NEWS
Loaded Vosburgh Stakes figures to factor into division title
Posted: Thursday, September 29, 2005
Connections of world-class sprinters seeking the best path to an Eclipse Award in the division need look no further than the $500,000 Vosburgh Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Ten of the last 30 winners of the Vosburgh went on to champion sprinter honors and five others who hit the board in the extremely competitive race went on to earn division honors.
The list of Vosburgh winners includes Artax, Rubiano, Housebuster, and Forego. Last year's champion sprinter Speightstown managed only a third-place finish in the race, but went on to win the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Lone Star Park en route to an Eclipse Award.
Squirtle Squirt, champion sprinter in 2001, carried the momentum of a runner-up effort in the demanding Belmont sprint to a Breeders Cup Sprint triumph and 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper won the Vosburgh in 2003.
Not surprisingly, this year's field for the Vosburgh is loaded with five Grade 1 winners—Pomeroy, Silver Wagon, Unfurl the Flag, Lion Tamer, and Mass Media—and three other graded stakes winners.
Pomeroy enters the Vosburgh off a scintillating four-length rout in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G2) on August 13 at Saratoga Race Course. The four-year-old Boundary colt has won three of four starts at six-furlongs.
Woke Up Dreamin carries the momentum of consecutive Grade 2 victories into the Vosburgh. The five-year-old son of Holy Bull won the True North Breeders' Cup Handicap (G2) on June 11 at Belmont and scored by three lengths in the Smile Sprint Handicap (G2) on July 10 at Calder Race Course in his previous start.
Mass Media enters off his most significant career win in the seven-furlong Forego Stakes (G1) on September 3 at Saratoga. Unfurl the Flag has two wins in four starts in 2005, including a two-length triumph in the seven-furlong Triple Bend Invitation Handicap (G1) at Hollywood Park on July 3.
Lion Tamer has not run at the Vosburgh distance in 15 races and is winless in three starts this year after capping his 2004 campaign with a win in the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct.
Silver Wagon's lone graded stakes win came in the 2003 Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga, but the Wagon Limit colt has hit the board in three straight graded races.
The field, in post-position order with (sire), jockey, weight and trainer:
1. Silver Wagon (Wagon Limit), Jerry Bailey, 124, Ralph Ziadie;
2. Uncle Camie (Abaginone), Eibar Coa, 124, Michael Hushion;
3. Lion Tamer (Will's Way), John Velazquez, 124, Todd Pletcher;
4. Tiger Heart (Scatmandu), Edgar Prado, 124, Richard Dutrow Jr.;
5. Woke Up Dreamin (Holy Bull), Mike Smith, 124, Bob Baffert;
6. I'm the Tiger (Siphon [BRZ]), Robby Albarado, 124, Bobby Frankel;
7. Mass Media (Touch Gold), Javier Castellano, 124, Bobby Frankel;
8. Pomeroy (Boundary), Joe Bravo, 124, Patrick Biancone;
9. Unfurl the Flag (Bertrando), Corey Nakatani, 124, David Bernstein; and
10. Taste of Paradise (Conquistador Cielo), Garrett Gomez, 124, Gary Mandella.
