Brown has shot in both Friday turf features
ELMONT, N.Y. – A pair of $80,000 allowance races scheduled for the turf, one short and one long, highlight Friday’s Belmont card.
Chad Brown, the leading trainer through the first 13 days of the meet, has a contender in each of the co-features. In the third race, a first-level allowance for 3-year-old males scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf, Brown sends out Request, whose two best races have come at Belmont.
In the eighth race, a second-level allowance race for fillies and mares at six furlongs, Brown runs Hillhouse High at the shortest distance of her career.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Hillhouse High. Trainer Chad Brown is 10 for 28 with a $2.20 ROI over the past two years in turf sprints following a layoff of between 31 and 60 days. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Last September, on a “good” Belmont turf course, Request won his debut by a neck in a race that included Mr Speaker. After finishing ninth to Mr Speaker in the Grade 3 Dania Beach Stakes at Gulfstream in December, Request was off for seven months before finishing second in an allowance here to Give No Quarter.
Most recently, at Saratoga, Request finished fifth as the 9-5 favorite in an optional claimer. On Friday, he gets blinkers for the first time.
“He ran a good number at Belmont, and I’ve been wanting to focus that horse up a little bit,” Brown said.
J to the Croft, Mark My Way, and Here’s Johnny look formidable if the race remains on turf. Three Alarm Fire and First Bid would become the major players if the race is moved to the main track.
Brown said he is experimenting by running Hillhouse High at six furlongs in the eighth race. She has recorded both of her wins at Belmont, going a mile last fall and seven furlongs in June. In the Tenski Stakes, going a two-turn mile at Saratoga, she closed well to finish third, beaten a half-length.
“What gives me confidence is in the seven-eighths race, at the [eighth pole], she was already in front,” Brown said. “Granted, that was on firm turf in the summer, where the fractions can be ridiculous. I do think she’s tactical enough to be there.”
THIRD RACE
Key Contenders
J to the Croft (Last 3 Beyers: 81-85-84)
◗ He makes his first start in 69 days.
◗ Over the last three years, trainer Steve Klesaris is 2 for 22 with a $1.49 return on investment on turf with horses returning from a layoff of greater than 60 days.
Request (Last 3 Beyers: 78-83-70)
◗ He gets blinkers for the first time.
◗ Over the last three years on the New York Racing Association circuit, trainer Chad Brown is 2 for 14 with a $1.29 ROI with turf horses getting blinkers for the first time. One of those winners was Ball Dancing in the Grade 2 Sands Point.
EIGHTH RACE
Key Contenders
More Than Faith
◗ She makes her first start in the United States and her first for trainer Graham Motion after making the first six starts of her career in Australia.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 More Than Faith. Trainer Graham Motion is 2 for 18 with a $0.83 ROI over the past five years in turf sprints following a layoff of 180 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t end up wanting to run further,” Motion said. “I just thought this was a good spot to start based on what she’d been doing on the racetrack.”
Hillhouse High (Last 3 Beyers 83-75-80)
◗ She returns to Belmont, where she has a 2-1-0 record from three starts.
◗ “I don’t know if six [furlongs] is too short for her or not, but I do prefer to run her around one turn,” Brown said.