Distance may turn tide for Seismic Wave in Belmont Derby

ELMONT, N.Y. – Chad Brown has four in the race. Todd Pletcher and Aidan O’Brien, two apiece. Bill Mott hopes it will take only one to get the job done in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational at Belmont Park.

Mott will send out Seismic Wave in the Belmont Derby, which tops a terrific 11-race Stars & Stripes card that includes four other graded stakes. Mott hopes the 1 1/4 miles of the derby could help Seismic Wave avenge earlier losses this year to Demarchelier in the Pennine Ridge and Digital Age in the American Turf. Those two horses, both undefeated, are part of Brown’s quartet, which also includes Standard Deviation and Rockemperor.

“I think the distance will suit him,” Mott said. “He’s been running with good horses. I think he fits.”

Seismic Wave is a son of Tapit out of the Great Britain-bred mare Conference Call. Seismic Wave has already raced four times this year, winning a maiden race at nine furlongs and the Cutler Bay at a mile at Gulfstream. He finished fourth with an extremely wide trip in the stretch in the Grade 2 American Turf, run over soft turf at Churchill. He was beaten a head by Demarchelier in the Pennine Ridge, where jockey Joel Rosario had to wait before swinging widest of all in the stretch.

“He was behind the winner and he couldn’t figure out which way he was going,” Mott said. “He had to wait a little longer than he would have liked to come around.”

Seismic Wave will break from post 3 under Rosario.

Brown runners drew the three outside posts – Demarchelier in 12, Digital Age 13, and Rockemperor 14. Standard Deviation, a listed stakes winner for Brown at Monmouth, drew post 2.

Demarchelier, a son of Dubawi, is 3 for 3 with two wins at 1 1/16 miles and the Pennine Ridge at 1 1/8 miles.

“He’s definitely bred to do it and we’ve been spotting him to get to that mile and a quarter, which we’ve been excited about for a long time,” Brown said.

Digital Age is 3 for 3 with two of his wins coming at a mile and one, the American Turf, at 1 1/16 miles.

“You could make the case he’s not bred to go quite that far, however his races would indicate that he’s not having any problem with the added distances,” Brown said. “It’s more of a question mark for him than it is Demarchelier.”

Rockemperor is a new addition to Brown’s barn, having been purchased privately by Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and others. He has won at 1 1/4 miles, and Brown has liked what he’s seen from the colt’s two breezes.

“As expected, his second breeze with us was better than his first and he worked well enough to enter the horse to believe he could give a good account of himself,” Brown said. “I wish I had more time with him.”

Standard Deviation won his lone start on turf, a listed stakes at Monmouth on June 1. He was classy enough to finish third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on dirt last fall in a 13-horse field.

Aidan O’Brien won this race in 2016 with Deauville and finished third in it last year with Hunting Horn. He sends out the pair of Blenheim Palace and Cape of Good Hope on Saturday. Blenheim Palace is wheeling back a week after finishing second in a Group 3 race at The Curragh going 1 1/4 miles. He is getting Lasix and blinkers for Saturday’s race.

“His form is starting to come now and putting blinkers on him might make him concentrate a lot better now that he seems to be running better in much better company,” said T.J. Comerford, an assistant to O’Brien.

Cape of Good Hope ran fourth in the French Derby on June 2 and was 10th in a Group 3 at Ascot. Comerford said Cape of Good Hope wants firm ground.

“The form is there,” Comerford said. “His run in the French Derby was a solid run from a bad draw.”

Michael Hussey rides Blenheim Palace from post 11. Wayne Lordan pilots Cape of Good Hope from post 9.

Social Paranoia won his maiden by eight lengths on firm ground at Gulfstream. He was third in both the American Turf and Pennine Ridge on less-than-firm turf.

“Just hoping the mile and a quarter is going to give him a little better chance,” Pletcher said.

Spinoff makes his turf debut after running 18th in the Kentucky Derby over a sloppy track and sixth in the Belmont. He’s worked well enough twice on turf to convince Pletcher to give it a shot.

“I’m not sure he gave me everything he had in the Belmont,” Pletcher said. “By the time I walked back to the barn the horse wasn’t blowing hard. He didn’t even drink any water.”

Completing the field are Master Fencer, sixth in the Kentucky Derby and fifth in the Belmont Stakes; Plus Que Parfait, eighth in the Kentucky Derby; Moon Colony, winner of the Penn Mile; English Bee, winner of the James Murphy at Pimlico; and Henley’s Joy. He’s No Lemon is on the also-eligible list and would need a scratch to get in.

The Belmont Derby will be part of a two-hour NBC broadcast beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern that will also include the Belmont Oaks and John A. Nerud Stakes.