Champagne lures fresh faces
ELMONT, N.Y. – You know Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park must be a good race when the only graded stakes winner in the field is made the 6-1 fifth choice in a field of six.
Such is the fate for I Spent It, the Grade 2 Saratoga Special winner, who takes on up-and-comers El Kabeir, Upstart, and Daredevil in a race that is likely to produce the second choice behind American Pharoah for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Upstart. Trainer Rick Violette is 5-3-0-0 with a $6.29 ROI over the past five years stretching 2-year-olds from sprint to route on dirt following a win. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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The one-mile Champagne is a Win and You’re In race for the Juvenile.
:: DRF BREEDING: Pedigree analysis of the Champagne and Frizette
American Pharoah, trained in Southern California by Bob Baffert, is owned by Ahmed Zayat, who also owns El Kabeir. A son of 2006 Champagne winner Scat Daddy, El Kabeir was a 10 3/4-length maiden winner at Saratoga on Aug. 30 after finishing third following a slow start in his debut. Irad Ortiz Jr. rode El Kabeir in his maiden victory and will be aboard him again Saturday.
“He got taken out first time out, and it was five-eighths,” trainer John Terranova said. “He recovered, ran a good internal race, and next start, he broke really well, broke real sharp, put himself right in the race. Everything’s been real smooth for him since. Hopefully, we’ll get away with a clean break, and wherever he’s comfortable, Irad will put him, I’m sure.”
El Kabeir came back to win 16 days after his debut. Upstart won his debut Aug. 15 and came back nine days later to win the Funny Cide Stakes. Both of Upstart’s races were at Saratoga and restricted to New York-breds.
Trainer Rick Violette said he wheeled Upstart right back because he felt the race would be easier than the Hopeful and would give Upstart an extra week to this race, his major goal. In the Funny Cide, he was last early before running down a loose-on-the-lead Bustin It.
“We’re battle tested,” Violette said. “Him being off the bridle for three-eighths of a mile like he was, sometimes even nice horses blow up, but he didn’t. That’s a nice experience to have.”
I Spent It gained a world’s worth of experience when he was blocked behind horses before rallying along the inside to win the Grade 2 Saratoga Special by 2 3/4 lengths. In the Grade 1 Hopeful, he blew up mentally in the paddock and basically never recovered but still finished second to Competitive Edge, who was subsequently injured and sidelined.
Key Contenders
El Kabeir (Beyers: 93-77)
◗ He seemed to cruise through a half-mile in 44.98 seconds on his way to a 10 3/4-length debut win going seven furlongs at Saratoga. He likely will have to use speed from the rail.
◗ Asked about El Kabeir possibly dealing with an off track, Terranova said, “He’s a great mover. He’s galloped really well over an off track here. I wouldn’t expect him not to be okay. But then again, you never know till you run over it how good they really are over it.”
Upstart (Beyers: 95-85)
◗ Based at Aqueduct, Upstart was shipped over to Belmont on Thursday to school in paddock, where he looked terrific and acted professional.
◗ Trainer Violette is counting on Upstart’s pedigree to kick in if the race is run on a wet track. Upstart is by the A.P. Indy sire Flatter, and his Tomlinson figure for a wet track is 416.
Daredevil (Beyer: 85)
◗ He won his debut in front-running fashion in the mud and is well drawn in post 6.
◗ Javier Castellano abandons I Spent It to ride this colt. John Velazquez rode Daredevil in his debut and is at Keeneland on Saturday.
◗ Trainer Todd Pletcher has won five of the last 10 runnings of the Champagne, including the last two with Havana (2013) and Shanghai Bobby (2012).
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Daredevil. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 9-5-0-0 with a $3.81 ROI over the past five years in graded stakes dirt routes with 2-year-olds in the start following a winning debut. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan