Tom Ridge Stakes draws deep cast

The $100,000 Tom Ridge Stakes on Monday at Presque Isle Downs, a six-furlong synthetic-surface sprint, drew a surprisingly deep group of a dozen 3-year-olds, but the field that goes into the gate won’t be as strong as the one that appears on paper.

At least two horses will be scratched from the Tom Ridge, with the trainers of Uncapped and Lexitonian, each of whom seemed to have a chance, both saying Friday that their horse wouldn’t start. Lexitonian was to race Saturday in the Chick Lang at Pimlico, while Uncapped is going to the $100,000 Paradise Creek on May 25 at Belmont Park.

Two stakes winners are entered – Iva, a filly who captured the Cincinnati Trophy over six furlongs on Turfway’s synthetic surface, and Regally Irish, who won the Bridgetown Stakes over six furlongs on yielding Belmont turf April 13.

Iva, one of two Wesley Ward-trained entrants along with Wonder Stone, ticks the stakes winner and synthetic-surface-proven boxes, and if even a good portion of the pace shows up Monday, she appears to have the right sort of late-running sprint style to win at a fair price. Iva flopped in the slop last out in the Grade 3 Beaumont at Keeneland, but she has three other wins, and after racing prominently in her first three starts allowed her rider to rate her off the pace in the Cincinnati Trophy.

Explorationist’s fifth start, a maiden race April 28 at Woodbine, yielded a career-best performance, but while trainer Mark Casse might have found Explorationist’s preferred surface, his horse pulled a perfect outside pressing trip last time and on Monday is drawn inside other pace players. Chief among those is Skole, who has been the pace-call leader in his last three starts and has the race’s highest TimeformUS early pace figure, a 109. Trainer Arnaud Delacour is removing Skole’s blinkers for the Tom Ridge, and with an outside draw, perhaps he will rate a touch.

Skole set the pace in the Bridgetown before Regally Irish, who hails from the immediate family of multiple Grade 2 winner Irish War Cry, took over. Trainer Graham Motion turned Regally Irish back from a two-turn mile to win the Bridgetown, and Regally Irish for the first time in his career settled and finished. That’s a good sign, but we have no idea if this colt handles a synthetic surface.

That’s also the case with Distant Shore, the tepid 9-2 morning-line favorite who ships from Kentucky for trainer Tom Amoss. Distant Shore ran into the talented Malpais two back at Fair Grounds and eked out a muddy-track Keeneland allowance win last month, but might get too much of the early pace to be especially effective Monday.