Dwyer Stakes litmus test for Economic Model
ELMONT, N.Y. – Whether Economic Model can become a force in the 3-year-old division during the second half of the season remains to be seen. But there is little doubt he will be a force to reckon with and then some as the heavy favorite to win Saturday’s Grade 3, $500,000 Dwyer at Belmont Park.
Economic Model stamped himself as the one to beat in the one-mile Dwyer with an impressive victory four weeks ago in the 1 1/16-mile Easy Goer. The win was the second in a row for Economic Model since his ninth-place finish in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby in March.
“Throw out the Tampa Bay Derby and he’s been really consistent,” said trainer Chad Brown. “We always had high hopes for him, and it’s nice to see him finally performing up to those expectations. He’s always been very effective around one turn, whether at six furlongs to begin his career or at a mile and one-sixteenth last time, so cutting back to a mile over the same course shouldn’t be an issue.”
Brown said the jury is still out on where Economic Model might fit in the division later this year.
“I think he fits class-wise, it’s just a question of distance,” said Brown. “He’s still a work in progress, and whether we’ll try him at two turns next time remains to be seen until after this race.”
There is nary a graded stakes winner among the eight 3-year-olds who will contest the Dwyer. Swipe was second in Grade 1 stakes three times at 2, chasing home Nyquist on each occasion, including in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. But he’s still winless in two starts at 3 or at any distance beyond 5 1/2 furlongs. He finished third, beaten two lengths, while racing against older horses under entry-level allowance conditions going six furlongs in his local debut June 26.
The New York-bred Fish Trappe Road continues to improve for trainer Bret Calhoun and will stretch back to a mile off his second-place finish in the Grade 2, seven-furlong Woody Stephens. He figures to force the early pace along with former claimer The Great Whiteway and the maiden Laoban, who puts blinkers back on while making his first start since finishing sixth in the Preakness.
key Contenders
Economic Model, by Flatter
Last 3 Beyers: 101-90-68
◗ He’s the only member of the field to have posted a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure, having earned a 101 in the Easy Goer.
Fish Trappe Road, by Trappe Shot
Last 3 Beyers: 92-91-63
◗ He’s never finished worse than second in three local starts, including a second-place finish going a mile in the Sleepy Hollow Stakes for statebreds in his juvenile finale.
Swipe, by Birdstone
Last 3 Beyers: 77-70-88
◗ He’ll be reunited with jockey Kent Desormeaux for the first time since his second-place finish in the Grade 1 FrontRunner last fall at Santa Anita.