With five grade 1 races and a grade 2, the undercard for the June 11 Belmont stakes could be the best single day of racing on the calendar outside of the Breeders Cup.
The Grade 1, $700,000 Acorn Stakes for three year-old fillies is a star-studded event that has drawn the three-headed monster of Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia, Eight Belles winner Carina Mia and Blackeyed Susan winner Go Maggie Go. The one-turn mile event will keep the speedy Carina Mia in her element, while her two primary rivals will be turning back in distance. Cathryn Sophia has already proven herself effective in such races as a multiple-graded stakes winner.
The Grade 1, $1 million Ogden Phipps features Curalina who may have been the most visually impressive and dominant winner on the Kentucky Oaks card while winning the Grade 1 La Troienne in impressive fashion following a six-month layoff. Trainer Todd Pletcher has given the star plenty of time to recover against a tough field. Pletcher will also saddle Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Stopchargingmaria who was barely beaten in the Grade 1 Raven Run in April at Keeneland while making her 2016 debut.
Sharp Azteca returns in the Grade 2, $500,000 Woody Stephens after crushing the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile Field on the Kentucky Derby undercard. The three year-old is rapidly improving and will be tough to beat if able to duplicate his last performance.
The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $300,000 United Nations Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf, the Grade 1 event has drawn a field of ten colts and geldings.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes, a key prep race for the Haskell Invitational (G1). The Grade 3 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth and has drawn a field of seven three-year-olds.
The preparations are underway for the third jewel of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes (G1). Horses have begun to arrive at Belmont Park for the mile and a half contest which is scheduled to be held on Saturday, June 11.
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