Decorated Invader tries 1 1/8 miles in National Museum of Racing Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Decorated Invader is expected to face just four rivals in Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Christophe Clement, who trains Decorated Invader, also entered Gufo, who on July 4 won the Grade 3 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park. While Clement said “you should never be blasé about winning Grade 2 races” he also said he is likely to hold Gufo out for the Saratoga Derby on Aug. 15. However, Gufo was supplemented for a fee of $2,250.

Coming off two stakes wins this year, including a 4 3/4-length score in the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge at Belmont on June 20, Decorated Invader figures to be a heavy favorite in the Hall of Fame. So much so, the race has been carded as the third on the 11-race program.

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Decorated Invader will be trying 1 1/8 miles for the first time, but it’s a distance his connections seem confident he’ll handle.

“If I had to bet right now, I wouldn’t push all my chips in, but I’d push in a pretty significant portion of the stack that he’s going to be able to get the distance,” said Terry Finley, president of the West Point Thoroughbreds syndicate that owns Decorated Invader.

Also entered for the turf were Domestic Spending, Moon Over Miami, and Everdangerous. Money Moves was entered as a main-track only.