A triad of European contenders will compete amid a field of seven in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, led by Godolphin’s multiple Grade 1-winner and world-traveler El Cordobes for internationally renowned trainer Charlie Appleby.

The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic winner is eligible for a bonus from the Japan Racing Association if said winner is selected and runs in the 2026 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse.

The 1 1/2-mile Widener turf test for 3-year-olds and up will be El Cordobes’ first outing since landing a 4 1/4-length fifth in the Group 2 H. H. The Amir Trophy on Valentine’s Day at Doha won by Deep Monster, who exited to finish third to Romantic Warrior in the Group 1 Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup. El Cordobes’ effort in The Amir Trophy, which came three months after a third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar, was at about this distance over firm footing, with eight of his last nine efforts coming at 12 furlongs.

“We sort of just worked back from a winter campaign with him,” Appleby said. “We are starting off where we are and thought he would do well for the break and he’s had a nice break for summer. He’s very much on a winter program, for sure, and hopefully will do well and go and win this and put himself in the Breeders’ Cup picture again. If he goes and runs well, we will go down a normal sort of route with him, campaigning through the winter and ultimately looking at Qatar and the Dubai City of Gold and stuff like that. That’s why he’s not been seen for the summer. Hopefully it’ll answer everyone’s questions.”

The 5-year-old Frankel gelding has been a model of consistency since stretching out in distance last year, including a breakout performance in Newmarket’s Group 2 Princess of Wales’s last July with a two-length score over Wimbledon Hawkeye. He followed that effort with his first top-level score in his first American foray, taking Saratoga Race Course’s Sword Dancer last August. There, he was third in the early stages and was relegated to sixth at the stretch call as others advanced, but he pounced at the perfect time under returning rider Flavien Prat to secure the half-length victory over Rebel Red with stablemate Nations Pride finishing another three-quarter lengths back in third.

El Cordobes went on to complete his campaign with respectable thirds in a pair of Grade 1s, including this event won by stablemate Rebel’s Romance when contested over the Aqueduct Racetrack turf, and a rallying effort in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar to land two lengths behind the victorious Ethical Diamond and three-quarter-lengths back of Rebel’s Romance.

“He goes into the race in good order and Flavien Prat rides – he’s won on him in the Sword Dancer and we’re very much looking forward to having our first runner at the new Belmont track,” Appleby said. “The horse has worked well and his preparation has gone very well going into the race. Obviously, he’s had a nice break. He’s a horse who, as we know, likes quick and flat tracks there in America.”

Prat will look to visit the winner’s circle again atop the classy bay from post 3.

Mrs. David Aykroyd’s Irish homebred Pride of Arras brings strong form to his stateside bow for conditioner Ralph Beckett, led by a trio of group scores at this distance and at 1 5/16 miles in Great Britain. He arrives from a one-length coup of the Group 3 September on September 5 around right-handed synthetic at Kempton Park, tracking just off the pace and taking over with an eighth of a mile left to run to keep on gamely through the wire. The multiple Grade 1-winner Constitution Hill finished fourth.

“He’s trained well since Kempton. It’s not been much time between, but we are happy with him,” Beckett said. “He traveled so well to Bahrain last year, which was a good trip for him, so it made sense to see what he can get done overseas.”

That trip to Bahrain yielded a 3 1/4-length fourth to Grade 1-winning multimillionaire Royal Champion in the Group 2 Bahrain International Trophy going about 10 furlongs around right-handed bends, capping a season that included a pair of left-handed Group 2 wins in the 10 1/2-furlong Dante in May at York and the 12-furlong Great Voltigeur in August there.

“He particularly likes going left-handed on a flat track, so Belmont should suit him really well,” said Beckett, a two-time Breeders’ Cup winner. “I always try to take the horses we think will travel best to America and I think that’s definitely the case with him.”

The 4-year-old New Bay gelding is out of the Oasis Dream mare Parnell’s Dream, a two-time winner for these connections and a half-sister to Kissable, dam of Grade 2 Pennine Ridge-winner Legend of Time.

Pride of Arras has been ridden by Rossa Ryan for each of his nine starts, but will emerge from post 2 on Saturday in rein to James Doyle.

The European contingent is completed by Mrs. Fitriani Hay’s Fort George [post 6, Kieran Shoemark], who makes his third start of an American endeavor that began in July with a nose second to Ole Crazy Bone in the Grade 2 Bowling Green presented by Emerald Ecovations at Saratoga.

Trained by Ed Walker, the 4-year-old Territories gelding tracked his rival throughout the 1 3/8 miles over firm footing and gave chase down the lane, inching closer under returning rider Kieran Shoemark and just missing as Ole Crazy Bone completed the course in 2:14.18.

Fort George then headed south to Kentucky Downs for the Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational last out on September 5, where he utilized opposite tactics than the Bowling Green with a deep closing effort from last-of-9 under Jamie Spencer against a field that included Ole Crazy Bone and fellow European contenders Tiffany and Ethical Diamond. Those two finished a respective first and second with another four lengths back to Fort George in third, while Old Crazy Bone faltered and finished eighth.

Walker said drawing the outermost post and racing wide was not ideal.

“He’s doing great and we’re very happy with him,” Walker said. “He had a great run in the Bowling Green and I thought he ran well at Kentucky Downs; bad draw, slowly away and a messy race. I think the two [Europeans] got a much better trip than he did. That was a little bit frustrating, but I’m really excited for the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and excited to be back at Belmont and see what that’s like. Sadly, though, I’m not sure I can be there, but hopefully it’ll be a good opportunity for Fort George.”

Following the Bowling Green, Fort George was entered in the Grade 1 Christophe Clement Turf on August 15 at Saratoga, but scratched due to a foot abscess.

“We were gutted to miss the Clement, but he seems to be training very well and Hannah [Smith], who takes care of him, is doing a great job,” Walker said. “And Jack [Steels], my assistant, went over to help out at Kentucky Downs was very impressed with how he’s looking and training.

“It’s all very positive, so roll on next weekend,” Walker added. “Hopefully he can run a big race and in the dream scenario he can win that and head on to the Breeders’ Cup, which would be the plan if everything went well. It hasn’t so far, so we are due a bit of luck.”

Fort George has compiled a 14-3-5-4 record with $454,501 in total earnings, aided by a win in the Group 3 Dubai Millennium in January at Meydan and subsequent runner-up effort in the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold there one month later. The British-bred chestnut is out of the Teofilo mare Dusty Red, a half-sister to Grade 2 Lake Placid-winner and Group 3-producer Spotlight.

Four American contenders will provide steep opposition to the trio of shippers, including multiple Grade 1-winner Far Bridge [post 4, John Velazquez] for conditioner Miguel Clement and Grade 1-placed Minaret Station [post 1, Jose Ortiz] for trainer Will Walden.

LSU Stables’ Far Bridge seeks his second win in this event after taking the 2024 edition at Belmont at the Big A for late Hall of Fame trainer Christophe Clement. Now in the care of Clement’s son Miguel, the 6-year-old English Channel bay has hit the board in 3-of-5 starts for his current conditioner, and returns from a six-month respite dating to a gritty repeat win by a neck in the 12-furlong Grade 3 Pan American in March at Gulfstream Park.

Far Bridge has been a model of top-level consistency, beginning in 2023 with his first stakes win in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby going 10 furlongs over the Belmont green. As a 4-year-old, he earned wins in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga ahead of the Joe Hirsch that was contested at Aqueduct. Last year, he scored wins in the Pan American and Belmont at the Big A’s Grade 2 Man o’ War to kick off a 6-3-0-1 campaign that included a third in the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan and a win in the Grade 2 Bowling Green at the Spa.

Far Bridge returned to the work tab in early August over the local main track, where he has posted six timed efforts since. On Saturday, he got a feel for the turf course, covering a half-mile in 52 seconds flat in company with Willpowered.

“I thought he worked well and the question mark is, is he 100 percent ready to run his ‘A’ race? I’m not entirely sure, but the horse is training very well and he’s giving us every indication he’s back to his best,” Clement said. “Coming off a long layoff at that level, to run in such a prestigious race is always a tall task, but nevertheless, he’s top class, and usually good horses overcome little variables.

“Even if we get beat, sometimes getting the race back into him is probably what’s best for him and we might have to accept it… sometimes you have to lose the battle in order to win the war, and this might be one of those cases,” he added.

Far Bridge has compiled a 21-10-3-3 record, with earnings of more than $2.5 million.

Minaret Station a Player in Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

OXO Equine’s Kentucky homebred Minaret Station looks to make amends for a three-quarter-length defeat to the mare Survie in the Christophe Clement Turf last out. The 4-year-old Instilled Regard colt is normally a rallying type, but pressed the pace under returning rider Jose Ortiz and took a head lead at the stretch call. He ran on determinedly but was caught late and earned a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

The lightly-raced bay has hit the board in 7-of-8 efforts, led by a Grade 2 win as a juvenile in Keeneland’s 1 1/16-mile Bourbon. Last year, he won the lone start of his campaign in the Listed American Derby in June at Churchill Downs, and returned there 10 months later to finish a one-length fourth in the Listed Opening Verse. He was beaten less than one length in each of his last three starts, finishing second in the Grade 3 Arlington in Louisville and third in the Bowling Green a half-length back of Ole Crazy Bone and Fort George before his Clement effort.

Minaret Station is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning Sir Prancealot mare Beau Recall.

Completing the field are the pair of three-time Grade 1-winner Program Trading [post 7, Ricardo Santana, Jr.] and Grade 2-winner Asbury Park [post 5, Manny Franco] for five-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Chad Brown, a three-time Joe Hirsch-winner with Big Blule Kitten [2015], Beach Patrol [2017] and Rockemperor [2021].

Klaravich Stables’ Program Trading, a topflight winner of the Saratoga Derby Invitational and Hollywood Derby as a sophomore, added Churchill’s Grade 1 Turf Classic to his resume in May 2024 and made one more start before a 14-month layoff. He returned last August and was winless in his first seven starts back, but was nearly a Grade 1 winner again when a three-quarter-length second to Rhetorical in the Coolmore Turf Mile last October at Keeneland. He returned to winning ways this summer with back-to-back scores at Monmouth Park in the Listed Monmouth and Grade 2 United Nations en route to a last-out third in the Clement.

Peter Brant and St. Elias Stable’s Asbury Park has made two starts this year, finishing a distant last-of-9 in the Turf Classic in May at Churchill off a seven-month respite, and improving to land a half-length second to Rothschild in a 1 3/8-mile optional claimer on August 22 at the Spa. He earned his first stakes win in October with a two-length score from off-the-pace in the Grade 2 Jockey Club Derby Invitational at Belmont at the Big A, and will make his first start at 12 furlongs.

When is the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic?

The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic is slated as Race 10 on Saturday’s 11-race card, which features three additional graded events, including a pair of Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifiers in the Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl [Filly and Mare Turf] in Race 11 and the Grade 3, $250,000 Vosburgh [Sprint] in Race 9. The program is supported by the Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom in Race 4. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races presents daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule/.

source: NYRA

by Keith McCalmont, NYRA.com

George Krikorian’s multiple Grade 1-winning multimillionaire War Like Goddess will look to become the first three-time winner of Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, a 12-furlong inner turf test for 3-year-olds and up, at Belmont at the Big A.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the 7-year-old bay has bested the boys in the last two runnings of the Joe Hirsch and will look to surpass an esteemed list of two-time winners that includes her sire English Channel [2006-07], her former stablemate Channel Maker [2018, 2020] as well as April Run [1981-82], and Val’s Prince [1997, 1999].

Mott will look for a record-extending seventh Joe Hirsch win, adding to past success with Theatrical [1987] and Shakespeare [2005]. His War Like Goddess has banked in excess of $2.8 million through a 21-12-3-3 record that boasts 10 graded wins and also includes additional Grade 1 success in the 2021 Flower Bowl Invitational at Saratoga Race Course.

The late-running bay has made three starts this year, landing third on debut in the Spa’s Grade 1 New York presented by Rivers Casino traveling 1 3/16-miles in June ahead of a driving one-length score in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial on July 7 at Delaware Park.

War Like Goddess [post 4, Junior Alvarado, 123 pounds] enters from a closing runner-up effort in the 11-furlong Grade 2 Flower Bowl contested over yielding Saratoga turf on August 31 where her closing kick was hampered by the moderate splits of gate-to-wire winner Idea Generation.

A good result Saturday could propel War Like Goddess back to the Breeders’ Cup where her best results include a third-place finish in both the 11-furlong Grade 1 Filly and Mare Turf in 2021 at Del Mar and the 12-furlong Grade 1 Turf in 2022 at Keeneland.

Big Threat in Far Bridge

LSU Stables’ Far Bridge [post 7, Joel Rosario, 126 pounds], who showed a new dimension last out when wiring the 12-furlong Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer under returning Hall of Fame rider Joel Rosario, will look to continue his winning ways for trainer Christophe Clement.

The 4-year-old English Channel bay eschewed his usual late-running style in the Sword Dancer by taking the field through splits of 24.86 seconds, 50.92, 1:17.21 and 1:42.50 before staving off the charge of Measured Time by one length to win in a final time of 2:29.51.

Clement said he and Rosario took a tactical approach in Sword Dancer given the compact five-horse field. However, the presence of multiple graded stakes-winning frontrunner Get Smokin in the Joe Hirsch will likely see Far Bridge in need of switching gears on Saturday.

“We didn’t think there was going to be much pace in the Sword Dancer, and Joel made the right decision at the right time. He doesn’t have to be in front, Joel will have to make the decision,” said Clement, who won this event in 2010 with Winchester. “He’s a good horse and he’s won off-the-pace and on-the-pace – as long as he gets a clear trip, he should be fine. He’s an easier horse to ride in a short field than a bigger field.”

Far Bridge, bred and initially campaigned by Calumet Farm, won his first two career starts for Clement in early 2023. He was purchased privately by LSU Stables and transferred to Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, winning the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational last July. Following a 5-1-3-1 record for Pletcher, Far Bridge rejoined the Clement stable for his current campaign that began with an optional-claiming win in March at Gulfstream Park ahead of a series of unsuccessful closing efforts in graded company.

Clement, who indicated after the Sword Dancer that Far Bridge is at his best when against the rail, said he is hopeful of another strong effort.

“He has a good turn-of-foot. He’s not one-dimensional – just give him a good trip and he will deliver. It’s a short field but a very competitive field and the horse is doing well,” Clement said.

Casse Starts Get Smokin

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse will saddle the aforementioned Get Smokin [post 1, Fernando De La Cruz, 126 pounds] in search of a fifth career graded win – all of which were accomplished in prominent fashion.

The 7-year-old Get Stormy chestnut took the 2020 Grade 2 Hill Prince at Belmont Park and 2021 Grade 3 Tampa Bay at its namesake track for his original trainer Tom Bush. He joined Casse in 2022 and captured the Grade 2 Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs last September to close out his campaign after having to scratch from the Breeders’ Cup.

Get Smokin had ankle surgery and recuperated at Casse’s farm in Ocala under the watchful eye of Cindy Black, his longtime Head of Rehabilitation. He returned to action with a pacesetting fourth in the Grade 2 Eclipse in June over the Woodbine Tapeta before a powerful frontrunning win in the 11-furlong Grade 2 United Nations on July 20 at Monmouth Park. There, he opened up a four-length advantage on the 11-horse field and stayed on strong to the wire to nose out Grand Sonata.

Campaigned by Ironhorse Racing Stable, BlackRidge Stables, Saratoga Seven Racing Partners and T-N-T Equine Holdings, Get Smokin arrives from a pacesetting seventh in the 12-furlong Turf Cup won by Grand Sonata on September 7 at Kentucky Downs. There, he stumbled slightly after the break and didn’t get out to his usual clear lead, dueling with eventual last-place finisher Balladeer through one-mile in a swift 1:34.97 before faltering.

“We have one strategy and one strategy only,” said Casse, with a laugh. “We won’t be taking back.”

Casse said he was asked about race strategy prior to the Turf Cup and noted that he said, “Any horse that goes with him, we may not be around but they’re definitely not going to be around. Well, the horse that went with us last time finished last by many. Obviously, it took a toll on us, too.”

Casse said Get Smokin, who has banked in excess of $2 million through a 30-7-7-2 record, exited that effort in good order.

“He looks magnificent,” Casse said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him better. He’s happy, so we’re going to throw the last one out and give it a try.”

Appleby Barn Represented

Trainer Charlie Appleby will send out a strong contender in Godolphin’s multiple group/graded stakes-winner Silver Knott [post 6, Dylan Davis, 126 pounds].

Silver Knott, a 4-year-old Lope de Vega gelding, has made 10 of his 16 career starts in the U.S. topped by a trio of prominent Grade 2 wins to kick off his current campaign in the 12-furlong Elkhorn in April at Keeneland, the 11-furlong Man o’ War in May at Belmont at the Big A, and the 11-furlong Bowling Green in July at Saratoga.

He arrives from a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer where he tracked the pace of Far Bridge from second position but failed to fire late.

Silver Knott, bred by St Albans Bloodstock, has banked in excess of $1.1 million through a 16-6-2-5 record.

Rounding out a talented field are multiple graded stakes-winner Emmanuel [post 3, Manny Franco, 126 pounds, blinkers ON], who makes his second start for trainer Mike Maker out of a fifth-place finish in the one-mile Grade 3 Mint Millions on September 7 at Kentucky Downs; recent Colonial Cup-winner Truly Quality [post 5, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 126 pounds] for trainer Jonathan Thomas; and stakes-placed Daunt [post 2, Jose Lezcano, 126 pounds] for conditioner Robert Ribaudo.

The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic is slated as Race 6 on Saturday’s 12-race program which also offers a pair of Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” events in the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim [Juvenile Turf] in Race 11 and the Grade 3, $250,000 Vosburgh [Sprint] in Race 9; along with the Grade 2, $400,000 Woodward in Race 4. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Belmont at the Big A fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.