V. E. Day launches campaign on turf in Fort Marcy
In addition to the Westchester Stakes, a pair of graded turf events will be held at Belmont Park on Saturday.
The Grade 3, $150,000 Fort Marcy at 1 1/8 miles will mark the 4-year-old debut of Travers winner V. E. Day. The 1 3/8-mile Sheepshead Bay, a Grade 2 race with a purse of $200,000, serves as Round 2 between Orchid winner Beauty Parlor and Riposte, who won this race a year ago.
V. E. Day’s biggest wins, the Curlin and Travers stakes, came on dirt at Saratoga last summer. But prior to the Curlin, he did win a first-level allowance at the Fort Marcy distance over the Belmont turf.
Trainer Jimmy Jerkens considered bringing V. E. Day back in last week’s Excelsior Stakes but instead ran Effinex and Wicked Strong, who finished first and third.
“I didn’t want to run him at a mile and a quarter first time out, so we’re going to put him on the turf,” Jerkens said. “It’s still a mile and an eighth, but it’s a little easier.”
Jerkens is not committing V. E. Day, a son of turf champion English Channel, to a grass campaign.
“If he runs great, we’ll keep him on the turf,” he said. “If he runs mediocre, we’ll move him back to the dirt.”
Jerkens said he is pleased with how V. E. Day is training.
“He’s doing good; he’s very strong,” he said.
The Fort Marcy has nine entrants, including a betting entry from the Chad Brown barn. It is carded as the 10th-race feature because the Westchester and Sheepshead Bay have shorter fields.
Mr Speaker, trained by Shug McGaughey, is a top contender in the Fort Marcy. Last year, he won the Belmont Derby on turf and the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on Polytrack. He tuned up for this in a one-mile Keeneland allowance over soft turf.
Big Blue Kitten, a winner of $1.5 million, will make his 7-year-old debut for Brown and owners-breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey.
Sheepshead Bay: Orchid pair rematched
The Sheepshead Bay has a field of five and is carded as race 4. It will be a rematch between Beauty Parlor, the winner of the Grade 3 Orchid at Gulfstream Park in her U.S. debut, and Riposte, the Orchid favorite who finished fifth.
Beauty Parlor is owned by her breeder, Joe Allen. She raced well in France when trained by Jean-Claude Rouget and is now with Christophe Clement. Moon Queen, the dam of Beauty Parlor, has a similar background. She was very steady in France for Allen and Rouget and then won the 2002 The Very One Handicap for Clement. Beauty Parlor is Moon Queen’s most successful foal.
Beauty Parlor did everything right in the 1 1/2-mile Orchid. She tracked the pacesetter, took over in the stretch, and then held off the Clement-trained runner-up, Tabreed. Beauty Parlor has speed but is tractable. She appears set for a successful season.
Riposte, trained by Bill Mott, had a more difficult trip in the Orchid. She broke through the gate before the start and then raced in traffic between horses the entire race. At a key point in upper stretch, she was boxed in and lacked racing room.
Riposte won the Sheepshead Bay and New York Stakes back-to-back a year ago, then was given the rest of the year off. Saturday’s race will be the third start of her form cycle, and it would be little surprise to see her take a big step forward.