Imagining defends Man o’ War title
ELMONT, N.Y. – With defending turf champion Main Sequence unlikely to race again until July, Saturday’s $400,000 Man o’ War at Belmont Park gives Imagining, Twilight Eclipse, and five other turf marathoners a golden opportunity at winning a Grade 1 stakes.
Before most people in the U.S. had ever heard of Main Sequence, Imagining won the Man o’ War last year, giving his owner, the Phipps family, its third consecutive victory in this race and its fifth overall. It was also the third straight Man o’ War victory for trainer Shug McGaughey.
Now 7, Imagining showed his connections that he might be just as good as ever in winning the Grade 2 Pan American at Gulfstream Park, defeating Pyrite Mountain and Twilight Eclipse by three-quarters of a length.
“I was very impressed with the way he ran in the Pan American,” McGaughey said. “A lot of times in his races, even when he’s won, he’s made mistakes. That day, he made no mistakes.”
When it comes to Grade 1 races, Twilight Eclipse makes just enough mistakes to lose. He is winless in 10 Grade 1 attempts, with four seconds and two thirds. His margin of defeat in those six in-the-money finishes is six lengths. He finished second in this race in 2013.
“He’s been a really honest horse for us,” trainer Tom Albertrani said. “Hopefully, it’s his turn.”
The Man o’ War marks the seasonal debut of Hardest Core, last year’s Grade 1 Arlington Million winner. Completing the field are Dynamic Sky, who won the Grade 3 Red Smith at Aqueduct; Hyper, unraced in 19 months; War Dancer, the winner of the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap last May; and longshot Comes the Dream.
The Man o’ War will go as race 9 on a 10-race card that includes the Grade 2 Peter Pan for 3-year-olds, the Grade 2 Ruffian for older fillies and mares on dirt, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay for fillies and mares on turf.
KEY CONTENDERS
Imagining (Last 3 Beyers: 102-93-98)
◗ Before his victory in the Pan American, he finished eighth in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap.
“The first time I ran him in Florida this winter, he got in all kinds of trouble, and he got beat two lengths,” McGaughey said. “Then he came back and ran as good a race as a horse could run in the Pan American, beating a very good horse in Twilight Eclipse.”
◗ He is 5 for 10 at Belmont and has won at least one race in four consecutive years, starting in 2011.
Twilight Eclipse (Last 3 Beyers: 100-99-103)
◗ Though winless in his last eight starts, this 6-year-old gelding rarely fails to fire, having finished second or third in six consecutive graded stakes.
◗ He finished third as the even-money favorite in the Pan American.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Twilight Eclipse. Trainer Tom Albertrani is 21-8-1-5 with a $5.79 ROI over the past five years in turf routes at Belmont in the third start following a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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“Last time, it turned out to be a three-eighths-of-a-mile sprint to the wire, and he’s not that kind of horse,” Albertrani said. “He’ll give you a little burst, but he won’t give it to you for very far. He’s training well, going into the race as good as ever.”
◗ He gets six pounds from Imagining after running with him at level weights in the Pan American.
Hardest Core (Last 3 Beyers: 97-103-97)
◗ He makes his first start since running eighth in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Turf.
“It’s a long layoff,” trainer Eddie Graham said. “He might need a race, but he seems like he’s in good form.”
◗ He is 2 for 3 at Belmont Park and is reunited with Luis Saez, aboard for both of those wins.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Hyper. Trainer Chad Brown is 16-8-0-1 with a $3.21 ROI over the past five years in turf routes following a layoff of a year or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan