Full Nelson can rebound in Tale of the Cat after wide trip in latest

When he came to Monmouth Park from New York as a 2-year-old, Noted beat the horse who would win the 2024 Belmont Stakes, Dornoch. When he returns to Monmouth for the $100,000 Tale of the Cat Stakes on Sunday, Noted must prove he can beat any legitimate 3-year-old turf stakes horse.

Noted is one of nine in the 1 1/16-mile Tale of the Cat, and with the name “Todd Pletcher” affixed to his past performance page, he’ll attract some attention. Noted won the Pulpit Stakes last December but showed so little in three subsequent starts that he races Sunday for the first time since being gelded.

It’s Full Nelson who could be the nuts in the Tale of the Cat. While Noted was beating Dornoch in the Sapling Stakes, Full Nelson was getting dropped in for a $35,000 maiden-claiming price. Claimed and moved into the barn of Jose D’Angelo, Full Nelson two starts later began a four-race winning streak that culminated in a sharp score in the Columbia Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

At Keeneland for the Transylvania in April, Full Nelson broke from a poor outside post and lost ground, and while he finished 10th he was beaten just 4 1/2 lengths. Freshened since, Full Nelson drew ideally Sunday in post 9, from which he can pull the clean pressing or stalking trip that best suits him.

Saffie Joseph Jr. originally trained Full Nelson. For the Tale of the Cat, he has Abrumar, one of two along with Crystal Quest exiting the James Murphy Stakes last month at Pimlico, a race comfortably won by Fulmineo, whom Full Nelson defeated by 1 3/4 lengths in the Columbia.

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Abrumar and Crystal Quest got to know each other in the Murphy, racing side by side all the way down the backstretch. Going to the three-furlong marker Abrumar cleaved to the fence while Crystal Quest probed outside looking for room. Neither move worked out. A horse drifted in front of Crystal Quest, causing his rider to check, while Abrumar had no room to operate and wound up being steadied.

Abrumar finished third, one length behind Crystal Quest, but probably ran the better race. Crystal Quest eventually did get through on the inside, Abrumar negotiating some upper-stretch traffic before coming with a run that looked menacing until an untimely switch to his wrong lead with a half-furlong remaining.

Mission Ready and to a lesser extent Rose Collector are implausible winners, but others rate a chance. Carson’s Run, who could vie for favoritism, won the Grade 1 Summer Stakes, though the Woodbine race came up soft for the class level. Starting for the first time at age 3, Carson’s Run might have been overeager during the April 27 Woodhaven at Aqueduct, where he blew the far turn coming into the homestretch, losing any chance to win. While one might have wanted Carson’s Run to finish faster after he got back on track, he can improve Sunday.

Izzy d’Oro makes his stakes debut after a first-level turf allowance win over 1 3/16 miles at Keeneland, though the easy lead he got there won’t be available with Full Nelson and stretch-out sprinter Feltrinelli drawn outside him.

And maybe Noted, hormones no longer clouding his focus, comes back to Monmouth a winner again.

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