Include leads likely Mass Cap field

EAST BOSTON, Mass. - At least eight of the 29 nominees for the Massachusetts Handicap are expected to start in the $500,000 race on June 2. John H. Morrissey, racing secretary at Suffolk Downs, will release his weight assignments for the Grade 2 Mass Cap this Saturday.

As of Wednesday, Morrissey counted Broken Vow, Include, Sir Bear, Top Official, Turnofthecentury, Windrush, Personal Moon, and Crown Noble as probables.

Captain Steve, who won the $6 million Dubai World Cup in his last start, heads the list of horses named to the 1 1/8-mile Mass Cap. He is likely to get Morrissey's top assignment but is not expected to participate.

Include will head to East Boston next week fresh from a neck win over heavily favored Albert the Great in the Pimlico Special. That was the first Grade 1 victory for Include, a Robert Meyerhoff homebred trained by Bud Delp, and the eighth win of his career.

"If all is well and the horse is coming along good, we'll be there for the Mass Cap" said Delp, who won the 1976 Massachusetts Handicap with Dancing Champ.

Include, by Broad Brush, has won his last four starts and eight of his last nine dating back to last year. His Pimlico Special earnings put him past $1 million in earnings, and his come-from-behind style of running should fit the Suffolk track nicely.

Broken Vow, a 4-year-old son of Unbridled, will step up a notch off his recent win in the Grade 3 Ben Ali at Keeneland. That was his first graded victory, and it came one race after he finished third to Sir Bear in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap.

"The horse is doing super," said trainer Graham Motion of Broken Vow, a Pin Oak Stable homebred. "I thought his race in the Ben Ali was very impressive. He should be able to handle the big horses now. I'm not ducking anyone."

Sir Bear's victory in the Gulfstream Park Handicap was the 18tAh win of his long career.

An 8-year-old son of Sir Leon, he has made just two starts this year carrying the silks of Barbara Smollin. He will ship in from Florida with trainer Ralph Zaidie.

Personal Moon and Crown Noble are locally based runners. Crown Noble will start only if the Mass Cap field numbers seven or fewer, according to trainer Mike Aro.