Minaret Station takes on tough group in rescheduled Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

ELMONT, N.Y. – The rain and wind finally ceased around these parts early Monday morning and with a couple of dry – and warm – days in the forecast, the four graded turf stakes that were postponed last weekend and rescheduled for Thursday at Belmont Park should be run under good conditions.

The Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch is one of six graded stakes that will be run as part of an eight-race card Thursday at Belmont. First post will be 2:10 p.m. with the first of six consecutive stakes, the Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom, going off at 3:14 p.m.

A nor’easter that prompted the New York Racing Association to cancel both weekend cards, brought just more than three inches of rain to this part of Long Island. Lingering showers were still in the area Monday morning, but a drying trend was forecast for the remainder of the week.

Course condition wasn’t likely to be a deterrent for Minaret Station, who has handled basically any type of ground in his brief career. While Minaret Station is winless in four starts in 2026, he is three lengths away from being unbeaten.

Minaret Station will need to bring another top effort when he faces three European shippers, multiple Grade 1 winner Far Bridge, and a pair of Chad Brown-trained runners in the Hirsch, named for the longtime executive columnist for Daily Racing Form who died in 2009.

Minaret Station was beaten three-quarters of a length by the filly Survie in the Grade 1 Christophe Clement (formerly the Sword Dancer) on Aug. 15 at Saratoga. Minaret Station showed that day he could handle 1 1/2 miles, yielding turf, and adapt to a glacial pace. After closing from fifth in the six-horse Bowling Green to finish third, beaten a half-length, Minaret Station displayed a different running style in the Clement.

Jose Ortiz rode him in both spots and rides him again Thursday in this 1 1/2-mile stepping-stone to the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

“He rode him the first time and got off him and said, ‘I think I can do that a little bit different,’ ” said Will Walden, trainer of Minaret Station. “The horse allowed him to put him in the race a little bit more than he’s used to, which he should be. For a horse that’s competitive going a mile and a mile and a sixteenth, you think he could be involved in the top three or four going a mile and a half, and Jose was able to do that last race, which was arguably his best race. He just got beat on the square by a better horse that day – [Survie] is a freak. He ran a hell of a race, I thought, in defeat.”

There are three Grade 1 winners in the Joe Hirsch field – El Cordobes, Far Bridge, and Program Trading – but all have question marks.

El Cordobes, who won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer in 2025 and finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, has run just once this year, a fifth-place finish in a Group 2 stakes in Qatar in February.

Trainer Charlie Appleby told the New York Racing Association that El Cordobes is priming for a campaign that includes Qatar and Dubai during the winter. It could include the Breeders’ Cup, should he run well Thursday. Appleby noted that El Cordobes likes “quick and flat tracks,” which perhaps has a better chance of being in play given the postponement.

Flavien Prat, who rode El Cordobes in the 2025 Sword Dancer, reunites with him in the Hirsch.

Far Bridge, who won the 2024 Sword Dancer, is returning from an injury he suffered winning the Grade 3 Pan American at Gulfstream in March. He won this race in 2024 when it was held at Aqueduct and won the Grade 2 Bowing Green last year over yielding turf.

Miguel Clement expressed concern about whether he had Far Bridge ready to fire his best race off the layoff in a high-quality field such as the Hirsch. He did get another turf work in him last Friday when he went a half-mile in 49.96 seconds in company.

Program Trading won the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill in 2024. After an injury and fruitless campaign in 2025, Program Trading did win the Grade 2 United Nations at Monmouth in July. He was tough to handle in the early stages of the Clement, a race in which he finished third, beaten 1 1/4 lengths.

Program Trading is trained by Chad Brown, who also sends out Asbury Park, the Grade 2 Jockey Club Derby winner in 2025 who most recently was beaten in a second-level allowance.

Fort George was beaten a nose in the Grade 2 Bowling Green, and after a foot abscess knocked him out of the Clement, he finished third in the Kentucky Downs Turf Cup on Sept. 5.

“I thought the [outside] draw wasn’t great. He was a step slow, it made life difficult for him,” trainer Ed Walker said. “It was a messy race, he was slightly caught up in it, but he ran very well. I hope and think Belmont will suit him better.”

Before the postponement, Walker had expressed reservations about running on soft ground.

Pride of Arras is coming off a one-length victory in the Group 3 September Stakes over the synthetic surface at Kempton. Prior to that, he finished second in the Group 2 York Stakes to Item, a horse who came back to win the Group 1 Juddmonte International.

Pride of Arras was originally scheduled to be ridden by James Doyle. Rossa Ryan, who won the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Starlust, is now named to ride him.