Force the Pass finds stiff competition in Secretariat

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Six weeks ago, Force the Pass won the richest 3-year-old turf race in North America – the $1.25 million Belmont Derby – clipping home more than three lengths clear of the French shipper Canndal. On Saturday at Arlington, Force the Pass races for $450,000 in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes, but Force the Pass might be facing stronger competition than he beat for the much higher purse.

Canndal didn’t even sniff a start in the premier French 3-year-old race, the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby), but that race’s second- and third-place finishers, Highland Reel and War Dispatch, have come for the Secretariat, as has Goldstream, an Italian-bred, German-trained, Australian-owned colt who has won all five of his starts, albeit against suspect competition in Italy.

The others in the 1 1/4-mile grass race aren’t bad either. Closing Bell was fourth in the Belmont Derby but had a troubled trip. Granny’s Kitten didn’t fire in that race, finishing eighth, but had been third in the Penn Mile, beaten less than a length by Force the Pass after a traffic-filled stretch run. Crittenden is not without merit. He finished strongly into a slow pace, missing by a neck in the American Derby.

Bred and owned by Richard Santulli, Force the Pass already is a millionaire and steadily has emerged as North America’s leading 3-year-old turfer. A four-time winner from six starts, he somehow won the Penn Mile despite racing in eighth at the stretch call and went the last quarter of the 1 1/4-mile Belmont Derby in about 22 seconds, blasting home in visually impressive fashion.

Force the Pass finished so fast last time because he tracked, then set, a walking pace – slower than 1:15 for six furlongs – and got the jump on all the closers. Still, trainer Alan Goldberg thinks Force the Pass could be special.

“He’s coming into the race as well as he can do,” Goldberg said. “He likes to train, likes to race like good horses do. I think he’s really good – I mean really good – but we’re going to find out.”

One thing Goldberg doesn’t like: the Secretariat weights. Force the Pass totes 126 pounds, giving rivals three to seven pounds.

Highland Reel carries 121 pounds and might well be Force the Pass’s equal. Trainer Aidan O’Brien has won this race twice in the last four years, including last year with Adelaide. Highland Reel, who races on Lasix, won’t mind a fast, firm Arlington course, according to O’Brien assistant T.J. Comerford, and in a race lacking pace, don’t be surprised if Highland Reel races prominently.

“He can be ridden any way you like,” Comerford said.

Highland Reel won a Group 3 over 1 1/2 miles last out, but his best race came in the 1 5/16-mile French Derby, a half-furlong longer than the Secretariat. War Dispatch was third that day but not especially close to Highland Reel, and it’s curious that he was campaigned during the winter on the French all-weather circuit.

Closing Bell merits consideration at a fair price. He was 41-1 in the Belmont Derby and finished strongly with no chance at the winner from too far behind the slow pace.

“He was in tight, and I think if he has a clear run, he’s second,” said trainer Bill Mott. “He’s a very late-developing sort. In March, you’d never have thought he might be a top horse.”

A previous version of this article misstated the winner of last year's Secretariat Stakes. It was Adelaide, not Australia.