Trikari stepped up to graded stakes competition for the first time in May and won the American Turf at Churchill Downs as a 47-1 shot. The upset was no fluke. Trikari subsequently finished third, beaten a neck in the Penn Mile, before winning the Grade 1 Belmont Derby, and he’ll be no worse than a strong second choice Sunday at Colonial Downs in the Grade 2, $500,000 Secretariat, a one-mile grass race for 3-year-olds. “He’s just a couple of heads and noses from being unbeaten since his first race,” said Graham Motion, who trains Trikari for Amerman Racing. Trikari, in his lone start at age 2, flopped in a Keeneland turf maiden last October. Trikari is also entered in Sunday’s Grade 1 Saratoga Derby over 1 3/16 miles, the distance of his Belmont Derby victory, but Motion plans to run at Colonial. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “He can stretch out, but I think a mile is well within his scope, and if I go to the race at Saratoga, for the rest of the year I don’t know where that’s taking me,” Motion said. “I don’t think I’m going to turn him into a mile-and-a-half horse. I think a mile could be his deal. He’s such a beautiful, striking horse.” Trikari, John Velazquez named to ride, drew the outside post among nine entrants but will move in a few stalls after scratches. Fulmineo is expected to opt for the Saratoga Derby, while First World War isn’t shipping east from his Turfway Park base this weekend, trainer Brendan Walsh said. Bear River will come out of the Secretariat to start in the Van Clief Stakes, also on the Sunday card at Colonial, according to trainer Keith Desormeaux. Even with six runners, the Secretariat should unfold at a quick tempo, with General Ledger and Mattingly the likely leaders, In a Jam not far behind. Trikari also has ample pace but figures to slot into a stalking spot, as he did in the American Turf. While Rock’n a Halo has some upside at a price, Brilliant Bertie could, for good reason, challenge Trikari for favoritism. Fifth in his February debut at Fair Grounds, Brilliant Bertie began his career a green colt who needed experience, trainer Cherie DeVaux said. Given a 10-week break before his second start, Brilliant Bertie reeled off Churchill Downs turf-route wins against maidens, first-level allowance foes, and in the American Derby, winning his stakes debut by more than two lengths. Fourth in that race was Lagynos, beaten a neck Aug. 2 at Saratoga in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame. Brilliant Bertie won the June 29 American Derby 22 days after his allowance tally. “He came out of that race in great shape and now we’ve had more time between starts,” DeVaux said. “He’s coming into this as well as he went into his last two, and one thing he has shown in the mornings, which has translated to the afternoon, is that really nice turn of foot. And he’s still learning.” Brian Hernandez Jr. was named to ride Brilliant Bertie in a race originally scheduled for Aug. 10 and has stakes commitments Sunday at Ellis Park. DeVaux said Frankie Dettori picks up the mount. It’s a live one, though Trikari will be tough to beat. Van Clief Stakes Mischief Magic and Witty might be the two most likely winners of the $150,000 Van Clief Stakes, but neither horse has speed to make his own race, and both will depend on racing luck to get up and win the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint. A dozen were entered in the Van Clief, and with as many as eight legitimate front-running types, the race ought to unfold at a strong pace, spreading the field and giving stretch-runners like Mischief Magic and Witty room to operate. Four-year-old Mischief Magic should be favored for Godolphin, trainer Charlie Appleby, and jockey William Buick, and the more the Colonial course dries through the weekend, the better things look for Mischief Magic. A last-to-first winner of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, Mischief Magic didn’t race again in America until April, when he closed stoutly for second behind the high-class Arzak at Keeneland in the Shakertown. At Churchill in May, over a course holding some moisture, Mischief Magic rallied from 12th to finish third in a race won by Cogburn, North America’s leading turf sprinter. And in June at Saratoga, Mischief Magic finished fifth in the Grade 1 Jaipur, won in record time by Cogburn, a far stronger contest than the Van Clief. Witty, a 5-year-old trained by Elizabeth Merryman, won’t be as far off the pace as Mischief Magic, but he, too, does his best work through the final three-sixteenths of a mile. Witty has not faced the same class of horse this year as Mischief Magic but does come off a fine second in the Grade 1 Highlander over six furlongs at Woodbine. Witty probably prefers the Van Clief’s shorter distance, but Dream Shake, making his first start since November, is more of a six- or seven-furlong turf sprinter. Trained by Michael Stidham, exceedingly capable with layoff runners, Dream Shake hit peak form with a shift to turf and synthetic racing last year, but a return to that level might come later this summer. Also worthy of consideration is the Virginia-bred Determined Kingdom, a five-time winner in eight Colonial grass starts, though Determined Kingdom has prospered in Virginia-restricted turf-sprint stakes competition. Andy Guest Stakes The $150,000 Andy Guest, the Van Clief’s sister race, drew a lesser cast of eight older fillies and mares headed by Beauty of the Sea. By the rising young sire Bucchero, Beauty of the Sea showed stakes-level quality last year at age 3 and has come forward in three 2024 outings for Ironhorse Racing and trainer Joe Orseno. Despite a troubled trip, Beauty of the Sea proved much the best June 22 at Monmouth in the $106,000 Goldwood Stakes, and a similar performance ought to top the primary opposition, rail-drawn Love Appeals. ◗ The Sunday stakes action starts with a pair of $100,000 dirt races for 3-year-olds, the Petramalo Mile and the seven-furlong Penny Chenery, which is restricted to fillies. Hades, who made a brief appearance on the Triple Crown trail when he won the Holy Bull early in the year at Gulfstream, is the best-known horse in either spot and figures a strong favorite in the Petramalo Mile. On-again, off-again Dazzling Move is due for one of her strong showings Sunday, which would suffice to capture the Chenery. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.