Circle Thursday. Last weekend’s nor’easter wiped out Belmont’s Saturday and Sunday cards, and NYRA moved every one of the six graded stakes to Thursday, October 1. That leaves a Thursday afternoon with $1.9 million in stakes purses, a Grade 1 over a mile and a half on the grass, and two Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In races.
If you usually bet at the weekend, this is the Saturday card you might miss. First post is 2:10pm ET, and the six stakes run back to back from Race 3 through Race 8, with the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic going at 5:18pm ET.
| Race | Post Time (ET) | Stakes | Grade | Purse | Distance and Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3:14pm | Gallant Bloom | G2 | $250,000 | 6½ furlongs, dirt |
| 4 | 3:46pm | Winter Memories | G3 | $200,000 | 1 mile, turf |
| 5 | 4:17pm | Belmont Turf Sprint | G3 | $200,000 | 6 furlongs, inner turf |
| 6 | 4:48pm | Vosburgh | G3 | $250,000 | 7 furlongs, dirt |
| 7 | 5:18pm | Joe Hirsch Turf Classic | G1 | $500,000 | 1½ miles, turf |
| 8 | 5:48pm | Flower Bowl | G2 | $500,000 | 1¼ miles, inner turf |
Table of Contents
Why Thursday Looks Like a Saturday Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (Grade 1) Flower Bowl (Grade 2) Vosburgh (Grade 3) Gallant Bloom (Grade 2) Belmont Turf Sprint (Grade 3) Winter Memories (Grade 3) Wednesday's Bonus Card at Belmont Don't Miss the Thursday CardWhy Thursday Looks Like a Saturday
NYRA called off racing on September 26 and 27 with winds forecast above 50 mph. Instead of scrapping the stakes, it moved all six to one card on Thursday and reopened entries. That shuffled a few things. Posts were redrawn, and a couple of European raiders picked up new riders. Rossa Ryan replaces James Doyle on Pride of Arras in the Joe Hirsch, and he’s also now on Sunlit Uplands in the Flower Bowl, where Doyle was named for Saturday.
Because the fields were redrawn, the morning lines from last Saturday’s draw no longer apply. We’ll use the new ones from NYRA’s Thursday program, and the tote will tell you the real price anyway.
Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (Grade 1)
Race 7, 5:18pm ET. $500,000, 1½ miles on the Widener turf, three year olds and up. Seven runners, and it’s a proper international field with three European shippers.
El Cordobes is the one to beat. Charlie Appleby’s Frankel horse won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga with Flavien Prat aboard, and he finished third in this race last year and third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar. The catch is fitness. He hasn’t run since a fifth in the Group 2 H.H. The Amir Trophy in Doha on February 14. Appleby says he goes in “in good order”, and Prat keeps the ride.
Far Bridge is the local danger. Miguel Clement’s six year old won this race in 2024 and owns three Grade 1 wins. He’s also coming off six months on the sidelines after winning the Grade 3 Pan American at Gulfstream on March 28. Chad Brown runs two, multiple Grade 1 winner Program Trading and Grade 2 winner Asbury Park, while Minaret Station comes in off a second in the Christophe Clement Turf. Ralph Beckett’s Pride of Arras and Ed Walker’s Fort George complete the European contingent.
Our take: El Cordobes on top. He has the best Grade 1 form in the field and a winning partnership with Prat. We’d use Far Bridge and Program Trading underneath in exactas.
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Cordobes (IRE) | Flavien Prat | Charlie Appleby | TBC |
| 2 | Far Bridge | John Velazquez | Miguel Clement | TBC |
| 3 | Asbury Park (GB) | Manny Franco | Chad Brown | TBC |
| 4 | Pride of Arras (IRE) | Rossa Ryan | Ralph Beckett | TBC |
| 5 | Minaret Station | Jose Ortiz | Will Walden | TBC |
| 6 | Program Trading (GB) | Ricardo Santana Jr. | Chad Brown | TBC |
| 7 | Fort George (GB) | Kieran Shoemark | Ed Walker | TBC |
Flower Bowl (Grade 2)
Race 8, 5:48pm ET. $500,000, 1¼ miles on the inner turf, fillies and mares three and up. This is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland, and 11 are entered.
Kathynmarissa is the form horse. She won the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga this summer, leading home a one, two, three for Chad Brown and giving him a record 11th Diana. She earned a career best 98 Beyer that day, and Brown said straight after that the Flower Bowl was the plan. Brown also has Cathedral, who’s multiple group placed, with Prat riding.
Bill Mott runs two. Gezora is a multiple Grade and Group 1 winner, and Opulent Restraint is twice Grade 1 placed. Fionn brings Grade 1 winning form for Brad Cox, and Stuart Williams sends over Sunlit Uplands, a Group 3 winner in Germany who was second in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga last time.
Our take: Kathynmarissa, with Gezora the value alternative. It’s a wet week on Long Island, so check the turf condition on Thursday morning before you lock anything in.
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evershed (IRE) | Dylan Davis | Arnaud Delacour | TBC |
| 2 | Storm Miami (IRE) | John Velazquez | Amelia Green | TBC |
| 3 | Sunlit Uplands (IRE) | Rossa Ryan | Stuart Williams | TBC |
| 4 | Gezora (FR) | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott | TBC |
| 5 | Esna (IRE) | Jamie Spencer | Brian Meehan | TBC |
| 6 | Fionn | Manny Franco | Brad Cox | TBC |
| 7 | Opulent Restraint (IRE) | Javier Castellano | Bill Mott | TBC |
| 8 | Favorite Memory (GB) | Kendrick Carmouche | Cherie DeVaux | TBC |
| 9 | Kathynmarissa | Jose Ortiz | Chad Brown | TBC |
| 10 | Cathedral (GB) | Flavien Prat | Chad Brown | TBC |
| 11 | Silvology | Antonio Fresu | Shug McGaughey | TBC |
Vosburgh (Grade 3)
Race 6, 4:48pm ET. $250,000, seven furlongs on the dirt, three year olds and up. The winner gets a free spot in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on October 31. It’s also the Vosburgh’s first year back at Belmont after three runnings at Aqueduct.
Senior Officer makes the most appeal for Brad Cox and Prat. He dead heated for second with T Kraft in the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga in his first stakes start, less than a length behind the winner, and T Kraft is here too for Bill Mott. Crazy Mason, fourth in that same Forego, was second in this race last year and is a Grade 2 winner. Buttah comes in on a winning run after beating Doc Sullivan by 1½ lengths in the John Morrissey at Saratoga, and Doc Sullivan is back for another go. Peter Miller ships Moonlight in from Del Mar after a second in the Pat O’Brien.
Our take: Senior Officer to win, with Crazy Mason and Moonlight in the exotics.
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | T Kraft | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott | TBC |
| 2 | Contrary Thinking | Dylan Davis | Amelia Green | TBC |
| 3 | Doc Sullivan | Ricardo Santana Jr. | Amelia Green | TBC |
| 4 | Buttah | Javier Castellano | Ilkay Kantarmaci | TBC |
| 5 | Moonlight | Jose Ortiz | Peter Miller | TBC |
| 6 | Bring the Smoke | Edgard Zayas | Whit Beckman | TBC |
| 7 | El Grande O | Antonio Fresu | Ilkay Kantarmaci | TBC |
| 8 | Senior Officer | Flavien Prat | Brad Cox | TBC |
| 9 | Crazy Mason | Manny Franco | Gregg Sacco | TBC |
Gallant Bloom (Grade 2)
Race 3, 3:14pm ET. $250,000, 6½ furlongs on the dirt, fillies and mares three and up. Only six go to post, but it’s competitive.
Beauty Reigns has hit the board in 10 of her 14 starts without landing a stakes win yet. She closed for third in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga last time, and Mott says getting that stakes win is the job. Saffie Joseph Jr. runs two, and one of them is the class of the field.
R Disaster is the defending champion. She won this race by 3½ lengths last year, and in May she led all the way to win the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs. She’s won nine of her 17 starts, banked more than $1.3 million, and her best Beyer of 103 is the highest in the field.
Our take: R Disaster on top. Beauty Reigns is the one we’d use underneath, and the one we’ll be rooting for.
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Senza Parole | Flavien Prat | Chad Brown | TBC |
| 2 | Beauty Reigns | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott | TBC |
| 3 | Munnings Express | Manny Franco | Linda Rice | TBC |
| 4 | Queen Jubilee | Edgard Zayas | Whit Beckman | TBC |
| 5 | R Disaster | Jose Ortiz | Saffie Joseph Jr. | TBC |
| 6 | Paradise City | Dylan Davis | Saffie Joseph Jr. | TBC |
Belmont Turf Sprint (Grade 3)
Race 5, 4:17pm ET. $200,000, six furlongs on the inner turf, three year olds and up, with 11 runners.
Twenty Six Black is a New York turf sprint regular. He’s won eight of 21 starts, including the Listed Harvey Pack at Saratoga in July and last October’s New York Turf Sprint Championship at Belmont at the Big A. He was fourth in the Grade 2 Troy last time, and trainer Horacio De Paz blamed a turf course that didn’t suit his running style. Spiced Up is a Grade 3 winner for Mott, and Neil Drysdale’s Egyptian Mau is a Group 3 winner.
Our take: Twenty Six Black, looking for his fourth stakes win.
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alogon | Forest Boyce | Ned Allard | TBC |
| 2 | Card Trick | Dylan Davis | Ned Allard | TBC |
| 3 | Chasing Liberty | Kendrick Carmouche | Rob Atras | TBC |
| 4 | Egyptian Mau (SAF) | Antonio Fresu | Neil Drysdale | TBC |
| 5 | Creditworthy | Flavien Prat | Chad Brown | TBC |
| 6 | Waralo | Jose Lezcano | Chris Englehart | TBC |
| 7 | Twenty Six Black | Manny Franco | Horacio De Paz | TBC |
| 8 | Spiced Up | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott | TBC |
| 9 | Spirited Sol | Martina Rojas | Kevin Rice | TBC |
| 10 | Jean Valjean | Jomar Torres | Elizabeth Merryman | TBC |
| 11 | Let My People Go | Ricardo Santana Jr. | Mike Maker | TBC |
Winter Memories (Grade 3)
Race 4, 3:46pm ET. $200,000, one mile on the turf, three year old fillies. Another full field of 11.
Chad Brown has three here in Crossover Capital, Hand Over Heart and Shelzawa, but all three are still at allowance level. The filly with the most solid résumé is Queen of Hawaii. She won a Group 3 at the Curragh as a juvenile, ran in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, beat older fillies on her US debut at Saratoga in July and then finished fifth in the Grade 2 Lake Placid. Trainer Philip Antonacci thinks she’s improving at this time of year.
Our take: Queen of Hawaii, with the Brown trio covered underneath.
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alone Time | Kendrick Carmouche | Cherie DeVaux | TBC |
| 2 | Flowerhead (IRE) | Antonio Fresu | Charlie Clover | TBC |
| 3 | Crossover Capital (FR) | Manny Franco | Chad Brown | TBC |
| 4 | Hand Over Heart | Jose Ortiz | Chad Brown | TBC |
| 5 | Peppermint Twist | Jose Lezcano | George Weaver | TBC |
| 6 | Lovely Grey | Dylan Davis | Kelsey Danner | TBC |
| 7 | Shelzawa (FR) | Flavien Prat | Chad Brown | TBC |
| 8 | Sister Troienne | Junior Alvarado | Brian Lynch | TBC |
| 9 | Kokomotion | Edgard Zayas | Whit Beckman | TBC |
| 10 | Ultimate Love | Javier Castellano | Michael Trombetta | TBC |
| 11 | Queen of Hawaii (IRE) | Ricardo Santana Jr. | Philip Antonacci | TBC |
Wednesday’s Bonus Card at Belmont
Belmont doesn’t normally race on a Wednesday. This week it does, because NYRA added a Wednesday card on September 30 to run the overnight races lost last weekend. It’s an eight race card starting at 1:10pm ET, with maidens, allowances and claimers and no stakes. Treat it as a warm up, a chance to get a feel for the turf and dirt before the big one on Thursday.
It won’t be the last Wednesday card either. NYRA has now added October 7 as well, on top of the Wednesday cards it had already announced for October 14, 21 and 28, so racing there runs Wednesday through Sunday for the rest of October. The Joseph A. Gimma, originally set for Thursday, moves to Friday, October 2.
Don’t Miss the Thursday Card
Six graded stakes, two Breeders’ Cup berths and a Grade 1 over a mile and a half would make a good Saturday. On a Thursday afternoon, it’s a card you’ll want to clear some time for. Set a reminder for first post at 2:10pm ET, and have your bets in before Race 3 at 3:14pm ET.
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Photo: Carolyn Dekker, licensed under CC BY 3.0
