Projected goes for repeat in Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup

The weather has not been kind during the early weeks of the Laurel Park fall meet, which has turf racing as its focus. The region is in the midst of another wet week and the grass course will almost certainly be less than firm for the six-stakes card Saturday.

The co-features are the Grade 3, $200,000 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup, a mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, and the newly created Bald Eagle, a $150,000 grass race for 3-year-olds at 1 1/2 miles. Those races can be expected to be kept on the turf at all cost.

Two other 1 1/16-mile turf stakes are planned for Maryland-bred or -sired runners, the Find and the All Brandy. There also are two seven-furlong dirt races restricted to nonwinners of a stakes, the Challedon and the Shine Again.

The 12-race card will have an earlier than usual first post of 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

The BWI Turf Cup has a field of 10, but that could come down a little. Grasshoppin is entered for the main track only, and O Dionysus and Siem Riep are cross-entered in other races on the card.

Kentucky-based trainer Ben Colebrook said he would not run Siem Riep on soft ground and instead would go in the Challedon. O Dionysus is expected to start in the Find, but if that race were to come off the turf, trainer Gary Capuano would use the BWI as a backup.

The horses to beat in the BWI are Projected, Irish Strait, and Doctor Mounty, all of whom have been chasing tough rivals.

Projected, trained by Chad Brown, won this race a year ago but is winless in five starts since. Having said that, he has not been beaten by more than 1 1/4 lengths in any of those races.

In his last three starts, Projected has finished second by a length to Voodoo Song in the Forbidden Apple at Belmont Park, been second by three-quarters of a length to the sharp Inspector Lynley in the restricted Lure at Saratoga, and finished third in a three-horse photo finish in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch at Saratoga.

Projected, who has Joe Bravo named to ride, is very consistent and a must-use in exotics, but a risky win bet as he has 6 wins and 10 seconds from 23 career starts.

Irish Strait has finished third in the Grade 3 Red Bank and Grade 3 Oceanport at Monmouth Park in his last two races, both for trainer Graham Motion. He deserves bonus points for those races because they were won by Synchrony, who has developed into a top-class turf miler and is likely to make his next start in the Grade 1 Shadwell Mile at Keeneland.

Irish Strait has handled softer courses in the past, and a mile may be his best distance.

Doctor Mounty, who is trained by Shug McGaughey, finished second in the Oceanport, three-quarters of a length ahead of Irish Strait. The Oceanport pace was slow early and fast late, however, and Doctor Mounty may have benefited from his forward position while Irish Strait had to rally from farther back.

Abiding Star almost stole the Red Bank on the lead for trainer Ned Allard, finishing second to Synchrony and 1 1/4 lengths in front of Irish Strait.