A field of five line up in the $200,000 Peter Pan (G3) at Belmont Park on Saturday. (Photo credit: © George Zilberman | Dreamstime.com).
A field of five three-year-olds will line up in Saturday’s $200,000 Peter Pan (G3), a race that serves as a local prep for the Belmont Stakes (G1) on Saturday, June 5.
Six were entered but the field was reduced to five as trainer Chad Brown elected to scratch 7-5 morning line favorite Risk Taking, who will instead go to the Preakness Stakes (G1) next Saturday. The colt won the Withers (G3) back in February and was seventh in the Wood Memorial (G2) as the beaten favorite in his last outing.
Trainer Todd Pletcher, part of the 2021 Hall of Fame class sends out a pair of runners in Withers runner up Overtook (6-1) and Promise Keeper (7-2), a good looking winner versus first level optional claimers at Keeneland in his last start.
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2021 Withers Replay
The Bill Mott trained Nova Rags (5-2) figures to take some action off his fourth-place finish in the Florida Derby (G1).
“He ran well at one turn, so I guess the mile and an eighth is the question,” said Mott. “I don’t think we’d go to the Belmont with him.”
Tom Albertrani sends out Wolfie’s Dynaghost (9-2), an intriguing runner with just his maiden win under his belt which came last November. Completing the field is 3-1 longshot I Am the Law from the John Terranova barn.
Saturday’s card at Belmont Park features four other graded stakes— the $700,000 Man o’ War (G1) at 1 3/8-miles on the turf for four-year-olds and upward, the $150,000 Runhappy (G3), a six-furlong sprint for older horses, the $150,000 Beaugay (G3) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16-miles on turf, and the $150,000 Vagrancy (G3) at 6 1/2-furlongs on the main track for filly and mare sprinters 4-years-old and up.
Let’s head out to Belmont Park for Saturday’s featured race of the day:
Belmont Park Race 9 The Peter Pan G3 5:12 ET
4 Wolfie’s Dynaghost 9-2
2 Nova Rags 5-2
1 Overtook 6-1
#3 Promise Keeper 7-2
Wolfie’s Dynaghost
I don’t take maiden winners coming off the bench often in stakes, but this colt might be the real deal. The Albertrani trainee broke his maiden going seven furlongs in his debut last November at 33-1. The barn does not win first out that often. The runner up in that maiden race was Weyburn who came back to graduate in his next start, then win the Gotham (G3) in his first start against winners. He was then fourth in the Wood Memorial (G2). A couple of others that have come out of that maiden race are pretty talented. Unbridled Honor was second in the Lexington (G3) in his last outing. The Reds won the Federico Tesio at Pimlico thanks to a disqualification in his last outing. And Dynamic One missed in the Wood by just a head before running 18th in the Kentucky Derby (G1). Our top pick has been working at Palm Meadows for his return and has the pedigree to handle nine furlongs. He is by Ghostzapper out of a Dynaformer mare that has dropped four other winners led by G1 winner Sadler’s Joy ($2.6 million). We should get a fair price on this guy.
Nova Rags
This colt was bumped coming out of the gate, was sent up to set the early fractions and weakened to finish fourth in the Florida Derby (G1). He won the Pasco at Tampa Bay Downs in his three-year-old debut and then ran well in a runner up finish in the Sam F. Davis (G3) which was his first start around two turns. He owns solid early and mid pace numbers, and a one turn nine-furlong test may suit him. The colt has been working sharply in the mornings at Payson for the Mott barn that has been on a nice roll in 2021 and has won with 4 of 17 starters here at this meet.
