Victory Gallop, the 1998 Belmont Stakes winner, is scheduled to work at Churchill Downs on Tuesday morning. He will then fly Wednesday to Saratoga, where he will prepare to take on Behrens in the Grade 1, $600,000 Whitney Handicap on Sunday, Aug. 1.
Recently, Victory Gallop was an impressive winner of the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. Behrens has won four races in a row, including the Gulfstream Park, Oaklawn, Massachusetts and Suburban Handicaps.
“I think Behrens is a formidable foe,” said Elliott Walden, trainer of Victory Gallop. “He’s a tough horse, but we’ve never backed down from anyone.”
*Ariel Smith withdrew his appeal for careless riding during the running of the eighth race on Feb. 17. He is suspended 10 days from July 18 to July 27. Then in the third race, Smith was involved in a horrible looking spill with Richard Migliore. Both jockeys were sent to the hospital.
1ST RACE – Belabor set the early pace and held the lead until the top of the stretch. North Creek then took over the lead and held off Overshadowed for the victory. Overshadowed was next to last early, made a wide sweeping move to reach contention and made a sustained drive to the wire, losing the photo for the victory. Midnight Red was a late scratch at the gate.
2ND RACE – Three horse speed duel early between Angelina Capote, Commentary and Know The Facts while My Sainted Aunt was shuffled back to fourth. Around the far turn, Know The Facts took the lead but was wide, leaving a huge opening between her and Commentary. Honestly Honey, who rated in fifth early, saw the opening and went through under a hand ride. Angelina Capote came back on the rail to battle Honestly Honey in the stretch but couldn’t keep up with the eventual winner.
3RD RACE – Flying Colours was sent to the lead and never looked back in race marred by spill. J. Carson broke down and Native Guide ran into him. Both horses stepped on the fallen Migliore, and Smith landed hard on the ground when thrown off Native Guide. Both jocks went to the hospital. J. Carson was euthanized on track. Native Guide was not injured.
4TH RACE – Dixie Run battled for the early lead with Slowhand, put him away in midstretch and then was all out to hold off 80-1 Kachemak Bay. Diane Nelson rated Kachemak Bay early in fourth, swept up around the turn to battle the two frontrunners entering the stretch and went nose to nose with Dixie Run to finish line. It was a close photo, but Dixie Run got the nod. Chicane had a troubled trip.
5TH RACE – The money showed early and consistently on Flippy Diane, who was 20-1 on the morning line. He went off at 7-2 and rewarded his backers with a gate to wire victory. Little Champ made a wide move to the front around the turn, but he tired in the stretch, bearing out slightly while holding second.