BELMONT PARK NOTES

(Edited Belmont Park report)

ELMONT, N.Y. – After standing in the gate, Belmont Stakes and Shadwell Travers winner Summer Bird opened up through the stretch during his gallop at Belmont Park this morning, and schooled between races in the afternoon as trainer Tim Ice put the finishing touches on the colt’s preparations for Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

The 1¼-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup, the centerpiece of “Super Saturday” will be the chestnut colt’s first meeting with older horses, among them Whitney and Woodward runner-up Macho Again and Suburban Handicap winner Dry Martini.
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NYRA photo
Summer Bird schools in the Belmont Park paddock for the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday.
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“I think he’s up to it,” said Ice, who trains the son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone for Drs. Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman. “He’s had seven races, and now is as good a time as any to face them. He looked super this morning, and he is doing excellent.”

*  Quality Road ready for rematch; Munnings ready for Vosburgh

Edward P. Evans’ Quality Road, who set track records in two of his past three races and finished third to Summer Bird in the Travers, also appear to be flourishing in the days leading up to the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

“He’s always been kind of a push-button horse, but we’re really pleased with the way he’s training,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “He’s traveling well and doing everything you’d like to see a horse do leading up to a big race.”

Although Quality Road is based at BelmontPark, the Jockey Club Gold Cup will be his first race over the oval.

“He’s run well everywhere he’s raced – Aqueduct, Gulfstream Park, and Saratoga – so I don’t think it’s going to make a difference one way or another,” said Pletcher. “We’re hoping for fast conditions, and we’re ready to go.”

Pletcher added that both Captain’s Lover (SAF) and Unbridled Belle will be representing Team Valor International in the Grade 1, $600,000 Beldame.

“We like the way (Captain’s Lover) breezed on dirt and like the way she came out of it,” he said. “The options were to keep her here or ship to Keeneland and run on a synthetic surface, so we figured we’d take what’s in front of us.”

Pletcher will also be saddling Michael Tabor’s Munnings on Saturday, in the Grade 1, $400,000 Vosburgh. The 3-year-old son of Speightstown has been no worse than third in five starts this year, most recently finishing third as the favorite in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop.

“He’s been very consistent all year,” said Pletcher. “He ran hard in the King’s Bishop and Haskell (Invitational) on a surface he really didn’t care for. We’re hoping for him that it doesn’t rain.”

*  Macho Again set to face 3-year-old stars

Following a victory this year in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs and an epic confrontation with Rachel Alexandra in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga, West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again has proven, without question, he is one of the top handicap runners in the country.

“He’s a top horse, championship caliber,” said trainer Dallas Stewart, who has Macho Again ready for battle in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational. “We plan to ship in tomorrow (Thursday). We’re looking forward to running.”

After a head loss to Rachel Alexandra in a thrilling Woodward, Stewart knows how his 4-year-old gray son of Macho Uno stacks up against the cream of the 3-year-old division, but he did not want to make any predictions about facing Quality Road and Summer Bird. 

“We’ll just see,” said Stewart, who has worked Macho Again just once since the Woodward. “You’re talking about the Belmont and Travers winner” in Summer Bird.

* Asiatic Boy takes another shot in JCGC; Keep Laughing possible for Vosburgh

Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum’s Asiatic Boy will be making his fourth American start in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, having finished second in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster and the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap and fourth to Rachel Alexandra in the Grade 1 Woodward in his most recent start.

“He’s a neat horse, a nice horse,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin of the 6-year-old son of Not for Sale. “The weights have not been in his favor the last couple of races, and he’s been a notch below those who have been beating him. But he’s deserving of a chance.”

McLaughlin had considered entering Darley Stables’ Etched in the race as well but elected to send him to the Meadowlands Cup instead. The trainer added that Vision Racing LLC’s Keep Laughing, seventh in the Grade 1 Forego behind Pyro, remained possible for the Vosburgh.

“We’ll see how the entries go tomorrow,” McLaughlin said.

*  Clement reflective as Gio Ponti goes for fifth straight turf Grade 1

Expecting to send Castleton Lyons’ Gio Ponti out in Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, trainer Christophe Clement reflected Wednesday on the year to date and what it’s meant to have a horse like Gio Ponti – who is attempting to win his fifth consecutive Grade 1 grass race in the 1½-mile Joe Hirsch  – in the barn.

“He might be, or is, the best horse I have ever trained,” Clement said.  “And I probably enjoy him more now than I would have 15 years ago because I know how difficult it is just to win a [single] Grade 1.  He brings a lot of enjoyment to all of us, to everyone in the barn — grooms, exercise riders, myself and his owner.”

Clement said that Castleton Lyons President Shane Ryan has flown over from his home in Europe to watch Gio Ponti’s past few races, usually with a group of friends to cheer the colt on. 

“Beyond just winning races and money, there is a certain social enjoyment to racing, which is very important as well,” Clement said. 

Gio Ponti has seen expanded recognition lately, now claiming a Facebook page with 342 “fans” as of Wednesday morning, where photos and video of the colt are regularly posted to overwhelmingly positive commentary. 

“Anything that gives more exposure to good horses is a wonderful thing,” Clement said of Gio Ponti’s increasing online presence.  “We’ve seen that already this year with Rachel Alexandra and she is obviously in a different category, but you see that many people follow racing because they love horses and [to see the horses recognized] is very nice.” 

*  Telling back for another Grade 1

Alex and JoAnn Lieblong’s Telling had dropped 10 straight starts dating back to May 2008 before jumping up as the unlikely 33-1 winner of the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational on August 15 at Saratoga Race Course. Now, trainer Steve Hobby is making another foray from his base at ArlingtonPark, bringing the 5-year-old son of A.P. Indy back to New York for the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational on Saturday.

“Everything’s good. He doesn’t have to win again to prove anything to us,” Hobby said.

Telling had earned his first try in a Grade 1 with a furious late run in the Grade 3 Arlington Handicap, a race in which he finished fifth.

“He was flying over them,” Hobby said. “Had he won it, no one would have questioned us going to the Sword Dancer.”

While concerned about facing Gio Ponti in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Hobby believes he has one advantage over the top American turf runner this year.

“The one thing is, Gio Ponti hasn’t been a mile and a half, and my horse loves it,” Hobby said.

Jockey Javier Castellano, who rode Telling in the Sword Dancer, retains the mount.

* Fabulous Strike primed for third Vosburgh

In fabulous form, Walter Downey’s Fabulous Strike is all set for a third straight run in the Grade 1, $400,000 Vosburgh on Saturday, according to trainer Todd Beattie.

“He’s run it the last two years. He lost it in a photo last year (to Black Seventeen) when he flipped a shoe off and got beat in a photo. The year before, he won it real easy,” said Beattie, who is based at Penn National.

The 6-year-old Smart Strike gelding has 11 victories and more than $1.12 million in earnings from 16 starts at six furlongs. In his most recent outing, he overhauled a blazing Go Go Shoot to win the Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on August 9 at Saratoga.

“Since the last race, it’s pretty status quo,” Beattie said. “It’s a long way between races, and that’s what he likes. When he last won the Vosburgh, it was off three months off.”

Fabulous Strike has finished first or second in nine of his past 10 starts dating back to the 2007 Vosburgh. The lone off-the-board finish came last year on an artificial surface in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita.

While still considering the Breeders’ Cup this year for Fabulous Strike, Beattie said he might instead come back November 26 in the Grade 3, $100,000 Fall Highweight at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“We have to get through the Vosburgh and make some decisions,” Beattie said.

* Go Go Shoot exits bullet work for Vosburgh in good order

Repole Stable’s Go Go Shoot, who at 15-1 led until the final stages of the Alfred G. Vanderbilt, is ready for another shot at Fabulous Strike. The 4-year-old gelded son of Songandaprayer had his final serious move for the six-furlong race on Tuesday, going a half-mile in a bullet 47.86, fastest of 46 at the distance at BelmontPark.

“He’s doing great, and I’m excited about running him,” said trainer Bruce Levine. “If you can’t get excited about that, you can’t get excited about anything.”