are Havana Moon and Kyllachy Queen in the New York Stakes and Now We Can in the Gold Cup. Both fillies in the New York, Havana Moon for Mikel Delzangles and Kyllachy Queen for Marco Botti, are 4 and have never won a group race. Both have tons of form to find to come close to the likes of Sea Calisi, the probable favorite who twice finished third in overseas Group 1 races last year. Now We Can is making his second trip to North America, having finished fourth way back in October 2013 in the Canadian International.

Oathkeeper on Saturday appears to be in water too deep as part of an excellent field in the Grade 1 Manhattan, but Irish Rookie has a chance in the Grade 1 Just a Game. The 4-year-old Irish Rookie, who was considered for the Breeders’ Cup Mile last fall, finished second in the Group 1 French 1000 Guineas and third in the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes last season. She goes well on good to firm ground and probably has a much better shot than her two starts this season would suggest.

Sloane Avenue is the horse for the Metropolitan, and he too is better than his 2016 form. Sloane Avenue finished second by a nose two springs ago in the Godolphin Mile on the Dubai World Cup Card, and owing to an extended recovery time from injury, his preparation for that race this year was very rushed, trainer Jeremy Noseda said in Dubai a couple of months ago.