Francesca Le Donne Photo

Equine and human Gronkowski set to meet on Belmont Stakes Day

by NYRA Press Office

Trainer Chad Brown said it’s all systems go for Phoenix Thoroughbred III’s Gronkowski one day before the Lonhro colt looks to thwart Justify’s Triple Crown bid in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

“Everything is good. His training is done now,” Brown said. “We’ve asked him to work twice and I thought he worked real well. I think we put him in good position to give a good account of himself if he’s fit enough and can stay the mile and a half. All week, I’ve been impressed with this horse.”

Gronkowski drew post 6 in the 10-horse field and is 12-1 on the morning line. The equine Gronkowski is expected to meet his namesake, New England Patriots All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, Saturday afternoon.

"Hopefully if they named it after me, it's just a beast of a horse, it's fast and it's ready to roll," Gronkowski told Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback.

Gronkowski (the horse) will be making his North American debut after posting four wins and a runner-up finish in six starts racing exclusively in England.

Brown, a native of Mechanicville, New York, is a Patriots fan and said Rob Gronkowski’s visit to Belmont Park can be good for the sport.

“Anytime we can bring some positive publicity to this great sport we work in, it’s a great thing,” Brown said. “I really hope this horse has success tomorrow because I think it can be a great thing all around. To meet one of the all-time great tight ends is exciting for me and is a nice little perk.”

Brown said all three of his runners in Thursday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Wonder Again came out of the race in good order. Significant Form and Mighty Scarlett ran second and third, respectively, behind winner La Signare, while Altea was fifth in the 1 1/8-mile stakes on the inner turf on the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival’s Opening Day.

Significant Form, who finished one length behind La Signare, and Mighty Scarlett could both be targeting the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational on Saturday, July 7 during Stars & Stripes Day, Brown said.

“We were disappointed we didn’t win the race with one of them, but they all seemed to come out of the race well so now we’ll take some time to figure out our next move. The Oaks is definitely a possibility for them, and we’ll get something easier for Altea. She didn’t run bad, but she really needed to make an impact in the top three to earn her spot. I think she fell just short of that.”

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Can Baffert's 'other' Belmont Stakes horse play Triple Crown spoiler?

Restoring Hope, trainer Bob Baffert’s other entry in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, has been called a speed horse, a promising colt capable of setting a pace that could be helpful in stablemate Justify’s bid to become the 13th Triple Crown winner on Saturday.

On Friday, though, Baffert said Restoring Hope fits in as well as any other horse in the field of 10 for the Belmont, and he expects his “other horse” to come up with a strong effort.

“I expect Restoring Hope to run a big race, too,’’ said Baffert, who has won the Belmont twice before with Point Given (2001) and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (2015). “Restoring Hope is training really well. And he’s well-bred to go 1 ½ miles.”

Owned by Gary and Mary West, Restoring Hope is a son of 2000 European Horse of the Year Giant’s Causeway, out of Symbol of Freedom by Tapit, who has sired three of the last four Belmont Stakes winners.

Despite a 12th-place finish in the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile in the slop at Churchill Downs on May 5, Baffert believed early on the colt was Derby worthy. Prior to that race, he ran second in his first two starts, and then broke his maiden on February 2 and finished third in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 7.

“I really thought he was going to be in the Kentucky Derby,’’ said Baffert. “He showed me that kind of talent. I think he’s just as good as any of the horses in there.”

Florent Geroux will be aboard for the first time.

Baffert said Restoring Hope will run without blinkers.

“We think he’ll run better without them. He was getting a little aggressive,’’ said Baffert.

As for the chances of his own horse spoiling his bid for a second Triple Crown, Baffert said: “The owners, they’d love to knock off Justify. That’s why we’re in the game.”

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Pletcher primed for big day at Belmont (and elsewhere)

At 8:06 p.m. on Saturday, whether or not the Todd Pletcher-trained Vino Rosso or Noble Indy successfully thwarts Justify’s bid to become racing’s next Triple Crown winner in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, Pletcher will be back in the paddock at Belmont Park to saddle Hyndford and Autostrade in the day’s 13th and final event, a 1 1/16-mile allowance race.

“That’s one of my favorite things to do – run in races after the Derby, after the Preakness, after the Belmont,” he deadpanned. “We ran in the race after the Derby. We were sitting there, just all soaking wet, and the horse [Regal Quality] decided to completely mail it in ... it was a fitting end to the day.”

Vino Rosso and Noble Indy are just two of the 10 stakes horses Pletcher will be saddling Saturday at Belmont Park, not to mention Hyndford and Autostrade, and several others running at Gulfstream Park, Woodbine and Laurel Park.

“Weekends like this, when you have a lot running in one place, there’s a lot of logistics involved,” said Pletcher, a seven-time Eclipse Award winner whose horses have earned more than $360 million since his first winner, Majestic Number, collected $10,800 for a maiden win on January 26, 1996 at Gulfstream Park. “Sometimes you have to have all hands on deck, and have extra help ready to go.”

While the 50-year-old Pletcher is quick to praise his staff, it’s the trainer’s work ethic and meticulous attention to detail that keeps his far-flung operation running smoothly. The day before Vino Rosso and Noble Indy were to run in the final and most demanding leg of racing’s Triple Crown, with his horses competing for more than $5.4 million in purses, Pletcher was just as able to provide a quick update on Saturday’s final race as he was on his two Belmont charges.

“They’re both doing great,” he said. And Hyndford?

“I think he will appreciate more distance, eventually,” he said. “He’s an honest sort who always shows up and gives you a good effort.”

“We are interested to see how he handles the stretch out to 1 1/16 miles,” Pletcher said of Autostrade. “We are hopeful he does it swimmingly.”

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Co-owner of Blended Citizen optimistic about his colt’s chances

Blended Citizen has a tall order in his first Grade 1 assignment – taking on Triple Crown hopeful Justify in a field of 10 3-year-olds in Saturday’s Belmont.

Stephen Young of SAYJAY Racing, a part owner of the Grade 3 Peter Pan winner, says he’s happy to have the colt and that trainer Doug O’Neill has gotten him to this point.

“We’re lucky to have him,” Young said. “We have a budget of $100,000, and the only reason we got him is because he was a really late foal. It took him a while to mature, and Doug was real good, and as patient as he could be with him.

“When he and Leandro [assistant trainer Leandro Mora] put the blinkers on him, he got a little bit better then got a little bit better on his own after that. He’s going to be competitive I think. I mean, Justify might get a 48 opening quarter, and he might be sitting back there 15 lengths behind after the race, but you have to run and find out.”

A son of Proud Citizen, Blended Citizen is coming off a 1 ½ length victory in the May 12 Peter Pan. SAYJAY co-owns the colt with Greg Hall, whom Young met through his family-operated Allen Company, a recycling business, and Brooke Hubbard, his racing manager and bloodstock agent. The colt drew post 10 and is listed at 15-1 on the morning line.

The off-the-pace running Blended Citizen is a multiple graded stakes winner who debuted on dirt, switched to grass then progressed through two starts on synthetic by winning the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park. After debuting with blinkers in that victory, the colt finished fifth in the Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland behind eventual Grade 1 Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic.

The Kentucky-bred was an $85,000 purchase at the OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training. He brings a long stride – which he used to his advantage in the Peter Pan – a style that has to be used early according to jockey Kyle Frey.

Young and the rest of his partners are confident, but a race like the “Test of the Champion” leaves a lot to ponder.

“He’s competitive when he has somebody in front of him, then he runs hard,” said Young, referring to the colt’s Peter Pan victory. “Now, if he’s good enough to get these guys or not on Saturday, I don’t have any idea. I’m a pretty good handicapper, and I can’t even tell. If I could, I’d win a couple million bucks here.

“It takes so much to get the horse right to the race, and this horse is pretty sound. My only thing is the company he’s faced in the past may not be this good. We’re up there with the big boys right now. He didn’t get a good taste of Good Magic in the Blue Grass, but he didn’t have a very good race. He kind of clipped heels a very little bit in the beginning, and then at the end the guy came out in front of him and made him stop. I don’t think he would get Good Magic that day, but he might have run second. This race tomorrow is a little further, and I think he wants further. I think we can get a little lucky tomorrow.”

Blended Citizen could become the eighth starter to win both the Peter Pan and Belmont Stakes, joining Counterpoint (1951), Gallant Man (1957), Cavan (1958), Coastal (1979), Danzig Connection (1986), A.P. Indy (1992), and Tonalist (2014).

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Take Charge Paula returns in Sunday’s Jersey Girl

Peter Deutsch’s Take Charge Paula will make her first start since the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, leading a field of seven in the $150,000 Jersey Girl for 3-year-old fillies on Sunday at Belmont Park.

By Take Charge Indy, Take Charge Paula has two wins and a second at the Jersey’s Girl’s six-furlong distance, including a 3 ½-length Grade 3 score in Gulfstream Park’s Forward Gal to begin her sophomore season. She earned her spot in the Oaks with back-to-back Grade 2 placings at a mile and 1 1/16 miles, before fading quickly 1 1/8-mile “Run for the Lilies” on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

The Kiaran McLaughlin trainee has been tabbed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite. She will be ridden from post 6 by Paco Lopez.

Take Charge Paula will be joined by Leonard C. Green’s Sower (7-2), looking to maintain her perfect record in two previous starts for trainer Linda Rice; Joe Sharp-trained Devine Mischief (3-1), exiting a frontrunning, 1 ¾-length optional claiming victory; Buy Sell Hold (8-1), third last time out in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen; John Kimmel-trained Pacific Gale (15-1) making her first start of the year; and a pair from the Rudy Rodriguez barn in Zayat Stable’s homebred Lezendary (9-2), who boasts a field-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure for her Cicada win this winter, and two-time stakes winner Strategic Dreams (12-1).