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Touchy debuts in $150K Tremont

by Christian Abdo

Three Chimneys Farm’s Kentucky homebred Touchy is set to make his racing debut in Thursday’s Listed $150,000 Tremont, a 5 1/2 furlong main track sprint for juveniles, on Opening Day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, which spans Thursday through Sunday, is highlighted by the 156th edition of the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday, June 8. The four-day Festival will include 24 stakes races with purses totaling $10.25 million, the highest purse levels and number of stakes offered since the launch of the multi-day festival in 2014.

Trained by Wesley Ward, the Nyquist bay has prepared for his first race extensively at Keeneland, including a sharp half-mile from the gate in 47 seconds flat on May 25, good for second-of-111 timed works at the distance.

Touchy completed his first bit of work on the Saratoga grounds Friday, covering a half-mile in 49.75 over the Oklahoma dirt training track. There, he was a half-second faster than workmate Long Neck Paula, an unbeaten juvenile filly set to contest the $150,000 Astoria, also on Thursday at the Spa.

Ward seeks his third Tremont victory after past scores with Overbore [2021] and Bessie’s Boy [2014]. He will call upon Hall of Famer Joel Rosario, who piloted Overbore to Tremont glory, to get the job done from post 7.

Trainer Patrick Biancone will saddle debut-winner Classic of Course as he also seeks a third-career Tremont after past scores with Henny Hughes [2005] and Zavata [2002]. Classic of Course will have the services of five-time Eclipse Award-winner for Outstanding Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., who will look to engineer a winning trip from the outermost post 8.

Owned by Amy Dunne in partnership with Biancone, the Awesome of Course bay was an impressive 6 1/2-length winner when sprinting 4 1/2 furlongs on May 3 at Gulfstream Park. There, he tracked a close second under Emisael Jaramillo before coming with a two-wide bid and driving home powerfully to graduate at first asking.

“He was sitting a half-length off a horse and he took the lead at the quarter pole. When he switched leads, he was gone. He’s definitely fast, but I guess at five and a half [furlongs], everyone will be fast,” said Biancone. “We have the chance to have the leading rider in the country ride him. As long as he travels well, we will be confident.”

Classic of Course breezed a half-mile solo in 48.75 seconds Friday at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, his last work before shipping North on Sunday.

“We want to see how he improves. I would think he’d improve a lot. This morning his work was really, really good,” Biancone said. “They are babies, still developing and growing, but we have been happy all the way. Today was not the test, but he did it very well. He is a very peaceful horse, quiet and relaxed.”

L and N Racing’s Three Echoes [post 5, Keith Asmussen] will wheel back quickly after winning his lone outing by three-quarter-lengths traveling five furlongs on May 24 over good dirt at Churchill Downs. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the Echo Town chestnut stalked from third position after being bumped at the start, slipping through a seam in the stretch to victory.

The final time of 58.09 was awarded a field-best 73 Beyer Speed Figure. Out of the winning Dixie Union mare Bayou Miss, Three Echoes was a $130,000 purchase at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

Owner/breeder Lee Pokoik and trainer Gary Contessa will look to repeat the success they enjoyed last July at Saratoga when 2-year-old filly Becky’s Joker won the Grade 3 Schuylerville in her racing debut, now turning to Dew [post 2, Junior Alvarado] to mount a similar feat.

“Last year, I ran Becky’s Joker in the Schuylerville first time out and she won. That was for Lee Pokoik and Dew is for Lee Pokoik. He’s a believer,” Contessa said. “There’s not an Option B. If you want to run a 2-year-old during that week, then you have to run in the Tremont or the Astoria. We are going to take a shot.”

Dew, the first horse to work over the Oklahoma in 2024, has worked extensively there since April, including a five-eighths breeze in 1:02.25 on May 28, comfortably ahead of usual workmate and fellow juvenile Sky Masterson.

Contessa said the Frosted gray, who is out of the Will Take Charge mare Charge It Please, is advanced at this stage but can be a bit temperamental at times, something he believes hails from the Tapit line.

“He’s got that attitude that Tapits tend to have. I’m not going to label Frosted as throwing horses with attitude, it goes back to Tapit. When you see a horse like him, and Tapit in the pedigree, you know,” said Contessa. “He’s been ornery in a good way because when we say go, he goes.”

Rounding out the field is maiden-winner Studlydoright [post 1, Xavier Perez] for trainer John Robb; and a trio of first time starters in Brereton’s Baytown [post 4, Joseph Bealmear] for trainer Paul McEntee, Dominican Thunder [post 3, Javier Castellano] for conditioner Jose Jimenez, and Shoot the Nickel [post 6, Dylan Davis] for trainer Chad Summers.

The Tremont is slated as Race 2 on Thursday’s lucrative card that also features the Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup for older horses routing two miles on the turf in Race 10; the Listed $150,000 Jersey Girl for sophomore fillies sprinting six furlongs in Race 4; and the $150,000 Astoria at 5 1/2-furlongs for juvenile fillies in Race 9. First post on Thursday’s 10-race card is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, and the best way to bet every race of the four-day meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.