Timeline, Take Your Guns audition for Belmont Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – Chad Brown ran Practical Joke in the Kentucky Derby. He is preparing Cloud Computing to run in the Preakness. On Saturday at Belmont Park, the Brown-trained Timeline and Take Your Guns could be auditioning for spots in the Belmont Stakes in four weeks.

Timeline and Take Your Guns are among the six 3-year-olds entered to run in the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, the traditional local prep for the Belmont, the third leg of the Triple Crown, which will be run June 10. Master Plan is the only one in the field to have won a stakes, that coming in the males’ division of the OBS Championship over a synthetic surface in January.

Timeline, a son of Hard Spun, has won both of his starts, including a 13 1/2-length allowance romp in the slop at Aqueduct on April 6. A wet track could be in play Saturday if the forecast is accurate.

“He has all the qualities you look for; not only does he train well in the morning, he’s a good-looking horse, and he has a tremendous pedigree,” Brown said of Timeline. “His last race was so impressive.”

Take Your Guns, a son of Blame, finished third to Patch in his career debut at Gulfstream in February. He came back to win a 1 1/8-mile maiden race in the mud at Keeneland on April 15.

“It’s a big jump up to run in a stakes race after a maiden win, but he’s a horse that’s improved with distance,” Brown told the New York Racing Association publicity department. “Coming back and moving to a one-turn race at the same distance is slightly concerning to me – he’s probably more effective around two turns – but I like the timing of this race for his development.”

Master Plan, third in the UAE Derby in March, was marooned on the also-eligible list for the Kentucky Derby. Last Sunday, he worked a bullet half-mile in 48.20 seconds at Churchill Downs.

“I thought his work at Churchill Sunday morning was very good for him,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, a three-time Peter Pan winner. “My biggest concern in the race is will there be enough pace for him?”

Meantime, a supplement to the race from Brian Lynch’s barn, is coming off a gate-to-wire victory in a Keeneland maiden race in the mud April 22.

KEY CONTENDERS

Timeline, by Hard Spun
Last 2 Beyers: 101-85

◗ Rallied from midpack at Gulfstream to win his seven-furlong debut, a race from which the second-, fourth-, and sixth-place finishers have come back to win maiden races.

◗ Relished the mud in his allowance win at Aqueduct and has come back with two bullet workouts since.

Master Plan, by Twirling Candy
Last 3 Beyers: NA-85-84

◗ Owns wins on turf and synthetic and has run respectably well in two dirt races, both over off tracks.

“He doesn’t always run tighter turns well, so the bigger turns here will suit him,” Pletcher said. “Maybe even the one-turn part of it helps.”