Robert Bruce on target for Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic
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Grade 1 Arlington Million winner Robert Bruce breezed in company Monday morning over Saratoga's Oklahoma turf track with Projected. The pair covered four furlongs in a bullet 48.02.
Trainer Chad Brown said he was impressed with Robert Bruce, who remains on target for the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Sept. 29 at Belmont Park.
"They worked really well, and Robert Bruce is going to the Joe Hirsch," Brown said.
Robert Bruce, owned by Convento Viejo, is coming off his Arlington Million victory on Aug. 11 at Arlington Park, rallying from eighth to defeat Almanaar by a half length at 1 ¼ miles. He will now compete in the 1 ½-mile Joe Hirsch, a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Longines Turf on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.
The work was the final breeze for Projected ahead of Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch at Saratoga.
Brown said Projected, a 6-year-old English bred, continues to train well coming out of back-to-back runner-up efforts, finishing a length behind Voodoo Song in the Forbidden Apple at one mile on July 14 at Belmont before running second to Inspector Lynley by three-quarters of a length in the Fasig-Tipton Lure on Aug. 11 at the Spa. The Lure, contested at the Bernard Baruch distance of 1 1/16 miles on the turf, marked the ninth time in the last 10 starts the Juddmonte Farms homebred has finished on the board.
"He's been running real consistent this year, so hopefully he does it again in this race. It'll be a little tougher, but he seems to be in good form," Brown said.
After winning four races in France before coming to the United States in 2017, Projected won a graded stakes when he captured the 2017 Grade 2 Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup at Laurel Park. That marked his last victory, though Projected has posted three runner-up finishes and a third-place effort in the Grade 2 Monmouth on May 26 in his four starts of the current campaign.
Brown has a talented contingent set to run in the final weekend of racing, including Kurilov in the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday. After running eighth in the Grade 1 United Nations on the turf June 30 at Monmouth Park, Brown switched the Chilean bred back to dirt, where he ran second to Realm by a head in the Alydar at 1 1/8 miles on August 5 at Saratoga. The 5-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky breezed Saturday, going four furlongs in 48.66 seconds in the main track.
"It'll be a much tougher race, but the horse seems to be doing really good on the dirt," Brown said.
Raging Bull made a splash in his graded stakes debut, winning the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame by a nose over Maraud on Aug. 3 at Saratoga, has three wins in his first four starts, with the only time he failed to enter the winner's circle coming with a second-place finish in the Manila on July 4 at Belmont.
The 3-year-old Dark Angel colt, owned by Peter Brant, is likely to run in the Grade 3, $300,000 Saranac on Saturday, Brown said.
"As long as I see the turf course playing fair, I'll run him," Brown said.
Onthemoonagain and Santa Monica are still on target for Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf, according to their conditioner.
Santa Monica won the Grade 2 Dance Smartly on June 30 at Woodbine, building on a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay on May 5 at Belmont.
Onthemoonagain made her North American debut on Aug. 2 at the Spa, finishing third in an allowance optional claimer. A stakes winner in her native France, Onthemoonagain has three wins in nine career starts.
"They're coming into the Glens Falls the right way," Brown said. "Both are training extremely well. Santa Monica has been great."
Entering Monday's action, Brown had saddled 34 winners in the Saratoga meet -- more than double the next-closest competitor in Todd Pletcher -- and will be looking to break the single-season meet record of 40 he currently shares with Pletcher in the final week that closes on Labor Day, September 3. Brown won 40 races in 2016 and will be looking to clinch his second Saratoga title in three years.
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