Gold Rush Fever and a Long Countdown to the Belmont
Memorial Day weekend always carries a particular energy at the racetrack, and this Saturday the sport spreads itself coast to coast even as the calendar quietly counts down to the Belmont Stakes on June 6th. With the Triple Crown trail now resting between the Preakness, won a week ago by Napoleon Solo for trainer Chad Summers, and that final leg at Saratoga, the tracks have saved their heaviest artillery for the holiday itself. That makes Saturday a connoisseur's card, full of intriguing fields rather than household names, and there is plenty to love.
The brightest spotlight belongs to Santa Anita, where California Gold Rush Day showcases five stakes built entirely around horses bred or sired in the Golden State. The headliner is the $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf, and all eyes will be on He's a Knockout, the undefeated son of Smiling Tiger who arrives as the 6-5 morning line favorite for trainer Carla Gaines. He has yet to lose, but he has also never raced around two turns, and the stretch-out is the question the race is built to answer. He already beat fellow entrant Trump Era last out, so this is as much a proving ground as a coronation.
The afternoon offers more than one short-priced standout. In the $125,000 Melair Stakes for three-year-old fillies, run at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, the John Sadler-trained Mohaven is a daunting 3-5 on the morning line as she tries to string together back-to-back stakes wins. And in the $100,000 Thor's Echo Stakes at six furlongs, Richard Mandella sends out Big City Lights, the 6-5 favorite chasing a sixth career stakes victory for owner William R. Peeples. Add the Fran's Valentine and Crystal Water on the turf, and you have a deep, distinctly Californian program.
Back east, Churchill Downs offers the most compelling puzzle of the day in the $250,000 Keertana Stakes, a demanding 1 1/2 miles on the grass for fillies and mares. Though ungraded, the race drew a field of genuine graded quality and a rivalry worth the price of admission. Sultana and Ayra Stark, who ran one-two in the Orchid Stakes at Gulfstream Park, renew acquaintances here, with Sultana shipping in from Woodbine for trainer Kevin Attard, and Junior Alvarado traveling from New York to reunite with the mare. Golden Sunshine and Way to Be Marie, second and third in Keeneland's Bewitch Stakes, ensure the favorites will have to earn it.
There is action on the undercard map too. Aqueduct, hosting the Belmont at the Big A meet while the new Belmont Park races toward its September reopening, cards the $150,000 Paradise Creek Stakes, a six-furlong turf sprint that drew a sharp field of nine three-year-olds. Down in Florida, Gulfstream Park offers the $100,000 Game Face Stakes, with seven sophomore fillies sprinting six furlongs on the main track.
Sunday is quieter, a breath before the holiday crescendo, but do not put the racing form away. Memorial Day Monday is when Santa Anita truly unloads, with the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile and Grade 1 Gamely Stakes on turf and the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on the main track turning May 25th into one of the best single cards of the spring.
So treat Saturday as the appetizer it is. An unbeaten colt facing his toughest test, a pair of marathon mares settling a score, and a holiday Monday loaded with Grade 1 firepower. Then circle June 6th, when the long countdown ends and the Belmont closes out the Triple Crown at Saratoga. Enjoy the weekend, and good luck.
