Knickerbocker tops Monday card

ELMONT, N.Y. – There will be a nine-race program at Belmont Park on Monday, Columbus Day, topped by the Grade 2, $200,000 Knickerbocker Stakes for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

A field of 11 was entered for the grass, with one entered in the event the race is transferred to the main track. Through Friday, there have been 101 turf races run at this meet with zero taken off the turf. There is rain in the forecast, however.

It’s a pretty evenly matched field that includes Blacktype, who finished third in last year’s Knickerbocker. That was the first of six straight losses for the multiple graded stakes winner. Blacktype returned to the winner’s circle in a high-caliber allowance race here Sept. 9.

“He won well the other day, so that was nice,” trainer Christophe Clement said. “He seems to be back to his old form, training well. There’s rain in the forecast. He can handle firm, but he can handle soft, which is great.”

Forge and Delta Prince, second and third behind Heart to Heart in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga, will likely vie for favoristim in the Knickerbocker.

The others entered were Mark My Style, Camelot Kitten, Hello Don Julio, Muqtaser, Sir Dudley Digges, Smooth Daddy, Spring Quality, and The Grey Gatsby.