As usual, turf race runs through Brown barn
ELMONT, N.Y. – Chad Brown has won 19 races from 54 starters on turf at the Belmont Park fall meet, and he has horses entered in five of the six grass races carded for Thursday’s nine-race program.
Brown has the uncoupled entry of Hope Cross and Love and Marriage entered in the eighth race, an $85,000, second-level allowance for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course.
Hope Cross, a winner two back at Saratoga, is coming off a fourth-place finish against tougher company at Saratoga on Aug. 30. Love and Marriage hasn’t run since finishing third, beaten just a head by Harp N Halo, in her first try at this condition Aug. 7 at Saratoga. Harp N Halo came back to win a stakes race at Woodbine in her next start.
The field in Thursday’s eighth includes Striking Style, a two-time winner over the Belmont course; Sparkle Factor, a European import who goes first out for Christophe Clement; and Tap It Out, who won well at Parx two starts back.
KEY CONTENDERS
Love and Marriage (Last 3 Beyers: 82-73-74)
◗ Lightly raced daughter of Arch owns a win over both the Belmont turf and dirt courses.
◗ Brown said Love and Marriage was off for so long due to “minor stuff” but is “training well again.”
“There’s a lot of upside to her,” he said. “She’s coming off a little layoff, but I think we got her pretty tight.”
◗ Joel Rosario rides from post 8.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Love and Marriage. Trainer Chad Brown is 32-3-5-3 with a $0.95 ROI over the past year in turf routes with Joel Rosario aboard. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Hope Cross (Last 3 Beyers: 82-87-77)
◗ Comes out of a fourth-place finish in a salty second-level allowance race Aug. 30 at Saratoga won by Feathered. Two races back, she scored a solid victory in a first-level allowance at this 1 1/16-mile distance.
“That was a tough two-other-than, and she gave a good account of herself,” Brown said. “She had a wide trip. She’s a filly with talent, and she’s in there with a good chance.”
◗ Javier Castellano rides Hope Cross.
Striking Style (Last 3 Beyers: 80-76-85)
◗ Has recorded both of her victories at Belmont Park, including a first-level allowance score here May 31 going 1 1/4 miles. Though her other win came here going 1 1/16 miles, trainer Michael Matz said he’d prefer if this race were longer.
“I think a mile and an eighth to a mile and a quarter is good for her, but I’m hoping this race could give her some confidence,” he said.
◗ Since winning here in May, Striking Style has finished eighth in the Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware and fifth in a 1 1/4-mile allowance race here.
Tap It Out (Last 3 Beyers: 77-81-77)
◗ Overcame a difficult start to rally from 10th and win a first-level level allowance race at Parx on Sept. 1, her first start for trainer Alan Goldberg.
◗ Finished fourth in a conditioned allowance at Parx when wheeled back two weeks after her win.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Samantha Nicole. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is 7 for 16 with a $6.35 ROI over the past five years going dirt to turf in routes following a layoff of between 45 and 90 days. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan