A hint of deja vu in Vosburgh

ELMONT, N.Y. – Imperial Hint’s victory in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga last month was reminiscent of his victory in that same race a year ago.

Imperial Hint is hoping to pull off another equally electrifying double in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park. Imperial Hint, at 1-5, won last year’s Vosburgh as easy as one could win a race prepping for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. With no other true speed in that race, Imperial Hint went to the front and glided to 1 1/4-length victory.

Trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. said he would prefer Imperial Hint have a target on Saturday, but it's unclear if he will have one. The speedy Promises Fulfilled looked like he could be that target, but he will not be running. Promises Fulfilled worked five furlongs at Churchill Downs on Friday and will be pointed to the Phoenix at Keeneland next Saturday.

The Vosburgh will scratch down from six to four as Call Paul was expected to scratch and run in a stakes at Delaware on Saturday.

Carvajal said that if there is no horse to follow, then "it’ll probably be the same thing that happened last year."

"We were on the lead by ourselves and that was the end of it,” he said.

Many wondered if Imperial Hint’s status as an elite sprinter had come to an end after third-place finishes in the Pelican at Tampa and in the Dubai Golden Shaheen in Meydan earlier this year.

But he put those doubts to rest with a track record performance in the Vanderbilt, where he ran six furlongs in 1:07.92. Among those he beat that day was Mitole, who came back to win the Grade 1 Forego and who is training up to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Imperial Hint is trying to get to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for a third straight year. He finished second in 2017 and third last year at Churchill Downs, a track over which he simply has not run well. The Vosburgh is a Win and You’re In race for the Sprint. Imperial Hint will break from post 4 under Javier Castellano.

In order to win the Vosburgh, Imperial Hint will likely have to fend off Firenze Fire, who has done his best running at Belmont Park. He won the Champagne at 2, the Dwyer at 3, and the Runhappy Stakes here earlier this year. His only poor finish at Belmont was a fifth in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap.

After a fourth-place finish behind Imperial Hint in the Vanderbilt, Firenze Fire came back with a second-place finish in the Forego.

Firenze Fire breaks from the outside under Irad Ortiz Jr.

American Power, cross-entered in a race at Laurel on Saturday, is likely to run here.

The Vosburgh will go as race 4 on an 11-race card that begins at 1 p.m.