Chad Brown Has Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Surrounded

With a pair of Grade 1 winners and another who is Grade 1-placed, current meet-leading trainer Chad Brown will send out nearly half the field in Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park.

 

A "Win and You're In" qualifier for the $3 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf October 31, the 40^th running of the 1 ½-mile Turf Classic is one of five graded stakes on a 11-race program that includes the Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame; Grade 1, $400,000 Vosburgh; Grade 2, $300,000 Gallant Bloom; and Grade 3, $200,000 Pilgrim. Carded 10^th, post time is 6:01 p.m.

 

Regarded for his work with grass runners, Brown is seeking his first win in the Turf Classic, a race won by his late Hall of Fame mentor, Bobby Frankel, in 2001 and 2002. He has entered the talented trio of Big Blue Kitten, Slumber and Shining Copper, who have combined to win 23 races, six graded stakes and nearly $3.8 million in purse earnings.

 

All three horses exit the Grade 1 Arlington Million August 15, where Big Blue Kitten was second, a neck behind The Pizza Man. Put in the race as a pacemaker for his Ken and Sarah Ramsey-owned stablemate, Shining Copper gamely held on for third, beaten a length, while Slumber wound up eighth of 13 as the favorite following a troubled trip.

 

Big Blue Kitten, 7, will be trying the Turf Classic for the third consecutive year, having finished second by a nose in 2013 and fourth last year. Also 7, Slumber was fourth for his previous trainer, Hall of Famer Bill Mott, in 2013.

 

Favored at 2-1 in a field of seven, Big Blue Kitten will break from post 3 under Joe Bravo. Slumber (7-2) and Irad Ortiz Jr. will depart from post 5, with Shining Copper (10-1) and Manuel Franco leaving from post 7. All horses will carry 126 pounds.

 

West Point Thoroughbreds' Twilight Eclipse, the world record-holder at 1 ½ miles, is also taking his third shot at the Turf Classic after running fifth in 2013 and second to Eclipse Award winner Main Sequence last year. He has faced Brown's trio before, finishing third in the Grade 1 United Nations July 5 behind Big Blue Kitten and Slumber, with Shining Copper a nose back in fourth.

 

"He's doing just fine. He still continues to train very well," trainer Tom Albertrani said. "He's been very consistent and he's going into the race in great shape."

 

Albertrani gave 6-year-old Twilight Eclipse a short break after the United Nations, bringing him back in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer August 29 at Saratoga Race Course, where he was last of eight after a half-mile and went on to be third, 5 ¾ lengths behind European invader Flintshire.

 

Winner of the Grade 1 Man o' War May 9 at Belmont, Twilight Eclipse trailed runner-up Flintshire by 1 ¼ lengths when third in last year's Breeders' Cup Turf.

 

"I thought he ran well in the Sword Dancer," Albertrani said. "For some reason, it seemed like we got a little further back than we wanted to be and he was always in between horses. I don't think he every really got into a comfort zone throughout the whole race. He was always in between, not in a bad spot but not in a perfect spot, and he still came with a nice run."

 

Joel Rosario will ride Twilight Eclipse (5-1) from post 4.

 

Matthew Schera's Perfect Title will get a major class test in the Turf Classic, just his second career attempt at a graded stakes and first on the grass. He was seventh to Palace Malice in the 2013 Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga for previous owner and breeder Charles Fipke.

 

Schera bought the 5-year-old bay son of Perfect Soul in February and turned him over to Fair Hill, Md.-based trainer James L. "Chuck" Lawrence II. In four starts together they have two seconds and back-to-back wins 15 days apart in August at Saratoga.

 

Late-running Perfect Title got up by a nose at odds of 9-1 August 7, running for a $50,000 tag going 1 1/16 miles, then came back with a one-length optional claiming allowance victory at 1 3 1/6 miles when 18-1. Both came under Kendrick Carmouche, who returns to ride the 30-1 long shot from post 2.

 

"We're getting toward the end of the turf season, and looking at all the options, the only chance of probably making a Breeders' Cup race is this," Lawrence said. "I know we're a long shot, but I thought it was worth taking a shot. The owner's on board, I'm on board and the jockey's on board. I hope that he'll prove us right. He's a really neat horse, and I think he deserves a shot."

 

Twin Creeks Racing Stable's Red Rifle had a two-race win streak snapped when second by 1 ½ lengths in the Sword Dancer. Earlier this summer he won the Grade 3 Dominion Day at Woodbine and Grade 2 Bowling Green Handicap at Saratoga for trainer Todd Pletcher, who captured back-to-back editions of the Turf Classic with champion English Channel in 2006-07.

 

Javier Castellano rides Red Rifle, second choice on the morning line at 5-2, from post 1.

 

Charles Keith Warner's Quiet Force (20-1) became a graded stakes winner with a three-quarter-length triumph in the Grade 3, 1 3/16-mile Arlington Handicap July 11, but was never in contention in his subsequent start, finishing 10^th in the Arlington Million. Jose Ortiz rides for trainer Mike Maker from post 6.