Jerkens has solid pair for Brooklyn Invitational

ELMONT, N.Y. – The Brooklyn Invitational over 1 1/2 miles on dirt was a handicap at 1 1/8 miles when trainer Jimmy Jerkens won it in 2003 with Iron Deputy, but the changes to the race should only enhance Jerkens’s chances when the $400,000 Brooklyn is run Saturday on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

Iron Deputy was a 6-1 shot who ran the race of his life – earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 112 – when he won the Brooklyn, but it is no wonder. Jerkens’s stock has excelled in dirt races at nine furlongs and farther, and he has two horses in the Brooklyn, Effinex and V. E. Day, with a good chance to stay the marathon distance in their first try.

Effinex, off a last-out win in the Grade 3 Westchester, looks like the race favorite, and he should be lower than his 7-2 morning-line odds because the Todd Pletcher-trained Red Rifle, second choice at 4-1 on the morning line, is likely to be scratched to race Friday in the Gold Cup on turf.

Pletcher has two other horses for the Brooklyn – Coach Inge and Micromanage. Coach Inge makes his stakes debut on the heels of a front-end Aqueduct slop romp, and he will be prominent throughout the Brooklyn. Micromanage comes from off the pace, while Effinex is a stalking type, and V. E. Day, the upset winner of the 2014 Travers, tends to come from the back of the field.

But a horse’s general tendencies at shorter distances don’t necessarily have a lot of relevance in 1 1/2-mile races.

“A mile and a half is such a weird race,” said Jerkens. “You just never know where your horse will be laying.”

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Key contenders

Effinex (Last 3 Beyers: 107-100-88)

Formulator fact: How good is Jerkens in long-distance dirt races? In dirt races from 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 miles over the last five years, he has gone 15-6-5 from 45 starters with a $2 win ROI of $4.22. Six of those wins have come in graded stakes.

The 4-year-old Effinex tailed off late last year, but he’s returned sharp this season and has room to grow.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet,” Jerkens said. “He acts like there’s more there.”

V. E. Day (Last 3 Beyers: 95-96-93)

After winning the Travers last summer over stablemate Wicked Strong, V. E. Day finished sixth, 11th, and sixth in his final three 2014 starts, but his 2015 comeback run in the Fort Marcy Stakes on turf was intended only to build stamina and race fitness.

“I thought that might be a little better building block for the rest of the year,” said Jerkens. “He lost a ton of ground that day. The race was a lot better than it looks on paper.”

Coach Inge (Last 3 Beyers: 104-78-93)

Loose on the lead in the mud, Coach Inge easily ran the fastest race of his career, but the breakout seemed strongly influenced by favorable circumstances.

Tacticus (N/A)

Beautifully bred English shipper is 2 for 3 at 12 furlongs and definitely stays, but he never has tried dirt and might not have the quality to win this race.