Presence of Grade 1 winners spice up Diablo
ELMONT, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association put up a $100,000 overnight stakes and a Grade 1 event broke out.
The second running of the Diablo, a listed stakes at six furlongs, looks more like the Cigar Mile, with multiple Grade 1 winners Palace Malice and Palace along with the multiple Grade 3 winner Clearly Now among the eight entrants.
Palace Malice, the 2013 Belmont Stakes and 2014 Metropolitan Handicap winner, has not raced since finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Whitney last August. He was scheduled to run in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes here on May 2, but a foot issue discovered two days before the race forced him to scratch. With a repeat try in the June 6 Met Mile being trainer Todd Pletcher’s goal for Palace Malice, the Diablo became Plan B.
“As long as he runs well, finishes up well, hopefully gallops out strong and gets some conditioning out of it,” said Pletcher, who trains Palace Malice for Dogwood Stable and Three Chimneys Farm. “We want to try to win, but we know he’s not running at his best distance.”
John Velazquez rides Palace Malice under top weight of 124 pounds.
Palace won the Grade 1 Vanderbilt and Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga last summer. He began his 6-year-old season this year with a fifth in the Grade 1 Carter. Trainer Linda Rice was hoping to use the Diablo to regroup and prep for the Grade 2, $250,000 True North on June 5. But Rice said Friday that Palace is 60-40 to run Sunday.
Clearly Now ran the race of his life last summer at Belmont Park, beating Palace by 6 1/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint. Since then, he has finished next to last in both the Grade 1 Forego last August and Grade 1 Carter last month. Like Rice with Palace, trainer Brian Lynch was hoping to use this race as a confidence builder for Clearly Now, whom he hopes to return to graded stakes competition.
Three of the other five horses were cross-entered in Saturday’s $75,000 Decathlon Stakes at Monmouth Park. Trainer Richard Stoklosa seemed to be leaning toward running Piquant in New York. David Jacobson planned to run Tenango in New York while running Classic Salsa at Monmouth. Jacobson also runs the streaking Stallwalkin’ Dude, who may be the biggest threat to the top trio.
KEY CONTENDERS
Palace Malice (Last 3 Beyers: 91-112-114)
◗ Looked like his accomplished career was done when he was found to have an injury last summer following a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga.
◗ Though he is a true distance horse, he did win a maiden race going 6 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga as a 2-year-old.
“Sometimes class prevails,” Pletcher said. “If he gets a favorable pace scenario, maybe he can run them down.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Palace Malice. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 34-4-3-6 with a $0.59 ROI over the past five years going route to sprint on dirt following a layoff of 180 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Stallwalkin’ Dude (Last 3 Beyers: 103-89-98)
◗ He has won three straight, including an allowance on May 1 when he earned a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure.
◗ Does his best running from off the pace, but can lay close if need be.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1A Stallwalkin’ Dude. Trainer David Jacobson is 17-1-3-5 with a $0.18 ROI over the past five years in stakes races within 10 days of the previous race. – Mike Hogan
Clearly Now (Last 3 Beyers: 77-74-113)
◗ He may be over the top, but if he has something left Belmont is likely the place where he’ll show it. He ran arguably his two best races here, the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint last year and the Grade 3 Bold Ruler in the fall of 2013.
“I’m hoping to see if he can still run with these sort of horses or do I reevaluate,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “He’s trained on good, no issues with him soundness-wise.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Clearly Now. Trainer Brian Lynch is 19-5-3-2 with a $3.13 ROI over the past five years in dirt sprints in the second start following a layoff, including two wins for Clearly Now. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Doubledown Again. Trainer Michelle Nevin is 21-8-4-1 with a $6.09 ROI over the past two years in dirt sprints at Belmont with Jose Ortiz aboard. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan