Offering Plan can start streak with Kingston Stakes win

ELMONT, N.Y. – Offering Plan won his first start in each of the five years he’s been racing. Unfortunately for his connections, in four of those years, that was as good as it got for the New York-bred son of Spring At Last.

Offering Plan will attempt to record back-to-back wins for the first time in his 19-race career when he heads a field of 10 entered to run a mile in the $125,000 Kingston Stakes for New York-breds on turf at Belmont Park on Monday.

Offering Plan, trained by Chad Brown, won this race last year off a six-month layoff, posting a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure. He didn’t win again until April, when again, coming off a six-month layoff, he won a high-class allowance race at Keeneland.

Brown said things could be different this year for Offering Plan.

“The horse got some time off on the farm and really came back better than ever,” Brown said. “I’ve never seen the horse carry this much weight and train as well as he is; hopefully, he has his best season to date.”

Offering Plan does his best running from off the pace, and there appears to be plenty of early speed in this field with Voodoo Song, Black Tide, and Fox Rules.

Dot Matrix returns to New York-bred company after winning three of four starts in open company for Brad Cox this winter and spring. His lone loss came by a nose to the graded stakes winner Arklow.

“Taking the blinkers off helped get him to relax a little more the early part of the race,” Cox said. “He’s training really well coming into this. He showed he was able to close last time at Keeneland, overcame a lot of things. I think he has a big shot.”

Tapitation and Kharafa, the 2014 Kingston winner, are back for another shot. Tapitation is winless in eight starts since taking the 2016 Kingston. He has not raced against New York-bred company, however, since 2016, when losing the off-the-turf Mohawk by a neck.

“I think he’ll run big,” trainer Ralph Nicks said. “He tries every time, and Joel [Rosario] rides him well.”