Oscar Performance will need to elevate his game in Joe Hirsch

ELMONT, N.Y. – Oscar Performance proved to be the best 2-year-old male turf horse in North America, and to this point the best 3-year-old male turf horse as well. He will need to be better than he’s ever been Saturday when he faces older horses for the first time in the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park.

In the Joe Hirsch, Oscar Performance also will be making his first start at 1 1/2 miles. He will attempt to become the first 3-year-old to win this race since his sire Kitten’s Joy did it in 2004. That was the first year this race was renamed the Joe Hirsch, honoring the Daily Racing Form’s longtime executive columnist. Hirsch died in 2009 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Oscar Performance, trained by Brian Lynch for Jerry and John Amerman, has the credentials to go off favored in the Joe Hirsch. He has won his last three starts, most recently the Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington Park in August. He is 3 for 3 at Belmont Park, including a two-length victory in the Belmont Derby here on July 8. The Secretariat and Belmont Derby were run at 1 1/4 miles.

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Oscar Performance has the speed to put him in a prominent position early under Jose Ortiz, who returned to the saddle Thursday after missing a week due to a bruised knee suffered in a Sept. 22 spill at Belmont Park. Even though there are 11 horses in this field, the only two with early speed are Oscar Performance and Beach Patrol, who is also trying 1 1/2 miles for the first time after winning the Arlington Million at 1 1/4 miles.

Speaking of Oscar Performance, Lynch said: “He’s trained so good coming into this race, working with other horses and relaxing, the lead is definitely not an issue. He doesn’t need it, or if there’s no pace he can take it.”

Beach Patrol won the Secretariat in 2016 and returned to Chicago this summer to win the Arlington Million. In between, he went winless in seven starts with four seconds in graded stakes company. Trainer Chad Brown had the option of shortening up Beach Patrol or stretching him out, and chose the latter.

“I don’t think he has the turn of foot to compete at the Grade 1 level going a mile,” Brown said. “But going a mile and a half, he’s a fighter, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he were to stay the trip.”

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Brown also sends out Fanciful Angel and Money Multiplier in the Joe Hirsch. Fanciful Angel finished second to Beach Patrol in the Arlington Million, and majority interest in the gelding was subsequently purchased by Sol Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners and he was transferred to Brown. He, too, will be trying 1 1/2 miles for the first time.

“Each week the horse continues to improve,” Brown said. “I really like what I see.”

Money Multiplier is coming off a second-place finish behind Sadler’s Joy in the Sword Dancer at Saratoga, just his second race of the year. Prior to that, he won the Grade 2 Monmouth Cup.

“I felt like he got beat fair and square by Sadler’s Joy,” Brown said. “That horse ran terrific, made the last move and the best move. No excuse for our horse.”

Sadler’s Joy may be the horse with the least to prove in the Joe Hirsch. His three wins from four starts at 1 1/2 miles is more than the rest of the field combined. Sadler’s Joy would benefit from a strong pace.

“If we get a good, clean trip like we did in the Sword Dancer, that’s all that really matters,” trainer Tom Albertrani said. “The horse has such a tremendous turn of foot. If he’s just able to stay clear and use that kick, he’s going to be right there.”

Ascend won the Grade 1 Manhattan here in June, but like so many in here is trying 1 1/2 miles for the first time.

The Grey Gatsby, a multiple Group 1 winner as a 3-year-old but winless in his last 15 starts, is the lone European-based runner in the field. Mekhtaal, Channel Maker, Converge, and Tricked Up complete the field.

The Joe Hirsch offers a fees-paid berth to the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4 as part of the Win and You’re In program. The Hirsch goes as the last of 10 races and is part of an all-stakes pick four that begins with the Grade 1 Vosburgh and continues with the Grade 3 Pilgrim and Grade 1 Beldame.

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