Belmont Park: Fort Bragg meets Saudi Crown in Dwyer

Dual graded stakes-placed Fort Bragg leads a compact six-horse field that includes highly regarded Saudi Crown in Saturday’s 105th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Dwyer for sophomores going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Fort Bragg initially was slated for the Woody Stephens (G1) on Belmont Stakes day, won by stablemate Arabian Lion, but he spiked a fever and was scratched from the seven-furlong test.

The son of Tapit previously was a close second to General Jim in the Pat Day Mile (G2) on Churchill Downs’s Kentucky Derby undercard, where he joined the top flight of runners down the backstretch despite breaking a step slow. He was in command around the far turn and fought General Jim in the stretch drive but came up a neck shy of victory while earning a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

Fort Bragg posted a third-out maiden win at Santa Anita in November and a third-place finish in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) in December before finishing fifth in a pair of Kentucky Derby prep races this spring.

He remained at Belmont Park after being withdrawn from the Woody Stephens and has breezed twice over Big Sandy, including a five-furlong effort in 59.90 seconds on Sunday.

Fort Bragg, who adds blinkers, is owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan.

Tom Ryan, managing partner of SF Racing, said the Dwyer was instantly discussed among Baffert and the ownership group after scratching from the Woody Stephens.

“Fortunately, his temperature came back down to normal very quickly,” Ryan said. “Bob’s reaction to it was the right one. He felt something was brewing and we had to do the right thing by the horse. The decision was made immediately to reroute him to the Dwyer, which we feel should suit him very well. He’s got some miles under his belt now, and his run at Churchill was really a fantastic effort. He didn’t get away from the gate the way we would have liked and he still managed to finish up strongly.”

Ryan said a good effort Saturday could propel Fort Bragg to the seven-furlong $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) on Aug. 26 at Saratoga.

“This gives us options. We can see how we do here,” Ryan said. “There will be opportunities to stretch him out down the road if we feel that’s the right thing. A race like the Allen Jerkens could be on the radar for him later in the summer if we felt like he needs a cutback.”

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will ride Fort Bragg from post 5.

Unbeaten Saudi Crown (post 2, Javier Castellano) will see added ground for his stakes debut after two winning efforts for trainer Brad Cox.

The Always Dreaming gray colt showed stalking tactics en route to a 4 3/4-length debut score April 16 going six furlongs at Keeneland before going gate-to-wire to defeat elders in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance five weeks later at Churchill Downs.

Saudi Crown is out of the unraced Tapit mare New Narration and is a direct descendant of Darby Dan foundation broodmare Soaring.

Alternate Reality (post 4, Jackie Davis) enters off a local allowance triumph on May 27 going the Dwyer distance for trainer Chris Englehart.

The Alternation chestnut rallied in deep stretch following a six-wide move in upper stretch to get up in the final jumps to win by a head over stakes-placed Winters Lion.

Alternate Reality was a fourth-out maiden winner at 16-1 odds going seven furlongs in April at Aqueduct after making his first three starts at three different distances.

Englehart said the seven-furlong to one-turn mile distance is the horse’s ideal ground.

“I don’t know how well his numbers will match up with the rest of the field, but we’re looking to see what we have,” Englehart said. “He’s just kind of matured into himself a bit. He seems to be progressing along and we’re trying to take it one step at a time.”

Harrodsburg (post 3, Manny Franco) enters off a narrow runner-up effort at allowance level on May 6 at Belmont, where he earned a co-field best 99 Beyer for trainer Rob Atras.

The Constitution colt was slated to run in the Woody Stephens but got loose in the paddock before being collared and walked back to the barn. On debut, he was a 2 1/4-length winner going 6 1/2 furlongs on March 26 at Aqueduct.

Joey Freshwater (post 6, Jose Ortiz) will strive to double up on graded conquests after capturing the Bay Shore (G3) on April 8 at the Big A for trainer Linda Rice three starts back.

The Jimmy Creed dark bay was claimed by Rice for $50,000 in November following a five-length score at Churchill Downs and picked up a New Year’s Day triumph at Aqueduct going six furlongs against starter optional claiming company. He enters off his lone turf start in the local Paradise Creek on May 20, where he finished a distant fifth.

Completing the field is Prove Right (post 1, Joey Martinez), a 16-time starter who seeks his first stakes triumph for trainer James Chapman, who co-owns the son of Justify with Stuart Tsujimoto.

The Dwyer honors the late Mike and Phil Dwyer, whose Dwyer Bros. Stable was one of the highest-earning racing outfits of the late 19th century. Among the most prominent horses owned by the Dwyers include hall of fame inductees Hindoo, Ben Brush and Hanover.

The Dwyer is slated as race 6 on Saturday’s 10-race program. First post is 1:05 p.m. EDT.