Belmont Park Notes

NYRA RELEASE —-

‘Mature, confident’ Pavel ready to take on older foes in G1 JCGC
Cross-entered Enticed finds G1 Champagne more appealing
Rocketry, Secretary At War entering G3 Hill Prince ‘right way’

ELMONT, N.Y. – Reddam Racing’s Grade 3 Smarty Jones winner Pavel will make his fourth career start as he faces older horses for the first time as the 5-2 second choice on the morning line in Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup for 3-year-olds and up at Belmont Park.

Purchased as a weanling for $90,000, the gray colt by Creative Cause was entered in a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up on July 1 at Santa Anita Park, but faced his own peer group in the 6 ½-furlong event, where he vied for early contention along the rail, took the lead at the top of the turn and was wrapped up under the wire to win by 4 ½ lengths under Mario Gutierrez.

“Everything about him in that race acted like a two-turn horse,” said trainer Doug O’Neill by phone Thursday morning. “For him to win his debut at 6 ½ from the 3 hole in a nine-horse field, it was a very impressive effort.

For his next start, O’Neill shipped the budding talent east to try his hand around two turns in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at 1 1/8 miles on July 29 at Saratoga Race Course, where he settled in third early behind Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Preakness winner Cloud Computing. He made a four-wide bid as the field entered the stretch to finish fourth, 5 ¼ lengths behind the winner and fellow Jockey Club Gold Cup entrant Good Samaritan and just a half-length short of runner-up Giuseppe the Great.

“He ran really impressively,” O’Neill said. “He wasn’t intimidated. Here he was, turning for home, second start of his life, with the Preakness winner alongside the Derby winner and just hung right with them. So that, to me, showed we had a mature, confident colt. He got a little tired at the end of it, but shipping cross country and going from 6 ½ to a mile and an eighth against those kind of horses, he had every right to give it up way earlier than that, but he fought on and that showed he belonged. That was a real encouraging race. Even though he lost, it left us with a lot of hope.”

Pavel made good on their aspirations in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Smarty Jones at Parx Racing on September 4, splitting rivals in the far turn to draw off to a six-length victory under confident handling by Gutierrez. He earned a personal-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“He is so mature for a horse that’s only run three times,” said O’Neill. “He was beyond his months in mental maturity. He ran so well second time out, shipping from California to New York, that we were optimistic that we were going to see a big effort in Pennsylvania and we did. I just couldn’t be prouder of this guy at this point.”

Pavel shipped to Belmont from Parx last week, O’Neill said, and breezed four furlongs in 48.77 seconds Sunday morning over the main track with regular exercise rider Gabriel Planchard aboard, his final major training before facing older rivals in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, as well as the vaunted race’s 1 ¼-mile distance for the first time.

“The mile and a quarter, you know, separates the men from the boys,” he said. “But, we don’t think he’ll have a problem with it. He’s shown a tremendous amount of stamina with us in the morning but that is a big question, but we think we’ll like the answer. In October of their 3-year-old season, they’re kind of evening out a little bit. You like to keep them in their own age group obviously as long as you can, but we thought it was a good opportunity. We like the spacing to this race and we know it’s going to be the toughest race of his short career, but we really feel timing-wise, he’s coming into it in great shape. Hopefully he can make that leap.

“We’ve been very happy with him,” he added. “Jack Sisterson, my assistant, has been with him every day and Gabby Planchard gets on him and he said his energy is great and both of them commented about how this colt is jumping a long ways and stretching out, feeling good. It’s like what you want to see coming up to a big race.”

Gutierrez has the return call on Pavel, who has drawn post 4 for the Jockey Club Gold Cup, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 4 at Del Mar.
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Godolphin Stable’s Enticed was cross-entered in the both the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland on Saturday, but trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he decided the 2-year-old will compete on Big Sandy at one mile in the “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Grade 1, $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on November 4 at Del Mar.

Enticed drew post 13 in the Futurity, a two-turn race at 1 1/16 miles, the same distance as the Juvenile. The son of Medaglia d’Oro drew post 4 in a 12-horse Champagne field, which is contested at one turn.

“We’re going to run here, we drew post 13 down there, which is very difficult,” McLaughlin said Thursday morning. “They are both tough spots, moving up from just breaking a maiden to a Grade 1, but we’ll find out where we stand. We think he’s a nice colt.”

Enticed won his debut at six furlongs on September 4 at Saratoga Race Course, rallying in the stretch to post a 1 ¾-length score in the maiden special weight.

“Going one turn was favorable and drawing a decent post, we’re [excited] to see how good he is,” McLaughlin said. “He wants to go as far as they’ll ride him. He’s a great, big colt. We were surprised he won going six furlongs first time out. The distance won’t be an issue. The competition might be; it’s only his second start and we hope all goes well.”

Enticed is 10-1 on the morning line and will have the services of jockey Junior Alvarado.

McLaughlin said Lucullan has been training well and is ready to make his first stakes start in Saturday’s Grade 3, $500,000 Hill Prince for 3-year-olds. After needing three races to break his maiden, the Hard Spun colt has two wins and a third-place finish in his last three starts, with both victories coming on Belmont’s main track.

“He won impressively in an allowance race, so this is a big step up for him,” McLaughlin said. “He won here on this track and he’s a 3-year-old who is improving all the time.”

Lucullan drew post 5 in the nine-horse field and is 8-1 on the morning line. Kendrick Carmouche, aboard for four of his five career starts, will have the return call.

Shadwell Stable’s Muqtaser will look to build on his stakes debut in Monday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Knickerbocker for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the inner turf.

Muqtaser was third in the Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup on September 9 at Kentucky Downs, battling back from eighth to finish in the money at 1 ½ miles. He will now be cutting back in distance before making a potential start in the Grade 3, $200,000 Red Smith at 1 3/8 miles on November 11 at Aqueduct Racetrack, McLaughlin said.

“We’re going to try the mile and an eighth, we think it will be fine for him, and we’re hoping we can then point him to the Red Smith at a mile and three-eighths,” he said. We’re going to try him, but we’ll be watching the weather.”

The Kentucky-bred is 5-1-4 in 15 career starts and is 2-1-1 in five races this year.

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Trainer Jimmy Jerkens will send two to the gate in Saturday’s Grade 3 Hill Prince, led by Centennial Farm’s Rocketry, who is entering off his first graded stakes try where he finished fourth in the Grade 3 Saranac at Saratoga.

It was the first time the colt finished off the board since placing seventh in his career debut at Gulfstream Park. The colt by Hard Spun broke his maiden three starts later over Belmont’s Widener turf, and finished third in his next start before being placed second due to being impeded and bumped in the deep stretch. Rocketry followed up with an allowance victory at Saratoga before advancing to the Saranac.

Joseph Allen’s Secretary At War will make his ninth career start on Saturday after closing from last and weaving through the field of seven others to serve as the runner up in the seven furlong Franklin Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs. The colts will bookend the field as Secretary At War breaks from the rail, and Rocketry from post 9.

“They’re good, they’re going to have to run the best they ever did in their life, that’s for sure,” Jerkens said. “They seem like they’re coming up to it the right way, so we’ll take a shot.”

Rocketry has been a strong closer throughout all seven attempts thus far and has shown success running at longer distances. Secretary At War has shown to be a bit versatile by running on the front end earlier in his career which helped him wire the field to win the Woodhaven at Aqueduct. For Jerkens, the colt’s style leaves both he and jockey Junior Alvarado with a few options come race time.

“He ran good in Kentucky, but the bunch he’ll run against is better than what he ran against in Kentucky, plus that was seven furlongs, and it was very soft, so I don’t really know how to equate the two,” he said. “The race looked like it had a lot of speed horses that were in there, three of four that were coming out of five eighths of a mile races so, you’d figure he’d get outrun, but I didn’t really think he’d be that far out of it. As it turned out it was good to see him run that style, it was good to see for the future. I don’t know if that makes much sense in this, going a mile and an eighth, but he’ll try to split the difference. I don’t want him tearing out there too fast, but don’t want to be getting him angry taking too much hold of him either.”

Multiple Grade 1 winner Shaman Ghost has returned to the track following his throat surgery in August. The 5-year-old son of Ghostzapper had been recuperating at Belmont Park, and has returned to light work in the morning.

“He’s just starting back,” Jerkens said. “We’re just trying to get over the hump with him a little bit. It’s been a little rough getting going. When horses get stopped cold like that and then you try to bring them back it’s a little tough, they’re a little body sore, and it takes a while for them to get their stuff together. Hopefully he’ll come out of it, and we’ll give him every chance to get back. After the first breeze or two we’d be able to figure something out, but it would be stupid to even entertain anything at this time.”

The Ontario-bred was last entered in the Grade 2 Suburban where he finished second to Keen Ice, this Saturday’s favorite in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. The Suburban was Shaman Ghost’s fourth race of the year following victories in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, and Grade 3 Pimlico Special. The Stronach Stables color bearer kicked off the year with a runner-up finish to Arrogate in the inaugural Grade 1, $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January at Gulfstream Park.