Our Country just needs fair shot in Pilgrim Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – If it could go wrong, it went wrong for Our Country in the Grade 3 With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga.

Sent off the 6-5 favorite in the in the six-horse field, Our Country stumbled at the break and then got rank with jockey Manny Franco, who had to steady the horse multiple times entering the first turn of the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes. In the end, Our Country finished fourth, beaten 2 3/4 lengths.

Saturday, Our Country will attempt to rebound while earning himself a trip to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita when he runs in the Grade 3, $200,000 Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont Park. Nine maiden-winning juveniles make up the field for the Pilgrim, run at 1 1/16 miles over Belmont’s Widener turf.

Trainer George Weaver said part of Our Country’s issues in the With Anticipation were caused by an equipment malfunction. A bit guard that should be on the outside of the horse’s mouth somehow wound up inside, Weaver said.

“That, in and of itself, caused him to stumble at the start and caused him to get rank,” Weaver said. “It didn’t help matters that everybody backed up in his face. There were a combination of things that made it worse than it had to be.”

Our Country was sent off the favorite in the With Anticipation based on a dominant 5 3/4-length victory in an Aug. 3 maiden race at Saratoga.

Weaver, who won this race in 2015 with Isotherm, said he is removing the bit guards from Our Country’s equipment Saturday, and he has been pleased with the way the son of Constitution has trained since the With Anticipation.

“Hopefully, it’s a smooth trip and we find out if we belong where we think we belong,” said Weaver, who trains Our Country for Randy Hill and Mike Gatsas.

Among Our Country’s stronger rivals are No Word, Structor, and Maxwell Esquire. No Word, trained by Todd Pletcher, was a very professional 2 1/4-length winner of an Aug. 31 maiden race at Saratoga. He broke alertly, sat nicely inside, tipped one path off the rail, and ran by Gear Jockey while opening up his advantage in the final sixteenth.

“He trained like a horse that would come out and perform well in his first start, and I thought he kind of exceeded expectations,” said Pletcher, a two-time winner of this race.

No Word covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.87. Earlier on that card, Structor won the other division of that maiden race, covering the same distance in 1:44.16 in a race that was run with a much slower early pace. Structor, a son of Palace Malice trained by Chad Brown, was an $850,000 2-year-old in training purchase by owners Jeff Drown and Don Rachel.

Maxwell Esquire is coming off a 2 3/4-length victory against New York-breds here Sept. 8, making him the only one in the field with experience at Belmont.

Famished, after a good-looking win on dirt, tries turf for the first time. Trained by John Kimmel, he has worked well twice over the surface.

Tuggle, Andesite, No Lime, and The Gray Blur complete the nine-horse field.