The Empire Classic ($300.000 Purse)
BEL- For Three Year Olds and Upward Foaled in NY
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
October 22, 2016

It is a great day on Saturday for New York breds at BEL park as eight such races will be going to post, starting with two year olds and then culminating with this race, The Empire Classic.   It is a race that will go nine furlongs on the dirt that runs for the 10th time.  The race first appeared on the calendar in 2004, but has not gone to post every year, likely because of failure to fill.  Looking back at the history a bit, there are several very good horses that have won this race, but the list lacks that one horse that one can instantly recall its moments of greatness unless they were its actual trainer.  The most prolific past winner is War Scent, who won in 2014, and is still going strong now on the grass.  No trainers or jockeys have won this race more then once.  Eight were entered originally, but an early scratch has put us to seven.  Here’s a run through the field!

#1- American Horror (Night Rider Stables, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- The Risen Ruler colt was claimed at the beginning of the year, and ever since then he has really enjoyed finishing second, going so in five of the six starts (and the sixth was not a win).  They have been in races much like he heads to today, NY-bred races of at least a mile.  Most recently his runner up performance was in the $100.000 Shipman towards the end of the SAR meet.  All five of those seconds have seen him finish within a length, so you have to ask yourself: is this a horse that can’t get it done, or is this a horse that could very well have won 5 of 6 against good competition.

#2- Broomsticks Wiggy (Drabfantasy, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- The trainer clearly thinks very highly of this horse given that his second career race was the Spiral, and after a ninth place finish there, he went to the AR Derby just two weeks later.  And finished 13th.  Has just his debut maiden win and open allowance win to his credit, and the other races have been aggressive placings were the result did not go his way.   This is a good horse, and hopefully all these races against better runners will make him better as well.  Improvement is being shown, but others look strong in here again, though he could hit the board.

#3- Final Tune (Mb Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- This is definitely one that knows how to get to the winner’s circle, having done so over half the time (5 of 9).    The gelding’s career started with four wins in a row, highlighted by the $125.000 Winkfield in March.  Since then, there was an effort to elevate his career to the graded level, but that did not pan out.  In the Empire Classic, he goes back to the type of race that he was dominant in, and showed in an open allowance at DMR that he is just fine at this distance.

#4- Diplomatic Prince (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by R Alvarado Jr)- On the ninth of this month, this Diplomatic Immunity colt was reunited with his father, so to speak, as the current trainer purchased him from Aer Stables for $200.000.  He will make his debut running in the black and gold as he looks to win something other then his maiden debut.  While with Aer, he showed flashes of stardom but never seemed to be able to consistently put it together. After a fourth place run at the muddy Vance Stakes at RP last month, the seller looks to have gotten a good price.  We’ll see how he does with D J C from here.

#5- Fast Thomas (John Henry, ridden by J J Castellano)- Like Broomsticks Wiggy, Fast Thomas found himself in the AR Derby a little too early in his career.  After some time off, though, he bounced back with two strong runs at beautiful SAR.  Of course, he’s also been sold twice since then as well, making his way to John Henry for $85.000 at the beginning of the September.  The new trainer has been patient with him, and he sends him to the track for the first time.  He is very capable of winning this race, though when you look at that 100 SRF from July, do remember he is carrying seven more pounds here.   He wouldn’t surprise me if he won, but I have some reservations about making him my pick.

#6- Long River (Canadian Racing, ridden by J Talamo)- The five year old gelding will make the 26th start of his career and will hope to make it win number ten as well.  In what has been the best year of his racing life, rising from $6.500 FL claimers, Long River made his stake debut at SAR in early August and picked up his first stake win later that month in the muddy $175.000 Governors Cup down at RP.  This is the biggest challenge he has faced, but he has been able to answer the bell time and time again.

#8- Grandeur (Mb Stables, ridden by M E Smith)- Sit back and enjoy watching one of the best two year olds at this time of the year last year that never quite panned out over the TC prep season.  He never went away, he just chose a different path as he moved to the grass over the spring.  Mostly he ran in optional claimers and at that point, sure, you could start calling him a disappointment, but that all changed on the last day of July when he won the Grade 3 Oceanport Stakes, then followed it up with a second at the Grade 2 DMR Derby last month.  In the Empire Classic, Grandeur returns to the main track, and if all he needed was to get his mojo back like he would do in the Oceanport, then he’s the best in this field.  I like how he’s working heading into this race and believe he will end up in the winners circle.

Prediction: 8-1-5-3

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded