Belmont Park Notes

ELMONT, N.Y. – After scoring his first stakes triumph in Sunday’s Gold Fever over a sloppy main track at Belmont Park, Wendell Fong will likely take things up a notch to graded stakes caliber according to trainer Jeremiah Englehart who stated that the Grade 1, $400,000 Woody Stephens at Belmont and Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby on June 22 at Thistledown are both in play.

Sunday’s victory in the six-furlong event was the 3-year-old son of Flat Out’s first start away from Laurel Park where Englehart keeps a string of 20 horses. Wendell Fong was a two-time winner over the Maryland oval.

“I like to train him at Laurel, he seems to get over that track well,” Englehart said. “All in all it was a good day. There was a nice little pace up front and I thought [runner-up] Call Paul ran a heck of a race. It seemed like he came out the race well and in pretty good shape. We’ll look at the Woody Stephens and the Ohio Derby.”

Owned by Gold Square and bred in Kentucky by Nicholas Lotz, Wendell Fong is out of the unraced Forestry broodmare Augusta Queen.

Englehart also noted that stakes winner Dirty could target the Grade 1, $400,000 Jaipur Invitational. The Maryland-bred son of Maclean’s Music scored his first stakes triumph last out in the King Leatherbury over the turf at Laurel Park. Last year, he finished behind World of Trouble twice when running third in the Quick Call at Saratoga and second in the Allied Forces at Belmont Park.

Englehart also plans on being well represented on New York Breeders’ Showcase Day, Monday 27 and will likely send Affirmed Success winner Pat On the Back to the $200,000 Commentator, while two-time stakes winner Indy’s Lady eyes the $200,000 Critical Eye. Recent maiden winners Behind the Couch and Hot Diggitty will likely race in the $125,000 Bouwerie and $125,000 Mike Lee, respectively.

Joel Politi’s Serengeti Empress has demonstrated flashes of brilliance in her brief career, winning five of eight starts, including the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks last time out at Churchill Downs.

If all goes well following a scheduled workout on Friday morning at Churchill Downs, the Oaks winner is expected to target the Grade 1, $700,000 Acorn, a one-mile event over Big Sandy on Belmont Stakes Day, June 8.

Trained by Tom Amoss, the dark bay daughter of Alternation was dismissed on the tote board at odds of 13-1 in the Kentucky Oaks but showed her heels to the field, opening up by three lengths at the half-mile marker, and stayed on strong, turning back a late challenge from Acorn-bound Liora to win by 1 3/4-lengths.

Amoss said the speedy filly’s ability to get away from a talented Grade 1 field was impressive.

“I think the separation, not only between my horse and the horse that finished second, but the separation between Liora and the third-place finisher (5 1/2-lengths) showed we really separated ourselves from the field. I really thought that was impressive,” said Amoss.

Serengeti Empress demonstrated an ability to dominate fields from first asking when she graduated on July 4 at Indiana Downs by 5 1/2-lengths. She added two more sparkling juvenile wins to her credentials when romping the Ellis Park Debutante by 13 1/2-lengths before running rampant in the Grade 2 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs when 19 1/2-lengths clear of her nearest rival.

After finishing off the board in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Serengeti Empress was freshened and returned in February at Fair Grounds with another dominant front-running score in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra. However, after finishing last of seven in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks it was determined that Serengeti Empress had bled in her final prep for the Kentucky Oaks.

While the skeptical punters allowed Serengeti Empress to escape at long odds in her Oaks score, the talented filly is not likely to be dismissed again. Amoss confirmed that the filly came out of her Oaks coup in good order.

“She came out of the race in good shape, and she’ll have her first breeze since the Kentucky Oaks tomorrow morning at Churchill Downs,” said Amoss. “It will be an easy work, but it will be her first work since the race. We’re leaning towards the Acorn as long as she tells us she’s ready to go.”

Ultimately, the veteran conditioner and analyst on the NYRA-produced America’s Day at the Races, is hopeful of pointing the filly towards a summer campaign at Saratoga.

“I’m hoping to have her at Saratoga and doing well. It’s a great place to show off a horse’s talent, particularly one that’s going to be a broodmare someday, for the world to see. Saratoga brings everybody in, the elite breeders and the elite owners, and we would like her to display her talents in front of that crowd,” said Amoss.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez, currently third in the training standings with six wins from 31 starts, is off to a quick start at the Belmont spring/summer meet.

On May 10, Rodriguez saddled Zayat Stables’ Majid for a third win on the trot, taking an optional-claiming tilt by 1 3/4-lengths while earning a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure. Majid made the first two starts of his career at sprint distances, first with trainer Todd Pletcher, finishing fifth, before transferring to the care of Brad Cox who sent the horse out to a sixth-place effort at Ellis Park.

Majid is undefeated under the tutelage of Rodriguez, who dropped the horse in for a $30,000 tag on January 27 at the Big A in a six-furlong maiden for his first win. He then shipped the horse to Laurel on March 24 to score in a one-mile optional claiming event ahead of his Belmont score.

“Majid looks like he’s improving every time we’ve run him. We’ve just tried to give him the opportunity to improve himself and build his confidence a little bit,” said Rodriguez. “He’s a nice looking horse, and after getting him from Brad Cox, the owners let me run him where I wanted to run him, and he won. I knew the horse wanted to go long, which is why we stretched him out up at Laurel, and he’s coming around good. Hopefully he keeps improving.”

Rodriguez, a former jockey who worked for trainers Rick Dutrow, Sr., Rick Dutrow, Jr., and Bobby Frankel prior to and during his riding career, said the consistently improving efforts have him considering entering Majid in the $150,000 Easy Goer, a 1 1/16-mile event for sophomores on Belmont Stakes Day.

“We have a couple races to point for including the Easy Goer. I’m not sure yet; he ran a big race, and it seems that every time we give him a little bit of time off, he runs better,” said Rodriguez. “That’s what Bobby and Rick taught me. Be patient and get the reward.”

The May 10 card was a profitable one for the Rodriguez stable, who also sent out 2-year-old maiden Sky of Hook to a narrow head win at odds of 11-1 in a race where the Pletcher-trained Mo Ready was well bet at post time. Sky of Hook, a New York-bred son of Tapiture, settled in fourth position under Luis Saez before rallying to the lead and holding off a furious, late rally from Theitalianamerican. Mo Ready finished fourth.

“Sky of Hook was training forwardly. I didn’t expect him to win, especially with Todd’s horse running at 1-5 in there, but I thought he could run a good race. The way he did it, he did it good and I’m hoping he’ll continue to get better,” said Rodriguez.

Repole Stable’s Tour de Force, claimed for $62,500 on February 2 at the Big A, has made a pair of starts for his new connections, finishing third in both the Grade 3 Excelsior at Aqueduct and last out in the Flat Out at Belmont.

In the Flat Out, Tour de Force set a strong pace, opening up by 6 1/2-lengths at the half-mile marker, but could not hold off the rallying Marconi, a 2 3/4-lenth winner, and was just caught at the wire for place, by a nose, by Rocketry.

“He ran a big race. We thought he could win. He set a very fast pace and finished the way we thought he would,” said Rodriguez. “When we claimed him we thought he could be a good horse. He’s shown up, but we’ve been a little unlucky with him. He’s training well and is nice and sound. We’ll look at a few options for him.”

New York-bred Not That Brady, who won the Damon Runyon at the Big A and finished second in the Grade 3 Withers, has enjoyed a freshening following his fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by NYRA Bets.

The Big Brown chestnut, co-owned by Michael Imperio, Lianna Stables [Vinny Vivolo] and Rudy Rodriguez, is out of the popular New York-based mare Lisa’s Booby Trap, who won 10 of 18 career starts, including nine wins at Finger Lakes.

Not That Brady, currently in training at Saratoga where he breezed four furlongs in 51.69 seconds on May 8, is considering the $150,000 New York Derby, a 1 1/16-mile event for New York-bred 3-year-olds for his next start.

“He’s doing good. I freshened him up a little bit. I gave him almost a month off just walking him after the Wood,” said Rodriguez. “Right now, he’s had his second breeze back and we’re trying to get him ready for the summer. We have a race at Finger Lakes (New York Derby) we’d like to run him in and then run him at Saratoga. If I can get him a race before at Belmont that would be great. If not, we’ll go straight to Finger Lakes.”

The New York Derby is the second leg of the Big Apple Triple for New York-breds, which kicks off with the $125,000 Mike Lee on May 25 at Belmont and concludes on August 23 at Saratoga with the $250,000 Albany.

Not That Brady has posted two wins and two seconds from eight starts, while banking $188,900 in purse money. Bred in New York by KatieRich Farms, Not That Brady has competed twice in off-the-turf events, including his 11 1/4-length maiden win at Aqueduct. Rodriguez said he would also consider giving the gelding another attempt at racing on the green.

“He looks like a nice horse, so we have a lot of options with him, including on the turf. We’ll take our time with him and hope to have a very good summer,” said Rodriguez.

After capturing the Aqueduct Winter Meet in March, conditioner Linda Rice has kept her good momentum going since ending the two-week Aqueduct spring meet with six wins and has started the Belmont spring/summer meet with seven wins from 33 starts.

Among the standouts from her barn at Belmont so far has been 4-year-old colt Nicodemus for owners Everything’s Cricket Racing and Lawrence Goichman, who captured the Grade 3 Westchester at one mile last out on May 4.

Previously, the son of Candy Ride, who finished second in the Curlin at Saratoga as a 3-year-old, made his 2019 debut finishing fourth in an allowance race at Aqueduct before winning the same condition on March 10 at the Big A and running fourth in the Grade 3 Excelsior on April 6.

Following his win in the Westchester, Rice said the colt was doing well and would consider a number of options including the Grade 1, $1.2 million Runhappy Metropolitan Mile on Belmont Stakes Day, June 8, before deciding on where to point him next.

“He’s been doing well since his last race,” said Rice. “The Met Mile is certainly one option on the table. We’ll also take a look at the [Grade 2, $250,000] True North and the [Grade 2, $300,000] John Nerud [June 22].”

Graded stakes winner Holiday Disguise, who began her 5-year-old campaign with a victory in the Broadway on February 16 at Aqueduct and has posted back-to-back fifth-place finishes in the Grade 3 Distaff on April 5 at the Big A and Grade 3 Vagrancy on May 11 at Belmont, is on target for her next start in the $200,000 Critical Eye on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27.

“She’s continuing to do well,” said Rice. “We’ll take a look at the Critical Eye as a potential spot for her next.”

Rice has also debuted a pair of flashy maiden winners this spring with 3-year-old colt Elektronic who Rice bred and owns and Invest for owner Leonard Green.

A New York-bred son of City Zip, Elektronic made his debut on the turf at Aqueduct where he finished fourth at odds of 7-1 on April 18 but returned impressively breaking his maiden on May 11 by two lengths. Invest, a New York-bred Super Saver colt, finished second in his first two starts this year at Aqueduct before breaking his maiden on May 4.

“They are both progressing and doing well,” said Rice. “We’ll look to keep Elektronic on the grass going forward, and we’ll see where we can find a spot for Invest next as well. The meet has been going good so far, and we’ve had a very good 2019. We’re looking forward to finishing the meet strong and getting to Saratoga, where we’re excited to debut some 2-year-olds who are on their way to getting ready for their debuts.”