Captain Cook is a leading contender in G3 Peter Pan

By Christian Abdo —-

Captain Cook is a leading contender in G3 Peter Pan

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – St. Elias Stable’s stakes-winner Captain Cook is a leading contender as he seeks his third local victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, a nine-furlong test for sophomores, at Belmont at the Big A.

The Peter Pan is the traditional prep for the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, which will be contested at a distance of 10-furlongs at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, June 7 as part of the five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. NYRA will waive the entry and starting fees to the Belmont Stakes, excluding the supplemental fee, for the first three finishers in the Peter Pan.

Trained by Rick Dutrow, Jr., the Practical Joke bay enters from a fourth as the favorite in the local nine-furlong Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 5. There, Captain Cook tracked the pace set by Rodriguez through splits of 23.31 seconds and 47.44 on the fast main track, before fading to fourth as that rival went onto victory.

“We thought that he ran as good as he could,” said Dutrow, Jr. “He had everything go his way in the race and it seemed to me that he just kind of got outrun, and that is OK. He has bounced back in his training and he is doing good. We are very happy with him.”

In defeat, Captain Cook [post 8, Manny Franco] was on the outside of the Derby starting gate looking in with 35 total qualifying points, after previously capturing the nine-furlong Listed Withers on February 1 here by 2 1/4 lengths over returning rival Surfside Moon. His other effort for Dutrow, Jr. was a third-out graduation by 9 1/4 lengths sprinting seven furlongs over sloppy and sealed going on December 28 here in his first start for new connections.

Dutrow, Jr. said he likes the spacing between starts– it will be 35 days since the Wood Memorial.

“That time is good. The horse is on it, so 35 or 40 days doesn’t make much difference because he is doing good,” said Dutrow, Jr. “We are happy enough to look at this race.”

Captain Cook was sixth going six furlongs for conditioner Norm Casse in his October debut at Churchill Downs. He was later purchased for $410,000 at the 2024 Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale as part of the dispersal of the estate of the late John Hendrickson.

Bred by Marylou Whitney Stables, Captain Cook is out of the Grade 2-placed Indian Charlie mare Pow Wow Wow. His third dam is 2003 Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks winner and Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Bird Town, a half-sister to 2004 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and Travers-victor Birdstone – both out of the Reine-de-Course mare Dear Birdie.

Dutrow, Jr. also sends out McAfee [post 5, John Velazquez, blinkers ON], who finished 1 1/2 lengths behind Captain Cook for fifth in the Wood Memorial. The Cloud Computing dark bay, who is a half-brother to 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna out of the Uncle Mo mare Sataves, also finished fifth in the one-turn mile Grade 3 Gotham in March here.

In his other two efforts for Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables, Scott Rice and breeder Judy Hicks, McAfee won his November debut at Churchill Downs ahead of a close second in a starter allowance there just over three weeks later.

Amo Racing USA’s Grade 1-placed Hill Road [post 4, Flavien Prat] was a top contender for the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino but was scratched due to a fever. Trained by Chad Brown, the Quality Road bay’s last effort was a third in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby on March 8 when adding blinkers.

“He’s doing great. He’s fully recovered from the temperature and looks good. I’m pleased with him,” said Brown. “It’s a really strong crop so if he’s able to get to the Belmont it will be a real challenging race, but we’ll take it one race at a time.”

Hill Road’s first three efforts were for previous trainer Adrian Murray including a third to subsequent Champion 2-Year-Old Citizen Bull in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November at Del Mar.

Hill Road, a $350,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the Argentinian stakes-placed Lemon Drop Kid mare Exotic Notion, a half-sister to multiple Grade 1-winner City of Light.

The five-time Eclipse Award-winning Brown will also send out Earle Mack’s Kentucky homebred Lordship [post 10, Dylan Davis]. The Gun Runner chestnut won his one-mile and 40-yard debut on March 22 at Tampa Bay Downs. There, he closed from 7 1/2 lengths back in fifth position en route to a 1 1/4-length score over Three Percent.

“It looks like he’s going to want more distance and I thought this was a good spot to stretch him out. It’s a big step for an inexperienced horse, but I do like the distance for him” Brown said. “We’ve taken our time with him and he’s starting to come around now.”

Lordship, a $725,000 RNA at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, is a full-brother to Grade 3-winner Hall of Fame out of the unraced Giant’s Causeway mare Flag Day, a half-sister to graded stakes-placed Street Ready and stakes-placed Robin Hood.

Manor Stable and Mair Lee Stables’ Surfside Moon [post 3, Junior Alvarado] was a last-out 3 1/4-length third to Pay Billy in the nine-furlong Federico Tesio on April 19 at Laurel Park. Trained by Chuck Lawrence, the Malibu Moon chestnut was returning from a layoff due to a virus after his aforementioned second to Captain Cook in the Withers.

“I wish there was a little more time in between, but it is nice to finally get him in two races back to back,” said Lawrence. “He came out of his last in good order, and we’ve had a couple nice breezes with him.”

Lawrence said the Tesio, despite landing third, was an encouraging effort. He also liked Surfside Moon’s six-furlong breeze in 1:15.60 on Sunday over the Fair Hill all-weather training track.

“Of course we wanted to win, but I was extremely proud of his effort coming off the layoff and being sick as long as he was out of the Withers,” said Lawrence. “I took it as a very positive race, he made a nice move, just got a little late in the last 70 yards. With that race and the works under his belt, hopefully it’ll put us in the winner’s circle for the Peter Pan.”

Surfside Moon was 33-1 when making his sophomore debut in the Withers, certainly outrunning his odds and posting a 90 Beyer. He graduated third-out going one-mile on turf in August at Delaware Park ahead of off-the-board efforts in the off-the-turf Laurel Futurity and the 1 1/16-mile turf Listed Awad here.

“I thought that going two turns on the dirt would really suit him,” Lawrence said. “I was with his owner Jim Perella this morning [watching the work], we went down and met him right when he came off the track and you would never even know he worked. It takes a lot to get him to huff and puff.”

WinStar Farm and Repole Stable’s Uncaged [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche] added blinkers to win a one-turn mile optional-claimer by 1 3/4 lengths over On the Mount on a muddy and sealed strip on April 6 here. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the Curlin bay entered from a fourth in a six-furlong optional-claimer on March 2 at Gulfstream Park.

Uncaged’s lone other start was a debut win sprinting six furlongs on August 3 at Saratoga Race Course. He was a $450,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the graded stakes-winning Pioneerof the Nile mare Dark Nile.

Pletcher also sends out Team Penney Racing’s Vassimo [post 1, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], who made a pair of Grade 2 efforts on the Derby trail at Fair Grounds Race Course, including a fourth in the nine-furlong Risen Star in February and a sixth when adding blinkers in the 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby in March.

The Nyquist bay crossed the wire first in his other two starts, a one-mile and 40-yards optional-claimer in January at Tampa and a one-mile maiden in December at Gulfstream [later disqualified and placed last due to a medication violation].

Vassimo, out of dual graded stakes-winning Pulpit mare Bsharpsonata, was a $120,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Pletcher has won the Peter Pan a record five times, including last year with Antiquarian, as well as with Purge [2004], Sunriver [2006], Madefromlucky [2015] and Promise Keeper [2021].

Rounding out the field are Happily Delusional [post 2, Paco Lopez] for conditioner Louis Linder, Jr., New York-bred First Pitch [post 7, Jose Lezcano] for trainer Jose Jimenez, and Brereton’s Baytown [post 9, Marshall Mendez] for trainer Paul McEntee.

The Peter Pan is slated as Race 11 on Saturday’s 11-race card, which also features the Grade 2 Man o’ War [Race 2], Grade 2 Ruffian [Race 10], the Grade 3 John A. Nerud [Race 7] and the Listed Take the A Train [Race 9]. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

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