Belmont: Sunday Stakes Previews

By Ryan Martin —-

Decorated Invader headlines field for G2 Hill Prince

ELMONT, N.Y. – West Point Thoroughbreds, William Sandbrook, William Freeman and Cheryl Manning’s Decorated Invader will see a cutback in distance when competing against fellow sophomores in Sunday’s 46th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Hill Prince going one mile over the Widener turf at Belmont Park.

Trained by Christophe Clement, who saddled Have At It [2018], Summer Front [2012] and subsequent multiple-champion Gio Ponti [2008] to Hill Prince triumphs, Decorated Invader arrives off a close fifth-place finish in the Saratoga Derby on August 15. The son of Declaration of War tracked in second position and made a three-wide bid at the top of the stretch before engaging in a stretch battle while in-between horses, but was overtaken inside the sixteenth pole to finish three-quarters of a length back to winner Domestic Spending.

The Saratoga Derby was the first loss of the year for Decorated Invader, who captured the Cutler Bay on March 28 at Gulfstream Park in his 2020 bow before winning the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge on June 20 at Belmont Park and the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame on July 18 at Saratoga.

Decorated Invader will be cutting back to one mile for the Hill Prince.

“He didn’t run great going a mile and three sixteenths, but he only got beat three-quarters of a length,” said Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds. “We aren’t necessarily thinking about going past 1 1/8 miles because it’s not in front of us at the moment. With Christophe, Gio Ponti is a good comparable. He was an incredibly talented horse and Christophe and the owner [Castleton Lyons] did a great job in managing him. The good thing with these types of horses is that you have good comparables. You can see the good moves and the ones that didn’t work.”

During his 2-year-old campaign, Decorated Invader scored a breakthrough win in the Grade 1 Summer last September over a yielding turf at Woodbine, which came after a second-out maiden victory over the Mellon turf at Saratoga over next-out winner and eventual graded stakes-placed Summer to Remember.

“He’s getting a bit of a breather here,” Finley said. “He’s been at it once a month pretty much since the end of March when he made his 3-year-old debut and Christophe and his staff have done a great job with the horse.”

Finley praised sire Declaration of War for producing quality runners. In addition to Decorated Invader, the fourth crop sire by War Front has produced Grade 1 winner Gufo, also conditioned by Clement, as well as stakes winners Peace Achieved, Silver Prospector and Shesonthewarpath.

“Declaration of War’s progeny have been winning everywhere,” Finley said. “They show brilliance, but it seems like they’re durable on top of that. You’re in a good spot when you have those two things.”

With three graded stakes victories and a record of 8-5-1-0, Decorated Invader boasts the highest amount of lifetime earnings in the field with $473,035.
Jockey Joel Rosario will target his fourth stakes victory of the meet aboard Decorated Invader, who drew post 3.

Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust’s Get Smokin commanded the pace in the Saratoga Derby and seeks his first stakes victory for trainer Tom Bush.

Sure to show speed, the frontrunning son of Get Stormy broke his maiden last September going one mile over the Widener turf and has since been stakes-placed four times. Two starts after his maiden win, he made his sophomore debut in the Grade 3 Kitten’s Joy on January 4 at Gulfstream Park, where he attempted to wire the field at 11-1 odds but ended up finishing a half-length back to Island Commish.

Following another pair of stakes placings at Gulfstream Park in the Dania Beach on February 1 and the March 28 Cutler Bay, Get Smokin was second in the Hall of Fame to Decorated Invader, where he established a 7 ¼-length lead before ultimately being overtaken by the winner at the top of the stretch.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will ride from post 1.

After sending Buy Land and See to Belmont Park to a victory last October in the Awad, trainer Steve Klesaris will seek another stakes triumph on the NYRA circuit with the Pennsylvania-bred son of Cairo Prince.

Owned and bred by Joseph Imbessi, the lightly-raced Buy Land and See did not race again after the Awad until July 28, where he bested his Pennsylvania-bred counterparts going 7 ½ furlongs over the Parx turf by 5 ¼ lengths and registered an 84 Beyer Speed Figure for the win. In his most recent start, he cut back to 5 ½ furlongs for the Mahony at Saratoga, where he closed late to get third, beaten 4 ¾ lengths to frontrunning winner Jack and Noah.

Jockey Jose Lezcano will be in the irons from post 7.

Rounding out the field are Glynn County [post 2, Jose Ortiz], Bodecream [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], Starting Over [post 5, Dylan Davis], Chocolate Bar [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche], and Assiduously [post 9, Luis Saez]. Money Moves [post 8, Luis Saez] entered for main track only.

The Hill Prince honors Christopher T. Chenery’s 1950 Horse of the Year, who scored victories in that year’s Preakness Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup and Wood Memorial. Trained by Casey Hayes, Hill Prince was named Champion 2-Year-Old the year prior, when he won the Cowdin at Aqueduct. Upon retirement, Hill Prince stood at Claiborne Farm. He was inducted into Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1991.

The Hill Prince is slated as Race 9 on Sunday’s 10-race program, which offers a first post of 12:20 p.m. Eastern. America’s Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America’s Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.
NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the 27-day fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide,

NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Olympico looks to do one better in rescheduled G2 Knickerbocker

ELMONT, N.Y. – After running second in last year’s edition, the Chad Brown-trained Olympico will get another chance to earn a trip to the winner’s circle when he competes as part of a five-horse field in the Grade 2, $150,000 Knickerbocker for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on Belmont Park’s inner turf on Sunday.

The Knickerbocker was originally scheduled for the Monday, October 12 holiday card but was moved to Sunday’s third race at 1:28 p.m. Eastern due to inclement weather. That provided Olympico with a few days of extra rest as he makes his first appearance since running fifth in the 1 1/16-mile Lure on September 7 at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Bethlehem Stables, Olympico made his 2020 debut off a nearly nine-month layoff, finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch on July 26 at the Spa. That marked his first start since finishing just one length back to Lucullan in the 2019 Knickerbocker.

After arriving from his native France last year, the now 5-year-old son of Rajsaman won his North American debut by capturing the Grade 3 Fort Marcy in May 2019 over Belmont’s softer turf at the Knickerbocker distance. After six straight winless starts, he will look to recapture that form, drawing post 1 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. retaining the mount.

His stablemate, Devamani, was also bred in France and stared his career there before making the cross-Atlantic trek. Since arriving in the United States in 2018, the Dubawi gelding has been competitive. With Brown taking over the training duties for his 6-year-old campaign, Devamani has finished on the board in four of his five starts, starting 2020 with back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay on February 8 and the Grade 2 Fort Marcy on June 6 at Belmont.

He ran third last out in the Lure and will return to Belmont for his eighth race at the track, drawing post 3 with Joel Rosario in the irons.

Juddmonte Farms’ Seismic Wave will return to stakes company for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The 4-year-old Kentucky homebred ran second in a 1 1/8-mile race moved off the turf last out on August 27 at Saratoga. Before that effort on a sloppy and sealed track, the son of Tapit had run in 11 consecutive stakes contests dating to 2019, including a win in the English Channel going one mile over the Belmont turf last October and a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Poker on July 4.

“I think for his style of running, a racetrack at Belmont is going to suit him better to get the trip he needs,” said Garrett O’Rourke, the general manager of Juddmonte Farms. “It’s a spot worthy of taking a shot in. He’s a sound horse and a good servant. He’s been a fun horse to have around. Horses like him are good to have around because they’re reliable and usually perform really well.”

Seismic Wave broke his maiden at the Knickerbocker distance on turf in his third career start in February 2019 at Gulfstream Park. A stakes win could also help his value at the upcoming sale next month, O’Rourke said. Seismic Wave is 3-4-2 in 15 career starts with earnings of $362,800.

“He’s entered in the Keeneland November Sale [under the WinStar consignment], so we’ll see how he runs and take it from there,” O’Rourke said.

Seismic Wave will break from post 2 under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano.

Phipps Stable’s Breaking the Rules started his 5-year-old campaign with back-to-back wins against allowance company, besting a 10-horse field going 1 1/8 miles on June 20 at Belmont before following with a one-length score on July 29 at Saratoga Race Course.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey moved the dark bay son of War Front back up to stakes company last out in the Lure on September 7 at the Spa, where he ran fourth in his first stakes appearance since an eighth-place performance in the Grade 3 Poker in June 2019.

Breaking the Rules did not start again after the Poker for 12 months but has registered Beyer Speed Figures of 90 or greater in all three starts back, including a personal-best 101 for his July victory.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, aboard for his two wins this year, will return to ride from post 5.

Waterford Stable’s En Wye Cee has only one previous stakes race out of his six total starts to his credit – fourth in the Grade 3 Discovery last November at the Big A – but enters the challenge with momentum following a six-length win against optional claimers in a race taken over the turf on August 29 at Saratoga. The Todd Pletcher trainee’s only previous start on grass was a third in a blanket finish on August 1 at the Spa, finishing a neck behind King Cause. After earning a 93 Beyer, Pletcher will try the 4-year-old Declaration of War colt on turf again, retaining the services of jockey Jose Ortiz from post 4.

Sunday’s 10-race card will feature a 12:20 p.m. Eastern first post. America’s Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America’s Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.