Hill Road gets his wings for Belmont in Peter Pan victory
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In Hill Road, winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct, trainer Chad Brown will be bringing a relatively fresh horse to the June 7 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. But Brown doesn’t think that gives him any sort of advantage over horses like Kentucky Derby first- and third-place finishers Sovereignty and Baeza, who are skipping Saturday’s Preakness to point to the Belmont.
“He’s lightly raced. That’s better than having a horse that’s over raced, but I don’t necessarily think that gives us an advantage [facing] horses that are coming out of the Derby that have five weeks’ rest and are managed by really good trainers,” Brown said. “I’m just happy that [Hill Road] stepped up. He’s developing, and it looks like there could be another forward move in him, which he’d need to do.”
Hill Road came with a strong stretch rally under Flavien Prat to run by McAfee and Captain Cook to win Saturday’s Peter Pan Stakes by three-quarters of a length. While he didn’t change leads in the stretch, Hill Road did keep a straight path and ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.22, earning a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.
A.P. Indy (1992), Tonalist (2014), and Arcangelo (2023) are the last three Peter Pan winners to also win the Belmont Stakes. Other horses to come out of the Peter Pan to win the Belmont include Sir Winston (2019), Lemon Drop Kid (1999) and Colonial Affair (1993). In 2010, the Dwyer was run in the spot of the Peter Pan; Drosselmeyer finished second in that race and came back to win the Belmont.
While Hill Road will be Brown’s only classic starter in 2025, he has other 3-year-olds that will be given stakes opportunities in the second half of the year.
Two-time Grade 1 winner Chancer McPatrick has recently resumed training following his dead-heat finish for sixth with Owen Almighty in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 8. Chancer McPatrick came out of that race sick, Brown said. He worked once shortly thereafter but came out of that breeze “jammed up,” Brown said.
The horse was examined at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., and “got a clean bill of health,” Brown said. “So, I feel confident to increase his workload a little bit. I just didn’t want to do it if he was protecting himself somewhere.”
Brown said he won’t have time to make the Grade 1 Woody Stephens on June 7 but will try to work out a plan to get to the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens on Aug. 23.
Garamond, who won a first-level allowance race by 3 1/4 lengths against the highly touted Cornucopian on April 27, is going to make his next start in the Pegasus Stakes on June 14 at Monmouth Park. That is the prep for the Grade 1 Haskell on July 19. On Sunday, at Belmont, Garamond worked a half-mile in 48.40 seconds.
Strategic Focus, a son of Gun Runner who won his debut going a mile April 19, is likely headed to an allowance race and then perhaps the Curlin Stakes on July 24.
Sierra Leone works toward Foster
Sierra Leone, third as the favorite in last year’s Belmont Stakes and who ended his year with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, worked a half-mile in 50 seconds Sunday morning at Belmont Park.
The move was a little slower than Brown was looking for, but the trainer noted he has ample time to get some more works into him before he makes his next start in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 28 at Churchill Downs.
“I’m going to put him in company and work him a little firmer next week,” Brown said. “He’s doing great. He’s sound and happy.”
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