Zulu Alpha to run in Elkhorn Stakes

Somewhat conspicuous by his absence from the Grade 1, $400,000 Manhattan on Saturday at Belmont Park was Zulu Alpha, one of the leading grass horses on the continent. The 7-year-old gelding instead is waiting on the Grade 2, $175,000 Elkhorn, a 1 1/2-mile turf race on July 12, closing day of the short Keeneland meet.

Zulu Alpha, an earner of more than $2 million, has raced three times this year, all at Gulfstream Park. He won the Pegasus World Cup Turf and the Mac Diarmida before being upset by his Mike Maker-trained stablemate, Bemma’s Boy, in the March 28 Pan American.

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“The Manhattan was under serious consideration because of the grade and the purse,” owner Michael Hui said. “Ultimately, Mike believed the best route to making the Breeders’ Cup,” specifically the BC Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, “was to keep him in Kentucky. In Maker I trust.”

Hui said the Elkhorn likely would be followed by the Sept. 12 Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs, a 1 1/2-mile race Zulu Alpha won last year.