Mr Speaker, V. E. Day Set to Meet in Fort Marcy
Mr Speaker and V. E. Day, who upset two of the biggest races on the New York Racing Association circuit last year, are set to meet in the Grade 3, $150,000 Fort Marcy on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Mr Speaker's breakthrough victory came in the inaugural running of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Belmont Derby over European invader Adelaide. Entering the Belmont Derby off a lackluster fifth-place finish in the ungraded Pennine Ridge, the son of Pulpit stunned the Stars & Stripes Festival crowd at odds of 23-1.
Making his next start in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Race Course, Mr Speaker finished 7 ½ lengths behind V. E. Day, who took the Mid-Summer Derby by a nose over his more heralded stablemate, Wicked Strong. V.E. Day was sent off at odds of 19-1 in the Travers.
Now a 4-year-old, Mr Speaker enters the 1 1/8-mile Fort Marcy following a fourth-place finish in an allowance race over a "soft" Keeneland turf course. The Phipps Stable color-bearer will break from post 5 with Cornelio Velasquez aboard, and sits at 7-2 on the morning line.
V. E. Day, who has not raced since finishing 11th in the Breeders' Cup Classic last fall, will enlist the services of jockey Rajiv Maragh. He is 3-1 on the morning line and will break from post 7.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Big Blue Kitten will also make his seasonal debut in the Fort Marcy. A 7-year-old son of Kitten's Joy, Big Blue Kitten won the 2013 edition of the Grade 1 United Nations and Grade 1 Sword Dancer before missing by a nose in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational. The Chad Brown trainee won only once in 2014, however, when he took the Lure Stakes on August 2 at the Spa.
Owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Big Blue Kitten will be ridden by Joe Bravo from post 8. He is 2-1 on the morning line, as part of an entry with Hyper.
Rounding out the field are Middleburg, a four-time winner for trainer Christophe Clement; graded stakes winner Howe Great; Sky Blazer, a hard-knocking gelding for trainer Barclay Tagg; Divine Oath, winner of the Grade 3 W. L. McKnight three starts ago; Hyper, who is coming off a 1 ½-year layoff for Brown and the Ramseys; and Unbridled Ocean, second in an optional claimer at Gulfstream Park in his latest outing.
Also on tap for Saturday is the Grade 2, $200,000 Sheepshead Bay for older fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles on turf, led by last year's winner Riposte.
Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Riposte enters the Sheepshead Bay off fifth and second-place finishes at Gulfstream Park in the Grade 3 Orchid and the Grade 3 The Very One, respectively. She was the favorite in both races.
In 2014, the Juddmonte Farms color-bearer took the Sheepshead Bay and Grade 2 New York on June 28 at Belmont before having her year cut short.
Listed as the 7-5 morning-line favorite, Riposte will break from the rail with Edgar Prado aboard.
Now in the care of trainer Chad Brown, Grade 1 winner Rosalind will attempt to win her first graded stakes on turf. The chestnut 4-year-old has made two starts in 2015, missing by a length in the Grade 2 Suwanee River at Gulfstream and finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Santa Ana at Santa Anita Park.
As a 3-year-old, Rosalind dead-heated for the win with Room Service in the Grade 1 Ashland on Polytrack at Keeneland - the last time she's reached the winner's circle.
Joe Bravo will be aboard Rosalind, 4-1 on the morning line, and the duo will depart from post 5.
Christophe Clement will send out a pair of runners, Beauty Parlor and Maximova, who are 8-5 and 8-1 on the morning line, respectively.
Making her North American debut in the Orchid, Beauty Parlor tracked the pace and went on to win by a half-length over her stablemate Tabreed. Maximova will be making her 2015 debut, and most recently finished sixth in the Grade 3 La Prevoyante on December 27 at Gulfstream.
Beauty Parlor will break from post 4 with Rajiv Maragh aboard, while Maximova drew post 3 and will be ridden by Cornelio Velasquez.
The New York-bred Selenite rounds out the field.
Source: NYRA Communications