ELMONT, N.Y. – While it’s hard to believe a $150,000 turf stakes at 1 1/2 miles would draw a field of only five, Friday’s Grand Couturier at Belmont Park did come up an interesting handicapping affair with nary a standout or throwout among the quintet. Originally scheduled for Monday, the Grand Couturier drew only four horses and was not carded when entries were first taken last Friday. British Royalty, the new addition to the group, is certainly a contender coming off a second-place finish in the two-mile Belmont Gold Cup here June 10. Trainer and co-owner Barbara Minshall said she was originally pointing British Royalty to a race at Woodbine at the end of July. She worked British Royalty on Monday at Woodbine and was pleased enough with the move to convince her co-owner, Bruce Lunsford, to run in the rescheduled Grand Couturier. :: Play Belmont with confidence: Get DRF Past Performances, Picks, Clocker Reports, and Betting Strategies. “I was thinking the timing was a little close back,” Minshall said Wednesday. “We do have to travel from Toronto. He worked really good, he’s feeling really good.” British Royalty did not have a good trip in the Belmont Gold Cup. A horse came over on him leaving the gate and Joel Rosario had to take up on British Royalty, leaving him last early. He was gradually advancing along the inside, but stalled for a few strides behind a tiring Cibolian. At that point, Loft, the eventual Gold Cup winner, had begun to make his move. Rosario eventually got British Royalty out into the clear and he did persevere on to get second by a nose. “I would expect him a lot closer than last time,” Minshall said of the early position. It was almost exactly a year ago that Minshall and Lunsford lost British Royalty at the claim box for $25,000. On July 24, just 13 days after losing him, Minshall and Lunsford reclaimed him for $40,000, and in early October they won the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine with him. Channel Maker, the male turf champion of 2020, figures to be the pacemaker in the Grand Couturier. He broke poorly in the Grade 1 Manhattan here June 11 and never got involved, finishing ninth of 10. Prior to that, Channel Maker won the Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland with a forward trip. The 6-year-old Highest Honors is trying to reinvent himself as a turf horse. Winner of the Curlin Stakes on dirt at 3, Highest Honors has a win and a third in three starts on turf, all this year. The third came in the Grade 3 Louisville Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 21. In that race, Highest Honors stumbled at the start, was second to last behind a slow pace, raced five to six wide down the backside, and rallied seven wide in the lane. He was beaten 1 1/4 lengths. “I thought the horse ran great,” trainer Chad Brown said. “I thought he was best in the race. Horror show of a trip.” Admission Office came off a 15-month layoff to win the Grade 3 Arlington Stakes on June 4 at Churchill Downs. He won the Louisville in 2020 at 1 1/2 miles. Solidier Rising, who was second in the Saratoga Derby and Jockey Club Derby last year, broke through with his first U.S. victory here June 3 in a second-level allowance over yielding ground.