SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After scratching out of more lucrative spots last weekend, Zulu Kingdom and Reagan’s Wit become the protagonists in Friday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Manila Stakes for 3-year-olds scheduled for one mile over Saratoga’s inner turf course. Zulu Kingdom, a winner of five of six starts, including the Grade 1 American Turf at Churchill Downs on May 3, was scratched out of the $400,000 Penn Mile on June 27 due to an uncertain weather forecast that trainer Chad Brown feared might further delay the twice-postponed race at Penn National. Reagan’s Wit, winner of the James Murphy Stakes at Pimlico on May 17, scratched out of last Saturday’s $250,000 American Derby at Churchill Downs because trainer Cherie DeVaux was not satisfied with the condition of the turf course. After Zulu Kingdom won the Columbia Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on March 8, Brown indicated he would focus on one-mile races for the Irish-bred son of Ten Sovereigns. But the allure of a $1 million purse in a Grade 1 prompted Brown to run him in the American Turf at 1 1/16 miles. Over a moisture-laden course, Zulu Kingdom won by 1 1/4 lengths. Brown said he was pleasantly surprised with how well Zulu Kingdom ran in that race, but he acknowledged that it was perhaps due to the ridgling relishing a wet turf course that others may not have liked. Brown briefly thought about running Zulu Kingdom in Friday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby at 1 1/8 miles but opted to keep him at a shorter distance for now. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “I didn’t feel it yet,” Brown said about stretching Zulu Kingdom out in distance. “Maybe at some point. I like him with more pace in a race. I think going a mile there should be a little more pace.” Brown’s other entrant, Uncatalyzed, was a front-running winner of a mile-long maiden race at Aqueduct on May 4 in his second career start. Brown had Uncatalyzed entered in allowance races here and at Monmouth Park in June, but he scratched out of the Saratoga race when it was rained off the turf and was forced to scratch out of Monmouth due to shipping restrictions associated with a strangles case at Saratoga. Flavien Prat, who rode both of Brown’s horses to their last victories, rides Zulu Kingdom. Irad Ortiz Jr. picks up the mount on Uncatalyzed. DeVaux also has two entered in the Manila but said she will likely only run Reagan’s Wit and scratch Strate Cash, who has run just once, winning a maiden race at Santa Anita when in the barn of Richard Baltas. Reagan’s Wit was beaten a neck by Zulu Kingdom in the Columbia before finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Transylvania at Keeneland. He bounced back to win the Murphy emphatically despite lugging in badly under Jose Ortiz after making the lead in midstretch. “When he breezes with company in the mornings, he’s straightforward,” DeVaux said. “It’s something he needs to mature out of. I like the mile for him.” DeVaux said she worked Reagan’s Wit in blinkers before the Murphy, but they didn’t help him. Revolutionnaire came in third in the Columbia before finishing fourth, beaten a half-length by Dream On, in the Woodhaven at Aqueduct on April 26. Dream On came back to win the Penn Mile, while End of Romance, fifth in the Woodhaven, came back to win an allowance race at Delaware Park on June 21. Other contenders in this field are Mythical Man, 2 for 2 on turf; Tiz Dashing, sixth in a close finish in the Woodhaven; and Maui Strong, third in an allowance race at Churchill on June 7. Completing the field are Fire Pit, an allowance winner in slop at Parx on May 28; Flat to Da Mat, second in the Paradise Creek at Aqueduct; Capitol Hill, who beat Uncatalyzed in a maiden race at Tampa in March; and Golden Channel, third in the off-the-turf Pennine Ridge Stakes. The Manila goes as race 8 on an 11-race card. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.