Lubash heads short field in featured turf sprint

A 40 percent chance of rain early Friday may or may not affect the second of three Party at the Park programs with a first post of 3 p.m. Eastern. One thing’s for sure: Whether on the Widener turf as scheduled or on the main track, the featured third race will have a relatively short field.

Five older New York-breds entered the $75,000, seven-furlong race for turf, headed by the venerable Lubash. Entered for the main track only are Readthebyline and Saratoga Snacks, second and third in the recent Commentator Stakes, and Sioux, the beaten favorite in the Empire Classic last fall.

Lubash surpassed $1 million in earnings when he won the Grade 3 Tropical Turf to conclude his 2014 campaign. The 8-year-old son of Freud appears to be as good as ever after notching a long-overdue score in the Kingston over arch-rivals Kharafa and King Kreesa – an effort that looks even better after King Kreesa returned to wire the Poker Stakes for the second time in three years.

“Lubash is a nice horse,” said trainer Christophe Clement, who has saddled him to 13 victories, including two graded stakes. “It’s not like he’s just a New York-bred. I took him to Florida last year, and he won a Grade 3. He can compete in open company. It just tells you how the New York-bred program has stepped up dramatically over the past few years.”

Assuming Mother Nature’s cooperation, Readtheprospectus will be back on turf for the first time since a maiden win at Belmont’s 2012 fall meet. His subsequent start was switched from the grass to a sloppy track at Aqueduct, and the gelding proceeded to reel off seven straight victories on dirt, including the 2013 Commentator.

Coming off a fourth in the most recent Commentator, Readtheprospectus makes his second start back from a layoff for Chad Brown and looms a contender on either side of the rails.

“I think he can run on both surfaces effectively,” said Brown. “He ended up on dirt by default in a rain-out situation, and we’ve just kept him on it.”

Captain Gaughen, Notacatbutallama, and Vicky’s Dancer also entered for turf.

Key contenders

Lubash (Last 3 Beyers: 98-91-99)

* After finishing second or third in four straight editions of the Kingston, he broke through to win the one-mile race in a brisk 1:33.07.

* Uses this as a bridge to the West Point (Aug. 28), a race he has run each of the past four years, including a win in 2012.

Readtheprospectus (Last 3 Beyers: 84-90-83)

* Has won 50 percent of his starts but has lost five straight since taking the Spite the Devil Stakes in September 2013.

Notacatbutallama (Last 3 Beyers: 90-81-94)

* Dual-surface threat won a sloppy renewal of the Grade 3 Hall of Fame Stakes in 2013.