Green Light Go brings versatility to Champagne Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – Jimmy Jerkens still recalls seeing his father, the late Hall of Fame trainer H. Allen Jerkens, shortly after the 1976 Champagne Stakes was run.

“I’ll never forget my father coming back to the barn with his jaw dropped,” Jerkens recalled Thursday morning. “I said ‘What are you all gaga about?’ He said ‘I just saw a 2-year-old run a mile in 1:34 flat with his mouth wide open.’ It was Seattle Slew.”

The final time was actually 1:34.40 – only Devil’s Bag has run a faster Champagne – but his 9 3/4-length margin of victory foreshadowed what lay ahead for the 1977 Triple Crown winner.

Saturday, Jimmy Jerkens will hope others are going gaga over his Green Light Go when he seeks to remain undefeated in the 148th running of the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park. The Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne tops an 11-race card that has four other stakes, including the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic for turf horses, the Grade 2 Hill Prince for 3-year-olds on turf, the Grade 3 Matron for 2-year-old fillies on turf, and the Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational. First post is 12:20 p.m.

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Green Light Go, a son of Hard Spun, won his maiden by 3 1/4 lengths here July 4 and took the Grade 2 Saratoga Special by 3 3/4 lengths on Aug. 10. He was entered in the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 2 at Saratoga but scratched when the track came up sloppy. Jerkens doesn’t see the eight weeks between races as a problem.

“He doesn’t look heavy. He’s been willing in his works. He should be okay,” Jerkens said. “He’s about the same physically, and he’s kept his head screwed on.”

After winning his debut on the lead, Green Light Go sat behind horses and took dirt in the Saratoga Special before tipping out three wide at the top of the lane. He lugged in a touch after passing Tuggle but ultimately won eased up by Junior Alvarado.

“He was on the bridle even being close and getting hit with dirt,” Jerkens said. “It doesn’t seem like much bothers him.”

The manner in which Green Light Go has finished both of his races gives Jerkens confidence that the one-turn mile of the Champagne will be fine.

“He looked like he had plenty left in both his races,” Jerkens said. “You never know till you do it, I guess, but his works don’t show otherwise and his races don’t show otherwise.”

Green Light Go breaks from post 3 under Alvarado.

Green Light Go will face six rivals in the Champagne, a group led by Three Technique, Tiz the Law, and Alpha Sixty Six.

Three Technique, a son of Mr. Speaker trained by Jeremiah Englehart, finished second in his first two starts before winning a seven-furlong maiden race at Saratoga by 5 1/2 lengths. Englehart said he’s looking forward to stretching him out to a mile. Irad Ortiz Jr. takes over for Jose Ortiz, who will be at Keeneland on Saturday.

“I think he’ll allow Irad to let him relax and make a run,” Englehart said. “He’s been pretty spot-on, even after his win. Hopefully, he continues to do what he’s been doing. If he runs back to his other races, he should be right there.”

Tiz the Law, a son of Constitution trained by Barclay Tagg, beat New York-bred maidens by 4 1/4 lengths on Aug. 8. He had a shin issue that forced him to miss about three weeks of training, but he has come back with a series of steady workouts.

“I don’t think he’s lost anything, but you don’t know till you run them,” Tagg said. “He seems like he’s so easy, so malleable that he’ll be able to overcome different types of trips. Nothing seems to faze him.”

Alvarado rode Tiz the Law in his debut but is committed to Green Light Go. Manny Franco will ride Tiz the Law from post 7.

Trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Champagne six times, most recently in 2014 with Daredevil. Saturday, he sends out Alpha Sixty Six, a son of Liam’s Map who won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race by a neck here Sept. 7.

Completing the field are Gozilla, who looms the main speed under Ricardo Santana Jr.; Big City Bob, a son of 2012 Champagne winner Shanghai Bobby and winner of the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth; and the maiden Truculent.

The Champagne goes as race 10 with a 5:22 p.m. scheduled post.