Market Psychology to go a little longer

ELMONT, N.Y. - Rick Violette's enthusiasm for running Market Psychology in Sunday's $100,000 Evan Shipman Stakes increased significantly when he was informed that Stormin Normandy was not entered in the 1 1/16-mile race for New York-breds.

Without Stormin Normandy - who will run in a sprint stakes at Saratoga - Market Psychology could play out as the main speed in the closing-day feature at Belmont Park. Following Sunday's nine-race card, racing moves to Saratoga beginning Wednesday.

Market Psychology, a son of Freud, has raced beyond a mile only once, finishing fourth in an open-company allowance race around two turns at Aqueduct in February. Since that race, Market Psychology has run three strong races, winning one and finishing second behind Merchant Marine and Stormin Normandy in a pair of sprint races.

"It's probably at the end of his scope," Violette said about the 1 1/16-mile distance, "but he's turned into a very solid racehorse. Pace will make the race. If it's hot, he ain't going to get it. But whoever hooks him is going to pay the price."

Market Psychology breaks from the outside post in the seven-horse field and looks to put the finishing touches on a meet riding title for Eibar Coa.

Market Psychology will have to hold off the stretch runs of highweights Naughty New Yorker and Stud Muffin. Naughty New Yorker, the 121-pound highweight, needs a first- or second-place finish to become a millionaire for Fox Ridge Farm and trainer Pat Kelly.

He is running back four weeks after finishing seventh in the Grade 1 Suburban, in which he found himself vying for the lead early on, something Kelly did not want to see.

"He did that in the Pegasus when he was a 3-year-old - he tried to run over everybody going around the first turn," Kelly said.

Two starts back, in the Noble Nashua Stakes, Naughty New Yorker finished fourth behind Stud Muffin. Claimed for $35,000 in March by trainer David Duggan, Stud Muffin has two wins on dirt sandwiched around a fifth-place finish in a turf stakes.

"A fast pace is the key," said Duggan, who may not get his wish. "He's a grinder. A one-turn mile, mile and an eighth is perfect for him."

One longshot possibility could be Prince of Peace, who might get first run on the closers by stalking Market Psychology. In the Noble Nashua, Prince of Peace chased a hot pace when he finished seventh.

French Transition, Lorccan, and Dr. D.F.C. complete the field.