Brown's Manhattan monopoly likely to continue

ELMONT, N.Y. – Once upon a time, back in the olden days, someone besides trainer Chad Brown would win the Manhattan Stakes.

A return to that bygone era does not seem particularly likely Saturday at Belmont.

Brown won the Manhattan last year with Flintshire, won it with Slumber in 2015, with Real Solution in 2014, and in 2012 with Desert Blanc. Shug McGaughey in 2013 had the audacity to interrupt the parade with Point of Entry.

With one-third of the nine-horse field, Brown looks loaded again this year for the Grade 1, $1 million turf race contested at 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf course. The capable Wake Forest will be the longest price among Brown’s trio, with Beach Patrol taking more support and Time Test perhaps the race favorite.

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Time Test, like Flintshire last year, was moved from owner and breeder Juddmonte Farms’s overseas stables to Brown’s East Coast-based operation. Time Test, a 5-year-old by Dubawi, has not reached Flintshire’s grand heights, but he’s really good, though the depth of his talent is somewhat obscured by a weakness: wet turf.

“This horse is looking for firm ground,” Brown said, and Time Test often has had trouble finding it. He shipped into a week of cold rain at the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Mile and encountered a course far softer than its official “good” designation. When Brown gave Time Test his first U.S. start since 2015 on May 6 in the Fort Marcy, he caught more sodden ground, finishing second to an inferior foe. “It just didn’t work out for him,” Brown said. “He was on his wrong lead, just not comfortable on that type of ground. He’s come back and trained like a bear.”

Belmont took less rain midweek than had been forecast, and the course Saturday should be ideal for Time Test.

Beach Patrol, who could lead under Florent Geroux, has finished second in Grade 1 races in his last three starts. Wake Forest will appreciate firmer turf but is a half-notch below.

World Approval, third in this race last year, sharply won the Dixie Stakes last out and looms a major player. The talented Divisidero beat Beach Patrol in the Turf Classic at Churchill and, after a slow start to his season, is back to his best.

“You can tell how happy he is right now,” trainer Buff Bradley said.

Also entered are Ascend, an improving 5-year-old who makes his stakes debut for trainer Graham Motion; the German horse Potemkin, whose Group 1 form is shaky; major longshot Applicator; and Sadler’s Joy, a talented horse better suited to 1 1/2-mile races.

Manhattan, Race 10

KEY CONTENDERS

Time Test, by Dubawi

Last 3 Beyers: 93-NA-NA

◗ Brown is confident that Time Test will take a sizeable step forward on a firm course. He said he has targeted this race and the Arlington Million, the two most important 10-furlong grass races in North America.

“I think he’s a pure mile-and-a-quarter horse,” Brown said, and indeed, Time Test is 4 for 6 at the distance.

Divisidero, by Kitten’s Joy

Last 3 Beyers: 103-100-96

◗ Won the Turf Classic for the second year in a row despite racing last of 11 at the top of the homestretch. His jockey that day, Julien Leparoux, rides World Approval but has a close relationship with that horse’s prolific trainer, Mark Casse.

◗ Was slow to come into form this year, finishing sixth in the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap, in which he was supposed to improve in his second start of the season.

“I did have concerns,” Bradley said. “I expected him to run way better the second time and didn’t get much.”

◗ Was fifth in the 2016 Manhattan but probably not with his ideal trip.

World Approval, by Northern Afleet

Last 3 Beyers: 106-92-97

◗ He looks a little like a nine-furlong horse, but he won the Grade 1 United Nations over 11 furlongs last summer while in top form.

“I think the distance is all right,” Casse said. “There’s no Flintshire this year.”

Beach Patrol, by Lemon Drop Kid

Last 3 Beyers: 102-101-99

◗ Second to Divisidero last out and hasn’t won since beating 3-year-olds in the Secretariat last summer.

“Last out, maybe the softish ground hampered him a touch,” Brown said. “I’m hoping on firm ground he steps up. He’s going to win one of these races. I’m confident this is a legitimate Grade 1 horse.”