Rugbyman right in middle of Dwyer scrum

ELMONT, N.Y. – Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Dwyer Stakes features graded stakes winners Mendelssohn, Noble Indy, and Firenze Fire, all looking to bounce back from subpar efforts in the Kentucky Derby.

But the horse to beat in the Dwyer may be one of the two who will be making his graded stakes debut in this one-mile race that unofficially kicks off the second half of the year in the 3-year-old division in the East.

Rugbyman, with only a maiden win on his résumé, will look to rebound from his neck loss to longshot Prince Lucky in the Easy Goer Stakes on Belmont Day when he runs in the Dwyer. Rugbyman looked like he was going to win the Easy Goer but was a bit reluctant to go past Prince Lucky. Trainer Graham Motion is adding blinkers to the son of Tapit’s equipment for the Dwyer.

“He kind of got to leaning on [Prince Lucky] a little bit,” Motion said. “I hope [the blinkers] are going to do the trick. He’s a little bit green acting anyway, I hope this sets him straight.”

Rugbyman was a bit green when third in his debut and broke slowly but rushed up and rolled to a 14-length maiden win in his second start, which came going a mile at Belmont. Motion said he expects Rugbyman to be involved early in the Dwyer.

“A lot of it is how he handles the gate as far as coming away from there,” Motion said. “With the blinkers you’d imagine he’d be pretty sharp.”

Most eyes will be on Mendelssohn, who won the UAE Derby by 18 1/2 lengths and was sent off the 6-1 second choice in the Kentucky Derby, where he finished last in the slop.

“If we had lost faith in him we would have went for the St. James’s Palace when it was a weak race or the Goodwood for the mile races or the Curragh for the Irish Guineas,” said T.J. Comerford, assistant to trainer Aidan O’Brien. “We didn’t end up winning any of those races and [O’Brien] still wound up saving Mendelssohn for America, which I think is a clue in itself.”

Noble Indy, winner of the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, will get blinkers back on after he finished last in the Belmont Stakes without them.

“Hoping he behaves better in the paddock and the post parade than he did in the Belmont,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “I thought he handled the Derby scene better than the Belmont scene. I was concerned when he left the paddock for the Belmont he got himself pretty frazzled.”

Noble Indy is now 100 percent owned by Mike Repole, who bought out WinStar Farm from its 50 percent share.

Firenze Fire won the Grade 1 Champagne going a mile here last fall. He is making his first start since finishing 11th in the Kentucky Derby.

Completing the field are Seahenge, also trained by O’Brien; Seven Trumpets, a recent allowance winner at Churchill Downs; and Fixedincome Larry, a maiden winner here on June 8.