Seeking firm ground, The Grey Gatsby will try Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

ELMONT, N.Y. – Dermot Weld shipped the mare Zhukova from Ireland to Belmont Park hoping she could repeat her dominant six-length victory in the Grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes here in May in Saturday’s Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

But with the spate of warm, dry weather in the region keeping the Belmont turf courses firm, Weld said Zhukova would skip the Joe Hirsch in favor of the Grade 1 Flower Bowl for fillies and mares on Oct. 8. But, Weld has an interesting backup plan for the Joe Hirsch in 6-year-old The Grey Gatsby.

A two-time Group 1 winner as a 3-year-old, The Grey Gatsby will seek to end a 15-race losing streak in the Joe Hirsch, one of four graded stakes on Saturday’s 10-race card, which gets underway at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. The Hirsch will go as the last race on the program.

The Grey Gatsby drew post 10 in a field of 11 entered Wednesday for the Joe Hirsch, a 1 1/2-mile race that awards a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4.

The Grey Gatsby was trained for the first four years of his career by Kevin Ryan, who saddled him to victories in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly and the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown in 2014.

Weld has had The Grey Gatsby for only a few months, running him four times without success. In two of those races, The Grey Gatsby ran over yielding turf, the kind of ground he doesn’t handle.

“Since I got him this year to train he’s honestly never gotten the ground he wants,” Weld said. “What he wants is what he’ll hopefully get on a Saturday – firm, firm ground.”

John Velazquez will ride The Grey Gatsby.

The competition will include the multiple Grade 1 winner Oscar Performance; Ascend, who won the Grade 1 Manhattan here in June; Arlington Million one-two finishers Beach Patrol and Fanciful Angel; Sword Dancer one-two finishers Sadler’s Joy and Money Multiplier; Channel Maker, winner of the Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine; Mekhtaal; and the Naipaul Chatterpaul-trained uncoupled entry of Converge and Tricked Up.