More Champagne better fit vs. boys in Awad

ELMONT, N.Y. – In hindsight, trainer Tom Morley wishes he would have run his filly More Champagne against the boys in the Grade 3 Futurity last month instead of the Grade 3 Matron, where she finished a respectable third behind Brickyard Belle and Harper’s Corner.

The Matron went .80 second faster than the Futurity, won by Good to Be King.

Faced with similar options this weekend at Belmont Park, Morley has opted to send More Champagne against the boys in Saturday’s $175,000 Awad Stakes rather than against the fillies in the $175,000 Stewart Manor. Both races are scheduled for six furlongs on the turf.

On paper, at least, it appears More Champagne is in the softer spot. The Awad drew eight while the Stewart Manor drew 12, including Brickyard Belle and European shippers Pink Venom and Yuquot.

“Her numbers fit better with the colts than the filly’s, to be honest,” Morley said. “The last thing you want to do is run your race and get in traffic trouble and finish seventh beaten a length and I think there’s less chance of that happening against the boys than there is in a massive field of pretty talented fillies.”

More Champagne rolled to a 6 1/2-length win in her debut in April at Keeneland, which prompted a trip to Royal Ascot, where she finished 19th in the 27-horse, Group 2 Queen Mary. After a troubled trip in the Bolton Landing, More Champagne ran her race in the Matron and was simply third best.

Morley’s biggest concern is the prospect of the Awad being run over soft ground following wet weather Thursday and Friday. Morley said he’d prefer the race be transferred to Tapeta – a surface over which More Champagne has trained – than run over yielding ground.

“It will hold a lot less fears than genuine sort of heavy ground,” Morley said.

Trainer Tareq Moubarak has shipped up Riyadh Way and Reza from Florida. After running fourth on dirt in his debut in June, Riyadh Way has gone 2 for 2 over Gulfstream Park’s turf, including a victory in the Hollywood Beach Stakes. Both of those wins were at five furlongs, but Moubarak is confident the son of Karakontie will handle another furlong.

“We gave him a race on dirt first time out, but the way he moves, the way he is pedigree-wise, we thought he was grass all the way,” Moubarak said. “I also think six furlongs will suit him better than five. He’s versatile, he can be anywhere in the race.”

In winning the Hollywood Beach, Riyadh Way handled less than firm ground.

Reza, a son of Talk of Silence, won his debut by eight lengths over Gulfstream’s Tapeta track before finishing fifth, beaten three lengths in a five-furlong turf allowance at Churchill.

“He was too far back at Churchill and five [furlongs] is a bit too sharp for him,” Moubarak said. “If it goes to Tapeta and it being six [furlongs] it should be spot on. I’m hoping for two big runs.”

Metallican, trained by Jamie Ness, is 3 for 3, including two wins on turf at Laurel. Titan Ready, trained by Brad Cox, is coming off a four-length maiden win here after finishing second in his first three starts, two of them being stakes.