Owners Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch and trainer John Charalambous have had to sit back and wait patiently to get their star colt SCORCHING back to the races as a three-year-old. The son of Mo Town – Samsal by Consolidator was a top juvenile of last season with a big win in the Simcoe Stakes at seven furlongs on Tapeta and a win, through disqualification, in the $250,000 Cup & Saucer Stakes on turf.
Unfortunately, things went off the rails for Scorching as the final big two-year-old race of last year, the Coronation Futurity, came along. The colt had a temperature and had to be scratched, leading his team to send him to New York for the winter to prepare for the Gotham Stakes in March.
But the day before the Gotham, Scorching again was scratched and he would up stall-bound for more than a month.
With the King’s Plate less than two months away, Charalambous and company know it’s time to see if Scorching can make the big dance. The colt is one of seven entered in the 70th Marine (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta at Woodbine on June 28. Scorching is one of five in the field who are Canadian-bred that have classic aspirations.
This will be the first two-turn race for Scorching, who will be ridden by Dylan Davis, a New York-based jockey who is in town to ride Sweet Rebecca in the Nassau Stakes for trainer Chad Brown.
With just a couple of five furlong workouts to his credit, it is not certain Scorching will be tight enough to win the Marine and it is the American-bred colts MEGALODON and CHURCH AND STATE who have the upper hand in the race. The former was second in the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway Park for trainer Josie Carroll in March and recently won a 1 1/16 mile allowance/optional race at Woodbine over fellow Plate hopeful Faber.
Church and State, trained by Dale Desruisseaux, won the King Corrie Stakes in his return from a long layoff on May 18 and he has won around two turns. Both Megalodon and Church and State were ridden by Rafael Hernandez last time and that rider has elected to partner Megalodon in the Marine. Emma-Jayne Wilson will ride Church and State.
The other Plate hopefuls in the Marine include SEDBURYS GHOST, supplemented to the Marine by owner and breeder Yawen Wu and trainer Barb Minshall. This chestnut gelding by Plate winner Shaman Ghost (who won the 2015 Marine Stakes) was a rousing winner in his return from a long layoff, taking a six furlong dash by 3 1/4 lengths.
MANSETTI is looking to rebound from a botched outing in the Queenstone when he stumbled and his rider lost his irons. The Collected colt is trying the 1 1/16 mile for the first time and if he doesn’t mind it, he has a big chance to win. WATSONVILLE RED won his maiden at this distance in his latest for John and Diana Russell and trainer Mike DePaulo and the filly WAR SIGNAL is a front-runner who has two wins around two turns.
Ten Marine winners have gone on to win the Plate.
Three-year-old fillies compete in the Selene Stakes (G3) also on the Canada Day Festival card on Saturday. There are just three Canadian-bred Oaks/Plate eligibles in the field, including recent winner NO TIME, who seems to prefer being a front-runner in her races. Trained by Mark Casse for Gary Barber, No Time may have company on the pace. Her stablemate ELLA IT IS just won an optional claiming race on the pace in her most recent start and speedy NATA TROUBLE stretches out from sprints.
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