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Saturday's mandatory Empire 6 payout features three graded stakes

by Ryan Martin

Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup Day card will feature a mandatory payout of the Empire 6, which boasts a jackpot of $352,831 heading into Thursday's 10-race card at Belmont Park.

Live coverage of all the races in the sequence will be available with America's Day at the Races on FOX Sports and MSG+. Free Equibase-provided past performances will be available for races that are part of the America's Day at the Races broadcast and can be accessed at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

Saturday's sequence kicks off in Race 6 [3:03 p.m.], a six-furlong maiden special weight over the main track where eight juvenile colts will seek their first trip to the winner's circle. Trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle the royally-bred first time starter Overtook, a $1 million Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase who is owned by Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith. The son of multiple-champion producing sire Curlin is out of Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Got Lucky.

Juvenile colts will take to the Widener turf for Race 7 [3:40 p.m.], which is a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight. Belmont fall meet-leading trainer Chad Brown sends out Juddmonte Farms homebred Connagh's Quay - a bay son of freshman sire Flintshire out of the Empire Maker mare Routine, who posted two bullet works heading into his debut.

The third leg of the sequence is the Grade 1, $250,000 Flower Bowl Invitational in Race 8 at 4:14 p.m. going the classic distance of 1 ¼ miles for fillies and mares on the inner turf, which is a Breeders' Cup "Win And You're In" event for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. 

Brown, a six-time winner of the Flower Bowl, will have a trio of turf distaffers in this year's edition, including dual Grade 1-winner Cambier Parc. Owned by Larry Best's OXO Equine, the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro out of 2007 Canadian Horse of the Year Sealy Hill was second in the Grade 2 Canadian on September 12 at Woodbine last out. Brown also is represented by Peter Brant's graded stakes winner My Sister Nat - half-sister to 2018 Champion Turf Mare and last year's Flower Bowl victor Sistercharlie. First Row Partners and Hidden Brook Farms' Nay Lady Nay will seek her third straight win for Brown having won the Grade 3 Matchmaker on July 18 at Monmouth Park and the All Along on September 7 at Laurel Park.

The prestigious Grade 1, $250,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup for older horses going 1 ¼ miles will be the fourth leg of the Empire 6, which is a Breeders' Cup "Win And You're In" event for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic. The Jockey Club Gold Cup features Juddmonte Farm's three-time graded stakes winner Tacitus bidding for his first Grade 1 victory for Hall of Famer Bill Mott. Sophomore stakes winners Mystic Guide, winner of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga and unbeaten Happy Saver, winner of the last out Federico Tesio at Laurel Park, will also be seeking breakthrough victories in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. The Jockey Club Gold Cup will be run as Race 9 with a post time of 4:48 p.m.

The penultimate leg will be the Grade 2, $150,000 Sands Point in Race 10 at 5:20 p.m. for sophomore fillies going one mile over the Widener turf. Trainer Chad Brown will saddle two-time graded stakes winner Selflessly for Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables as well as Tamahere, who makes her North American debut. Trainer Christophe Clement will send out Waterford Stables' Speaktomeofsummer, a graded stakes winning daughter of second crop sire Summer Front.

The sequence concludes with a field of 12 New York-bred juvenile fillies seeking their first career win going six furlongs over the inner turf in Race 11 [5:52 p.m.]. Trainer George Weaver sends out Jim and Susan Hill's The Promised Road, who was bred by Dr. Jerry Bilinski and Harry Patten, The Promised Road was a $220,000 purchase from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. 

The Empire 6 requires the bettor to select the first-place finisher of the final six races of the card. On non-mandatory payout days, if one unique ticket exists, then 100 percent of the net pool, plus the jackpot carryover if applicable, will be paid to the winner. If there is no unique wager selecting the first-place finisher in all six races, then 75 percent of the day's net pool will be distributed to those who selected the first-place finisher in the greatest number of races. The remainder will be added into the jackpot and carried to the next day's Empire 6.

For more information on the Empire 6, please visit http://www.nyrabets.com.

Empire 6 - Saturday, October 10:
Leg 1 - Race 6 (3:03 p.m.)
Leg 2 - Race 7 (3:40 p.m.)
Leg 3 - Race 8: Flower Bowl Invitational (G1) (4:14 p.m.)
Leg 4 - Race 9: Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) (4:48 p.m.)
Leg 5 - Race 10: Sands Point (G2) (5:20 p.m.)
Leg 6- Race 11 (5:52 p.m.)