Cowans makes debut at Belmont after 30 years of training
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ELMONT, N.Y. – Of the 3,579 starts trainer Doug Cowans has made since he began training in 1993, only one has come in New York. That was Next Shares, who as a 2-year-old in 2015, finished second in the Grade 2 With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga.
Thursday, Cowans will make his Belmont Park debut when he sends out Mischievous Rogue in a third-level allowance/optional $80,000 claiming race going six furlongs on turf, which serves as the feature on a nine-race card. First post Thursday is 3:05 p.m.
Mischievous Rogue, a 5-year-old gelding by Into Mischief, has won his last two starts, a first-level allowance going 6 1/2 furlongs on synthetic at Turfway Park on March 10 and a second-level allowance going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Keeneland on April 8.
In both races, Mischievous Rogue broke slowly but got strong early fractions into which he could close. The pace scenario could work against him Thursday as trainer David Jacobson is likely to scratch the main speed, Cees Get Degrees, from the race in favor of running Mid Day Image. He named Irad Ortiz Jr. on both horses, so, by rule, one must scratch.
Cowans said he chose Thursday’s race for Mischievous Rogue because it was six furlongs, a sixteenth of a mile farther than the races he can get in Kentucky.
“This horse ran into a situation where really the right race wasn’t there for him,” Cowans said. “I liked the added distance for him. Typically, in Kentucky, the races are 5 1/2 [furlongs]. The horse breaks tardy and then wants to take off. You got to give him a second to get his feet underneath him. That’s another reason why I like the three-quarters.”
Cowans said the horse began to turn his fortunes around after he was gelded following two bad efforts in the winter of 2021-22. Since returning to the races last November, Mischievous Rogue has three wins, a second, and a third from six starts.
“He was a little bit of a rank colt,” Cowans said. “The time off and gelding him did some good.”
John Velazquez will ride Mischievous Rogue from post 3.
Heaven Street, who wintered in South Florida and is now based in Kentucky, makes his second trip to New York in a month’s time. On May 6, in the Elusive Quality Stakes going seven furlongs on turf, Heaven Street had the lead in midstretch only to end up third, beaten by Anaconda and Yes and Yes, who were separated by a nose.
Heaven Street set the pace in the Elusive Quality, but the majority of his success has come from sitting just off the early lead.
Flavien Prat rides Heaven Street.
Jacobson is quite high on Mid Day Image. He purchased the horse out of the Keeneland January sale for $40,000. Though the horse had been racing long, Jacobson ran him 5 1/2 furlongs at Laurel on April 13 and he came with a strong late run that carried him to victory. His final time of 1:00.68 was just .15 second off the course record.
Jacobson called the performance “very impressive. I nominated to the Jaipur, so we’ll see how good he is.”
Asked about his spot, Jacobson, with a smile, said, “I wouldn’t want to run against him Thursday.”
Others entered to run are Souper Success, Comedy Town, Gun It, and Slipstream.
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