Force the Pass poised to gain elusive win

ELMONT, N.Y. – On Saturday, the sixth running of the Belmont Derby will be held at Belmont Park. On Wednesday, the horse who won the second running of that Grade 1 turf race will be in action in a stakes-caliber allowance race. The eight-race card Wednesday kicks off the final week of racing at Belmont’s spring/summer meet.

Force the Pass, now 7, is one of four stakes winners in what figures to be a six-horse field – after the scratches of the two main-track-only entrants – set to run 1 1/16 miles on turf in this multi-conditioned allowance test.

Force the Pass, trained by Jorge Duarte Jr., has run twice this year, with a second in a Laurel allowance off a nine-month layoff and a third behind Almanaar and Synchrony in the Grade 2 Monmouth Stakes. The Monmouth Stakes result was flattered when Synchrony came back to win the Grade 2 King Edward last Saturday at Woodbine.

Force the Pass has just one win from six starts over the last two seasons, but Duarte believes his horse was impacted in 2018 by wet weather and respiratory issues caused by allergies.

“I feel like this year he’s much healthier and he’s good right now,” Duarte said.

Though his biggest victory came at 1 1/4 miles here, Force the Pass did run a solid second to loose-on-the-lead winner Obviously in the 2016 Poker Stakes here going a mile.

Jevian Toledo will be up from Maryland to ride Force the Pass, who will break from the rail.

Lucullan returns from a 14-month layoff for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. When last seen, Lucullan finished third behind Robert Bruce and Spring Quality in the Grade 3 Fort Marcy Stakes in May 2018. In the 2017 Hill Prince Stakes, he finished second to Yoshida while finishing ahead of Bricks and Mortar, who this year has developed into the leading male turf horse in the country.

“He might be in need of a run, but he’s a top horse,” McLaughlin said.

Therapist suffered his first loss from five starts over the Belmont turf course when he finished fourth in the Kingston Stakes here May 27. It was an oddly run race in that Mo Maverick ran off to a huge early advantage and Therapist was 19 lengths back at one point. He was beaten 2 1/2 lengths for the win while nosed out for third by Offering Plan.

“He did make up 17 lengths,” trainer Christophe Clement said. “We probably gave him a little too much to do. This looks like a much more normal race.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher has the uncoupled entry of Noble Indy, who finished third first time on turf in a similar spot as this June 7, and Maraud, a multiple graded stakes winner at 3 who has lost six straight races. Harlan’s Harmony, a second-level allowance winner here June 8, completes the field on turf.

◗ Beginning Wednesday, the late pick five will be open to all bettors. Previously, it had been restricted to those who wagered either in-state or through a NYRA Bets advance-deposit wagering account.