Deja vu for Brown in Manila

ELMONT, N.Y. – Last year, trainer Chad Brown won the $100,000 Manila Stakes at Belmont Park with Bricks and Mortar, a horse who had won his first two starts and went on to win the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga.

Brown is hoping Raging Bull follows the same blueprint in Wednesday’s fifth running of the Manila Stakes, the featured event on Belmont Park’s July Fourth card.

Raging Bull beat large fields in winning his first two starts, but will meet only five rivals on Wednesday in the one-mile Manila, scheduled for the Widener turf course. With only a six-horse field, the Manila is carded as the third of nine races. Brown is hoping to use this race as a prep for the Grade 2, $200,000 National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame Stakes on Aug. 3 at Saratoga.

“The horse hasn’t done anything wrong, he’s super-talented, an exciting horse,” Brown said. “It’s back maybe a tick quick off his last race, but I’m not comfortable having that much time between his last win and the Hall of Fame, so I felt like it was the right thing to do to run him here.”

Raging Bull, a French-bred son of Dark Angel, leapt at the break of his April 19 debut at Keeneland, but came with a wide rally to win by two lengths in a 12-horse field.

Seven weeks later, facing winners for the first time in a field of 11, he rallied six wide in the stretch to win a one-mile allowance race by three-quarters of a length over the pace-setting Morrison.

Raging Bull breaks from post 2 under Joel Rosario in a field where Up the Ante or Sea Foam – both trained by Christophe Clement – looks to be on or close to the pace.

Westerland, a son of Frankel owned and bred by Juddmonte Farms, makes his 3-year-old and North American debut in this spot. At 2 in Great Britain he won two of seven starts when in the barn of John Gosden. He goes out first time for Bill Mott and has Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard.

“He’s been training well enough,” Mott said. “We’ve had one turf work in him and he worked quite well. His works have been satisfactory on the dirt but better when we worked him on the turf, which is no surprise.”

KEY CONTENDERS

Raging Bull, by Dark Angel

Beyers: 86-87

◗ Among the 11 horses he beat in his debut were next-out winners First Spring, Get Western, and Irish Territory.

◗ Came home in under 22 seconds for the final quarter when running down loose-on-the-lead Morrison in second start.

Westerland, by Frankel

NA-NA-NA

◗ Has been working regularly in Saratoga since beginning of May for his first start since last Oct. 17.

◗ Beaten in his last start by Kew Gardens, who most recently won the Group 2 Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot.

Up the Ante, by Smart Strike

Last 3 Beyers: 81-81-59

◗ He is coming off a second-place finish behind Silent Citizen – who has won four of six starts – in the Stanton Stakes at Delaware Park on June 10.

“Got beat the other day on ground that was not firm,” Clement said. “I blame the ground more than I blame the performance.”