Jackie's Warrior, Brown quartet give Friday Belmont card pizzazz

ELMONT, N.Y. – The imposing presence of reigning sprint champion Jackie’s Warrior in the Grade 2 True North and perhaps equally daunting quartet of filly and mare grass specialists that trainer Chad Brown has amassed a race later for the Grade 1 New York Stakes are just two of the highlights on Friday’s outstanding 11-race program at Belmont Park that also features the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup to be decided at two miles on the turf.

Jackie’s Warrior will be an overwhelming favorite to capture the 6 1/2-furlong True North facing five outclassed rivals while making his first start since dominating the Grade 1 Churchill Downs five weeks earlier. The True North will mark Jackie’s Warrior first appearance at Belmont since he dropped an unlucky neck decision to Drain the Clock following an eventful beginning in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens one year earlier.

Jackie’s Warrior, a winner of 10 of 14 career starts, will carry high weight of 124 pounds, including regular rider Joel Rosario, under the allowance conditions of the True North while conceding a seemingly inconsequential six pounds apiece to Mr Phil, War Tocsin, Baby Yoda, Night Time, and Sound Money.

Brown’s potent arsenal in the New York features Flighty Lady, Rougir, Virginia Joy, and Bleecker Street, who will face only three others in the 1 1/4-mile test for older fillies and mares.

Rougir, winner of the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera before finishing seventh making her U.S. debut in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf to close out her 3-year-old campaign, joined Brown’s elite stable earlier this season and did not disappoint in her 2022 debut, rallying to an extremely impressive and relatively easy three-length triumph in the Grade 3 Beaugay here on May 14.

Bleecker Street, who like Rougir will be pace dependent in the New York, is undefeated in six career starts, a notable streak that includes victories in the Grade 2 Hillsborough and Grade 3 Modesty in her previous two outings.

Virginia Joy and Flighty Lady also began their careers in Europe, the former having opened the current season winning both the Grade 3 The Very One at Gulfstream Park and Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay here two months later.

Trainer Brendan Walsh’s Family Way would seem to have the best chance of stealing a piece of the purse from the Brown arsenal in a field filled out by outsiders Lovely Lucky and Core Value.

Abaan, who not only appears the controlling speed but also has a victory going two miles on his résumé, should stand plenty of catching in the grueling Belmont Gold Cup lining up against a relatively modest-looking field that features European shippers Loft and Outbox.

Only four older fillies and mares will contest the first stakes on the card, the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses, with Obligatory looking to extend her current three-race win streak highlighted by her last-to-first triumph in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs five weeks ago. She’ll need an honest pace in a compact lineup that includes the equally red-hot Glass Ceiling, Grade 1 winner Bella Sofia, and seemingly overmatched Easy to Bless.

In contrast to the Bed o’ Roses, the afternoon’s finale will feature a full field of 13 filly and mare turf sprint specialists vying for a $200,000 purse in the six-furlong Intercontinental, a Grade 3 fixture which looms as arguably the most wide-open betting event on the card.