Hopeful winner Forte running back in Champagne
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Forte, three-length winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 5 at Saratoga, will run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes going a mile at Aqueduct.
Trainer Todd Pletcher also was considering training him up to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 4.
Forte worked a half-mile in 47.87 seconds last Friday at Saratoga.
“He worked really well,” Pletcher said. “Seems like he has good energy, seems happy.”
Pletcher has won a record six Champagnes, all from 2004-2014. Shanghai Bobby, in 2012, is the only one of the six to win both the Hopeful and Champagne.
The Champagne, which offers a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, is expected to attract six horses, including Andiamo a Firenze, Blazing Sevens, Champions Dream, Gulfport, and Verifying.
Other stakes on Saturday include the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo, a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint.
The Miss Grillo is expected to attract Be Your Best, Essaouira, Free Look, Georgees Spirit, Im Just Kiddin, Lady Jasmine, and Pleasant Passage.
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The Belmont Turf Sprint, run at six furlongs, is expected to attract Arzak, Cazadero, Dancing Buck, Noble Emotion, Scuttlebuzz, Thin White Duke, Voodoo Zip, and Yes and Yes.