Journalism, a brave winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Preakness at Pimlico Race Course, is under consideration for a potential rematch with Grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winner Sovereignty in the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 7 at Saratoga Race Course.
The five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will be conducted at Saratoga Race Course from Wednesday, June 4 through Sunday, June 8. The festival will include 27 stakes races with purses totaling $11,275,000, the richest purses and highest number of stakes offered since the launch of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in 2014.
Trained by Michael McCarthy for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert V. LaPenta, Elayne Stables 5, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, Journalism landed a 1 1/2-length second as the mutuel favorite two weeks ago to Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Sovereignty in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown at Churchill Downs.
Early Saturday morning, Sovereignty, whose connections opted to skip the Preakness and train up to the Belmont Stakes, worked an easy half-mile in 49.76 seconds over the Oklahoma training track in front of a handful of onlookers at Saratoga. Later that evening, a robust crowd watching the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore had their collective hearts in their throats as jockey Umberto Rispoli urged Journalism through the narrowest of openings at the quarter-pole, bumping with Goal Oriented to his outside and a retreating Clever Again to his inside in search of racing room.
Aron Wellman, president and founder of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, said he was concerned in the moment.
“My heart fell to the bottom of my body watching him try to get through the hole and then the physicality that ensued,” Wellman said. “It was obviously a concern for the horse and Umberto, for starters, and once it was clear that he was going to make his way out of it, it was just the devastation that he had probably lost all chance of winning the race.”
The agile Journalism and equally athletic Rispoli found their balance and set sights on a runaway Gosger, who had opened up by five lengths at the stretch call. Sandman, the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby-winner looked certain to blow by the recovering Journalism, but Rispoli urged his colt for more and the talented bay responded in kind, surging away from Sandman with ease before reeling in Gosger to win by an improbable half-length. Journalism covered the 1 3/16-miles in 1:55.47 and earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
“It went from the devastation of not being able to win the race, with what looked like an impossible task, to hopeful that he was going to somehow make a miracle happen,” Wellman said. “It took a superior, elite horse and jockey to be able to overcome those circumstances and make it happen. For him to overcome those obstacles and actually win – I won’t say cozily, because it was damn hard – but Umberto didn’t even really strike him inside the final 70-100 yards.”
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners will now look to win their second Belmont Stakes after scoring in 2017 with Tapwrit, who was owned in partnership with Bridlewood Farm and Robert V. LaPenta.
Trainer Brendan Walsh said Sunday morning that he was proud of the effort from Gosger, but his Belmont Stakes plans remain undecided.
“We were obviously disappointed to not win, getting so close, but not disappointed in the horse,” Walsh said. “He ran a very good race. I think he is still improving. I don’t know about the Belmont yet. I’m going to give it a few days and talk to the owners to try to come to a decision pretty soon. I’m not sure which way we are going right now. He seems fine. We just shipped him back to Louisville today. We’ll see how it all goes and come to a decision within the next few days.”
Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said via text message that Preakness third-place finisher Sandman has shipped to Belmont Park and will likely target the nine-furlong Grade 2 $500,000 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun on July 26 at Saratoga.
Journalism, an $825,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, is to ship to Saratoga early this week with an eye towards evening the score with Sovereignty in the Belmont.
“We have the utmost respect for Sovereignty. He beat us on the square in the Kentucky Derby,” Wellman said. “As much as we would love to square off again with Sovereignty, it doesn’t factor into our ultimate determination of whether Journalism runs in the Belmont or not. We would like to be in position to run in the Belmont, but it will all be contingent on Journalism and what signs he’s showing us and Michael McCarthy. It will totally be deferred to Michael McCarthy on whether or not he feels comfortable coming back on another three-week turnaround.
“It’s never lost upon us that we want to be good ambassadors for the sport,” Wellman added. “We think we gave the people what they wanted yesterday with a memorable Preakness – one for the ages – and if we’re fortunate to be in position to consider the Belmont Stakes in three weeks’ time, we’ll certainly take that challenge. We’ll have a fresh Sovereignty to face and also Baeza, and maybe a few new shooters as well that really speak to the depth and quality of this 3-year-old class.”
The well-bred Journalism, by Curlin and out of the Grade 2-winning Uncle Mo mare Mopotism, won four straight races leading into the Derby, including the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity in December before heading to Santa Anita and taking the Grade 2 San Felipe in March and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in April. His San Felipe effort, in which potential Belmont rival Rodriguez finished third, garnered a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure.
With the ongoing construction of the new Belmont Park, this year’s Belmont Stakes will once again be contested at 1 1/4 miles rather than the traditional 1 1/2 miles due to the configuration of Saratoga’s main track.
A loaded renewal of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes has the potential to include a number of the division’s brightest stars, with Sovereignty, Journalism and potentially Gosger set to face a possible field shaping up to feature Kentucky Derby-third Baeza [John Shirreffs], Grade 3 Peter Pan-winner Hill Road [Chad Brown], Preakness-fifth Heart of Honor [Jamie Osborne], and Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by NYRA Bets-victor Rodriguez [Bob Baffert]. Peter Pan runner-up McAfee [Rick Dutrow, Jr.] is not Triple Crown nominated and would have to be supplemented for a fee of $50,000.
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