Eye Luv Lulu fresh for John Morrissey Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The winner of last year’s $100,000 John Morrissey Stakes, Weekend Hideaway, may be off enjoying his retirement this summer, but the second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers – Eye Luv Lulu, Celtic Chaos, and Gold for the King – will be back Thursday at Saratoga to have another go in the Morrissey. The trio will take on three new rivals in the 6 1/2-furlong dash for New York-breds.

Eye Luv Lulu finished 1 1/4 lengths behind Weekend Hideaway after racing forwardly placed in the 2018 John Morrissey. The 8-year-old with 51 starts has run just three times this season, winning an allowance race against open company at Aqueduct in early January before finishing third and second in statebred stakes in his last two outings.

Eye Luv Lulu has not raced since finishing second behind the red-hot Pat On the Back in the Affirmed Success on April 26. The three months he’s had off will be a key factor when he returns in the Morrissey, according to trainer Jason Servis.

“He’s an old class horse, and the numbers are still there,” Servis said. “You just have to get him to throw them. And the best way to do that is to space his races out. When he gets a couple of months off, he fires. Last year, he came back a little too soon in this race, and he just didn’t have quite enough kick at the end.”

:: Get PPs, Clocker Reports, picks, and more from DRF's Saratoga/Del Mar One-Stop Shop

Eye Luv Lulu’s Beyer Speed Figure in last year’s Morrissey dropped seven points from his previous outing, a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Belmont Sprint 19 days earlier.

Eye Luv Lulu could be the controlling speed in the Morrissey under jockey Jose Lezcano.

Gold for the King also figures forwardly placed, as he was in this race last summer before tiring to finish 2 3/4 lengths behind Weekend Hideaway. Gold for the King has won once in six starts since and returns to statebred company after finishing sixth in the Grade 2 True North and third in the Grade 3 Toboggan in his last two appearances.

Celtic Chaos rallied from last to finish just a nose behind Eye Luv Lulu a year ago. He enters this year’s Morrissey off arguably the best race of his career, a 2 3/4-length victory over high-priced optional-claiming company for which he received a lifetime best 100 Beyer.

Build to Suit, who makes his stakes debut Wednesday, has started just once over the past 21 months and not since earning a 101 Beyer for an easy 6 1/4-length allowance tally Jan. 26 at Aqueduct.

T Loves a Fight has registered three consecutive victories within a 31-day span while returning big dividends after having been claimed in May for $10,000 at Belmont Park by trainer Orlando Noda.

Finger Lakes shipper Saratoga Giro, second behind Celtic Chaos in an allowance race here last summer, completes the field.