SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Most cases of hiccups are gone before you know it. A minor irritation is an irritation, nonetheless. In racing, a slight setback often gets termed a hiccup. Nothing major. An irritation, nonetheless. The 5-year-old gelding Rhetorical turned in an absolutely brilliant performance, one of the best American grass races in the last couple of years, winning the $1.4 million Turf Classic on May 2 at Churchill Downs. Tactics changed that day. Rather than taking a hold of his mount, Irad Ortiz let him rumble to the lead. Rhetorical loved it. Bottled up, unable to stride out in the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland, his season’s debut, Rhetorical bounded along relaxed and happy, blasted off the turn, and had put the Turf Classic to bed at the furlong grounds. His 3 1/2-length victory yielded a glittery 107 Beyer Speed Figure. Then he hiccuped. Rhetorical breezed May 16 at Churchill but didn’t show up on the tab the following weekend. Fungal infection of the hoof, trainer Will Walden reported this week. Rhetorical wears an aluminum pad on the affected foot when he starts here Saturday in the Manhattan Stakes. Just a hiccup, but not ideal coming into a Grade 1, $1 million race. :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save big on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Listed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite, Rhetorical faces eight rivals in the 1 3/16-mile Manhattan. He breaks from post 7, well drawn outside his main pace rival, Deterministic. Deterministic won the 2025 Manhattan, run a day later and a half-furlong shorter than scheduled after oceans of rain fell at Saratoga on Belmont Stakes weekend. He has questions of his own to answer, and both pace players must deal with formidable French shipper Bright Picture. Tiz Dashing merits every bit of his 30-1 morning line odds, but he’s the only one to cross off with confidence. Trainer Graham Motion runs Test Score and One Stripe, while trainer Shug McGaughey sends out Integration and Normandy Invasion. Test Score would look good Saturday had he not raced since winning the Pegasus World Cup Turf in January. Test Score showed strong form in two Saratoga graded stakes last summer, has earned more than $2 million, and, in theory, should be a progressive 4-year-old. But he did run back after the Pegasus, beaten more than 16 lengths in the Turf Classic after starting from an outside draw. “I didn’t think the post would be a problem, but he never got in a good spot, never got any cover. At the three-eighths pole, he was kind of done,” Motion said. “I don’t see any other reason for it. He’s had two nice works. I had soul-searching about running, but he looks amazing.” South American import One Stripe lost by a neck but ran at least as well as Test Score in the Pegasus, closing from eighth after floating out eight or nine paths from the rail for his stretch run. He came back with a fine second April 10 in the Maker’s Mark Mile and a try over this longer trip has long been contemplated. “I’ve always had in the back of my mind stretching him out a little bit,” said Motion, who has intentionally spaced One Stripe’s starts. “He puts a lot into his races, and he’s not a big, robust horse.” :: Bet the Belmont Stakes with confidence! Betting Strategies by Mike Beer and David Aragona feature exclusive wager recommendations! It’s easy to forget that Integration, in the final furlong of last year’s Manhattan, closed five lengths on Deterministic and nearly caught him. Third at odds-on in the Arlington Million in August, Integration got an extended off-track vacation, showing up in a Keeneland allowance race April 8. A mild third there, Integration moved up a notch winning an Aqueduct allowance. It’s not there on paper, but McGaughey sees the same horse as a year ago. “The way he’s worked since his last race, I believe that,” he said. Deterministic got an easy lead May 2 in the Fort Marcy, but Battle of Normandy still gained 1 3/4 lengths from the stretch call to the wire and missed by three-quarters, keeping a straight course after lugging in his previous start, which pleased his trainer. Make Me King made his North American debut in the Turf Classic, overmatched by Rhetorical but second nonetheless. He shipped to England before returning for the Manhattan, which probably is longer than his ideal distance. The Manhattan’s distance hits Bright Picture’s sweet spot. French legend Andre Fabre hasn’t run a horse in North America since 2021 and hasn’t won here since 2017. Surely he means business sending this gelding. Bright Picture missed about a year of racing before returning as an improved 4-year-old last summer. Somewhat concerningly, he flopped in his lone trip outside France, unplaced in Bahrain last November, but hit peak form this spring. Versatile in terms of ground and style, Bright Picture nearly got run down by the merely useful Leffard in the Prix d’Harcourt. While second last out in the Group 1 Prix Ganay, easy winner Daryz, one of the best horses in the world, toyed with Bright Picture, winning by 3 1/2 lengths. Deterministic had his own long layoff from August through the Fort Marcy. He almost certainly didn’t hit top form that day. Deterministic’s best races have come between one mile and 1 1/8 miles, but trainer Miguel Clement insists this longer trip poses no issue. Tactics? Those are set. “We’re going to the lead,” Clement said. That would leave Rhetorical in the garden spot, tracking the pacesetter while in the clear. Rhetorical, a late bloomer, came strongly to hand last summer at Saratoga before a breakthrough tally in the Grade 1 Turf Mile at Keeneland. A win Saturday, and he’s clearly the best middle-distance horse in North America. Back to work May 30, Rhetorical revved his engine. “He was a little keen, probably from not breezing in two weeks,” Walden said. “Hoping he got that out of his system. Listen, we’re not going to run this horse unless we feel like he’s on his ‘A’ game,” Walden said. The hiccups have stopped. We’ll see Saturday if the irritation lingers. :: Get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts. Available each race day at Saratoga.