Left Bank Stakes a suitable spot for Pants On Fire
ELMONT, N.Y. – Two years removed from their dead-heat finish in the $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga, Alpha and Golden Ticket are still racing, but below their best form. On Friday, those two and the four-time graded stakes winner Pants On Fire meet in the $100,000 Left Bank Stakes as Belmont Park commences its 38-day fall season.
The Left Bank, a one-mile race for horses who have not won a graded stakes in 2014, goes as race 8 on a nine-race program that begins at 1:05 p.m. Eastern.
The one-turn configuration of the Left Bank may be a better fit for Pants On Fire, whose best career race came one year ago in the Grade 3 Ack Ack, a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs that he won by 2 3/4 lengths while earning a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.
Kelly Breen, who trains Pants On Fire, eschewed this year’s Ack Ack for the Left Bank, citing, in part, a shorter commute from Monmouth Park, where 19 days ago the horse was beaten a half-length in the Philip Iselin Stakes.
“He’s never run at Belmont, but he’s training well enough where the Left Bank looks like the right fit,” Breen said. “He had two hard races this year; the first one, he needed it. We’re hoping to get him a win.”
Paco Lopez rides Pants On Fire from post 5.
Alpha, 1 for 12 since the 2012 Travers, came off a lengthy layoff to finish a well-beaten third in the Alydar Stakes going 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 17 at Saratoga.
“He’s doing great,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said. “He came out of the race in good shape. He had a long time off to get ready for Saratoga; it didn’t quite work out. He’s coming back quickly, but he had plenty of time off, so he’s ready to go. Wish we didn’t draw the 1 hole.”
John Velazquez likely will have to use Alpha’s speed leaving the gate, but then he must avoid getting into a duel with Integrity, the winner of the Elusive Quality Stakes going seven furlongs here in May.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Alpha. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is 5 for 47 with a $0.62 ROI over the past two years in dirt routes in the second start following a layoff.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
:: Learn more about Formulator | Buy Formulator PPs
:: Follow the @DRFFormulator Twitter feed and get free Formulator facts
Key contenders
Pants On Fire (Last 3 Beyers: 104-100-82)
◗ Earned a career-best 107 Beyer for his win in the Ack Ack Stakes, which, like the Left Bank, was contested as a one-turn mile. He also won a one-turn, one-mile allowance race at Gulfstream in 2013.
◗ Might have made a premature inside move to the lead when finishing second to Balance of Power in the Iselin last out.
Alpha (Last 3 Beyers: 92-92-92)
◗ Alpha, the winner of the Grade 1 Woodward in 2013, makes his second start after being laid off for six months.
◗ He has raced around one turn only three times in a 21-race career, with a win first out at Saratoga in 2011 and a second-place finish in the Champagne here in his second career start.
Golden Ticket (Last 3 Beyers: 77-93-94)
◗ Two of the three best races he’s run in the last year have come at a mile, including a runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last November and a head loss to Palace Malice in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap in March.
◗ He has put in two solid workouts at Saratoga leading up to this.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Golden Ticket. Trainer Ken McPeek is 2 for 32 with a $0.60 ROI over the past five years in dirt routes at Belmont.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan