Grandeur to end U.S. visit in Bowling Green

ELMONT, N.Y. - Grandeur will wrap up his North American campaign when he faces six rivals in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Bowling Green Handicap, the final graded event of the Belmont spring-summer meet.

Grandeur, based in England with Jeremy Noseda, came to New York in the spring and finished third in the Grade 1 Man o’ War on May 11 and fourth the Grade 1 Manhattan on June 7. In the Manhattan, Grandeur was 17 lengths off a modest pace under Gary Stevens and came with a late run to get beat 2 1/4 lengths, much to the chagrin of his connections.

“It didn’t go to plan, put it that way,” said Wayne Tanner, assistant to Noseda. “It’s history now. People make mistakes. Gary said he made a mistake; that’s life. Horse is still in one piece, look forward now to Saturday.”

Joel Rosario will ride Grandeur in the Bowling Green, which is at 1 1/2 miles. The Bowling Green switched positions on the calendar with the Grade 1 Man o’ War, which was moved to May 11.

“The first two, we were hoping we could get checks, but this is always the one we thought was our biggest chance,” Tanner said.

Grandeur will face a group that includes Reflecting and Sky Blazer, the third- and fifth-place finishers in the $200,000 Belmont Gold Cup, as well as Hangover Kid, Horvat Clan, Chamois, and Boisterous.

Tanner said one reason Grandeur is headed home after this race is that any European-based horse who stays in the United States for more than 90 days would have to serve a 30-day quarantine before he would be permitted to ship back home.