Main Sequence Going for Third Straight in $600,000 Turf Classic
On Saturday at Belmont Park, a field of seven colts and geldings will be competing in the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. The Grade 1 will be run on the Widener Turf Course at a mile and a half and will serve as a key prep race for the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, the winner will be granted an automatic berth in the championship race.
Main Sequence, undefeated from two United States starts, has been installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite for trainer Graham Motion. Bred and wounded by Flaxman Holdings, the five-year-old gelded son of Aldebaran returned off of nine-month layoff to win the United Nations (G1) by a neck and followed that up with a narrow victory in the Sword Dancer (G1). He will break from post five under Rajiv Maragh.
Chad Brown has two strong sons of Kitten's Joy
Chad Brown will saddle a loaded entry for Ken and Sarah Ramsey in Big Blue Kitten and Real Solution at odds of 5-2. Both horses are homebreds by the Ramsey's marquee stallion Kitten's Joy. Big Blue Kitten, the runner-up in the Turf Classic last year, is going for his second win of the year and will have Joe Bravo aboard. Real Solution, third in this race last year, will have Javier Castellano in the irons as he goes for his second Grade 1 of the year.
Imagining trying to turn tables on Main Sequence
Also in the field at odds of 3-1 is Imagining, a homebred for the Phipps Stable trained by Claude McGaughey. A six-year-old son of Giant's Causeway, Imagining has turned into a powerhouse on the Belmont turf course with five wins from nine starts. He has won eight of his eighteen total starts and will have Joel Rosario aboard. The pair finished second, beaten a head, to Main Sequence last time out.
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