Two Long Win Streaks on the Line at Belmont Park
Five graded stakes with $1.9 million in purse money, and two long winning streaks, will be on the line at Belmont Park this Saturday. Rock Fall, who has won his last six races in a row, will try and make it seven in the $400,000 Vosburgh (G1). While La Verdad goes into the $300,000 Gallant Bloom (G2) riding a four race win streak.
A speedy son of Speightstown, Rock Fall lost in his first career start as a three-year-old, but has not tasted defeat since then. He has worked his way up in class since he crushed a maiden field on the Belmont Park turf by 9 ½ lengths. This summer the Todd Pletcher trainee notched two graded stakes wins for Stonestreet Stables in the True North (G2) on Big Sandy and then upstate at Saratoga in the Vanderbilt (G1).
"He worked really well, he seems to be maintaining form," Pletcher said. "He's on target. He's been remarkably consistent and it's been a lot of fun to see him develop into a top-class sprinter."
In the Vosburgh, Rock Fall will try and lock up a Breeders’ Cup Sprint spot with his seventh straight victory in this “Win and You’re In” race. Jockey Javier Castellano, who has guided Rock Fall from a stalking position in his victories, will have to beat a talented and experienced field of top sprinters including Clearly Now, Palace, Salutos Amigos, and Brian Zipse’s horse to watch, Wildcat Red.
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On the distaff side, La Verdad will go for her fifth consecutive victory. This New York-bred daughter of Yes It’s True has won 14 of her 20 career starts and over $1.1 million with her most recent win in the Honorable Miss (G2) at Saratoga over last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare champion, Judy the Beauty.
La Verdad has not won a spot for this year’s Breeders’ Cup and according to trainer Linda Rice, Keeneland is the goal for the Lady Sheila Stable star even though they skipped the Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita in 2014.
"We could pay her into it," Rice said of the Breeders' Cup. "This year, she's pretty fresh and in better form and it's in Kentucky, which I think is a better ship for East Coast horses. It's seven-eighths, but if she runs a big race in this one, we'll probably put her in the Breeders' Cup."
La Verdad has used her front running style to win a graded stake on each of the NYRA racetracks this year, but she has yet to take down a grade one in her career. In the Gallant Bloom she will be a standout in a field of fillies and mares that appear to be a notch below her level.
Also on the Saturday card is the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1), which is another “Win and You’re In” qualifier. This twelve furlong event is headed by the powerful Chad Brown-trained trio of Big Blue Kitten, Slumber, and Shining Copper. They have run against each other in the last three grade one races.
Big Blue Kitten is at the top of his game with a win in the United Nations (G1) and a narrow defeat to the popular Chicago star, The Pizza Man, in the Arlington Million (G1). Slumber beat Big Blue Kitten in the Manhattan (G1), lost to him in the United Nations, and had a ghastly trip at Arlington Park.
"He [Slumber] really got a horrific trip [in the Million]," said Brown. "It's hard to see from the view at Arlington with all the trees, but even Joe Bravo on Big Blue Kitten, who was behind Slumber at that point, described what happened to him and it's amazing Irad [Ortiz, Jr.] stayed on the horse. He nearly ran into the rail and had two horses come over on him and he completely pulled straight up. He actually suffered several lacerations in the race which are just now healed up.”
Shining Copper has been sent out as a pace setter, but still managed to hang on gamely and finish fourth and third in the UN and the Million.
The other grade one on the card is the $400,000 Beldame. As has often been the case, the Beldame will have a small but select field that will be headed by the three-year-old multi-grade one winner Curalina and by Wedding Toast, who returns to the races after winning the Ogden Phipps (G1) and the Ruffian (G2) at Belmont in the Spring. Catch My Drift and Hot Stones look to step up in company after runaway wins in non-graded stakes at Saratoga.
Two-year-old males get a chance to register a grade three in the $200,000 Pilgrim, which is run at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. Azar will look to add to his victory in the With Anticipation (G2) that was run closing week at Saratoga. This Todd Pletcher runner will be a big favorite being the only probable runner in a large field with a win beyond the maiden ranks.
This weekend’s five graded stakes combined with the October 3rd Super Saturday card, that includes six more graded stakes and four grade one “WAYI” chances, will provide New York runners their final opportunities to get ready for the Breeders’ Cup.