My Boy Prince hopes to hold off slew of rivals in Van Clief
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Among five listed stakes on the Arlington Million Day undercard at Colonial Downs, it is no surprise that the $150,000 Van Clief Stakes has drawn the most competitive field. Male turf sprinters have been immensely well represented in the Mid-Atlantic region recently, and 14 were entered for the 5 1/2-furlong race on Saturday.
In a race featuring nine stakes winners, the Grade 1-placed My Boy Prince will still have a decided class edge for trainer Mark Casse. The 5-year-old gelding is looking for his first victory since April, when he won the Grade 2 Shakertown at Keeneland with a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.
“His races [at 5 1/2 furlongs] have been good,” Casse said. “Obviously, when you run five and a half on the grass, you need some luck. Sometimes he gets lucky with his trips, sometimes he doesn’t.”
After just missing in the Grade 2 Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs and running fifth in the Grade 1 Jaipur at Saratoga, My Boy Prince stretched out to a mile and never factored in the Grade 3 Kelso in July. Casse said the decision to cut back in distance was clear.
The 3-1 morning-line favorite is far from a sure thing in the deep field, as the 4-year-old gelding Governor Sam will lead a small army of improving stakes runners. The graded stakes winner has progressed in three straight starts and chased a blazing early pace in the $100,000 Get Serious at Monmouth Park last time out, kicking clear to win with a 91 Beyer Speed Figure.
“The horse is doing really well and this seems like a good spot,” Weaver said. “He’s in really good form.”
Trainer Ned Allard is bringing back the graded stakes winner Alogon and improving sprinter Card Trick with high hopes, having scratched both from the $100,000 Wolf Hill, which was taken off the turf at Monmouth.
Witty, the Van Clief winner last year, has shown uncharacteristic tactical speed in both of his victories this year. Trainer Elizabeth Merryman said the Van Clief could be the perfect opportunity for him to utilize his late-running style.
Andy Guest
While the male turf sprinters scrap in a wide-open Van Clief, Roja will have a far more straightforward chance in the $150,000 Andy Guest Stakes. The front-running filly is coming off a masterful victory in the Grade 2 Intercontinental at Saratoga in June, which will make her the obvious filly to beat on Saturday.
“She’s done nothing wrong this year,” trainer Graham Motion said. “She’s run two phenomenal races, and we picked this race for the timing of it. Didn’t really want to rush back up to Saratoga, give her plenty of time.”
In her graded stakes debut last time out, Roja took a bounding leap forward, notching her third straight victory with a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure. She drew the far outside post that day and will break from the rail in another 5 1/2-furlong sprint at Colonial.
Trainer Wesley Ward said he plans to send the cross-entered filly Saturday Flirt to Virginia. She will return from a short break after rallying for second in the $100,000 The Very One at Laurel in May.
“One of the reasons why I chose this one over the other is the [far outside] post,” Ward said. “Having an outside post and [John Velazquez] up, you’d think she’d be a little bit closer.”
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In the field of seven fillies and mares, four were cross-entered in either the $100,000 Incredible Revenge at Monmouth or $250,000 Hummingbird at Ellis Park. Trainer Victoria Oliver said she plans to ship the last-out allowance winner Lucy McGee to Colonial, while Merryman said she was playing the waiting game with Somnium.
Reigh Count
Verifire is working his way back up the ranks as a 4-year-old and will return to stakes company in the $100,000 Reigh Count Stakes. The colt is coming off a gritty allowance victory at Churchill Downs, which convinced trainer Brad Cox that he’s ready for the next step.
“I thought he’s been very good in his two runs this year,” Cox said. “I thought he may have needed his first run of the year, and his last run was a very gutsy effort. He’s an honest horse.”
After winning the $250,000 Maxfield at Churchill last year, Cox confidently entered Verifire in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens. He bobbled at the start and was eased in what remains his only career finish out of the money. He will stretch back out to seven furlongs in the Reigh Count.
The resurgent 4-year-old will likely benefit from at least one key absence in the field of 10. Oliver said Bracket Buster, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, will scratch, while trainer Gregory Sacco said he may scratch graded stakes winner Crazy Mason.
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Tyson Gilpin
From the moment Mashallah stepped on the track at Keeneland in April, the 3-year-old filly seemed destined for stakes company. Trainer Brendan Walsh has played it safe with her since, but he will finally take the natural next step in the $100,000 Tyson Gilpin on Saturday.
It’s rare for a $1.25 million Ocala Breeding Sales purchase to immediately live up to its seven-digit hype, but Mashallah did just that when she earned a 106 Beyer in her April debut. There were fears of a fluke when the Maxfield filly ran flat at Churchill Downs next time out, but she quickly put those concerns to rest when she romped home by seven lengths in a first-level allowance at Saratoga on July 4.
“We rode the race to teach her a little more than she learned the first day – or the second day, for that matter,” Walsh said. “It went according to plan and she finished up the race nice.”
Walsh said he considers the Gilpin’s seven-furlong distance ideal for the time being, allowing his filly to tackle a little more ground in her stakes debut. Her regression at Churchill came at a mile, but the trainer said the distance had little to do with it.
Petramolo Mile
In his first start for trainer George Weaver, Six Speed lost all chance at the start, breaking awkwardly in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens and trailing in eighth throughout. He is due for improvement in the $100,000 Petramolo Mile.
“It just wasn’t a good day for him,” Weaver said of the Woody Stephens. “But the horse has had a bunch of nice workouts and we like this spot. The one-turn mile seems to fit and give us a read about where he stacks up.”
After setting an unsustainable early pace in the Kentucky Derby and costing himself at Saratoga, it is arguable that Six Speed has not yet had the chance to run his best race in North America. In his only start at a mile in the United Arab Emirates, he won the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas by five lengths.
Bob Baffert said he is making a compromise with Sabino Canyon, cutting back to a one-turn mile in search of more seasoning. In June, the trainer was so desperate for two-turn races on the West Coast that he entered the colt as a maiden in the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby. He improved to win by a half-length.
“The only reason he was in the Los Alamitos Derby was because races in California weren’t filling,” Baffert said. “It was just straight 3-year-olds. I think he’s a horse that, as he gets older and better, I’d prefer the full mile and an eighth.”
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. entered two runners in the field of eight 3-year-olds. Bravaro was once a Kentucky Derby hopeful but failed to improve while stretching out in distance, while Langvad has stayed in Florida throughout his career and won the $100,000 Carry Back in June.
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