A year ago, Arcangelo won the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct en route to historic victories in the Belmont Stakes (G1), the Travers Stakes (G1), and then won the Eclipse Award as the top 3-year-old colt.
The 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan is Saturday, with Deterministic looking to make amends for an off-the-board finish in the Wood Memorial (G2) that led to the decision to pass on the Kentucky Derby (G1).
The Gotham (G3) winner in his second career start, Deterministic is likely to be among the favorites in a field of seven. Tuscan Gold, the 2-1 morning-line choice, will be scratched and run next in the Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 18. Deterministic, trained by Christophe Clement, was 5-1, while The Wine Steward was 5-2.
The Peter Pan is the traditional prep for the Belmont Stakes (G1), to be held for the first time at Saratoga due to the reconstruction of Belmont Park.
Can Deterministic follow a similar path taken by Arcangelo?
“We were a little bit puzzled (at the Wood result),” Clement said. “We did all sorts of tests. He came back and he's trained well. Saturday’s work was a spectacular work. He's had three works since the Wood.”
The Peter Pan is part of an 11-race card that also features the $400,000 Man o’ War (G2), the $175,000 Runhappy (G3), and the rescheduled $175,000 Beaugay (G3).
Among other Peter Pan-Belmont winners are Counterpoint [1951], High Gun [1954], Gallant Man [1957], Cavan [1958], Coastal [1979], Danzig Connection [1986], A.P. Indy [1992] and Tonalist [2014].
Both of Deterministic’s wins have come around one-turn. The Peter Pan at the Big A is two-turns.
“That's a question mark,” Clement said. “Does he want to go a mile or a mile and an eighth? Unless you try them, you don’t know, but he's doing well.”
New York bred The Wine Steward looks for a first graded stakes win after running second in both the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) and the Lexington Stakes (G3). A son of Vino Rosso, the colt won his first three races.
“The Derby was the plan before we started but he had a couple setbacks through the winter, so it didn't quite pan out," The Wine Steward trainers Mike Maker said. "He came out of the Lexington in great order and we're expecting a step forward in the Peter Pan.”
The picks: 1 The Wine Steward 2 Protective 3 Deterministic
1 Protective (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Todd Pletcher), 8-1
2 Unique Insight (Eric Cancel, Chad Brown), 8-1
3 The Wine Steward (Luis Saez, Mike Maker), 5-2
4 Lonesome Boy (Adam Bowman, Hugo Padilla), 20-1
5 Tuscan Gold (Flavien Part, Chad Brown), 2-1 SCRATCHED
6 Antiquarian (John Velazquez, Todd Pletcher), 6-1
7 Deterministic (Joel Rosario, Christophe Clement), 5-1
8 Native Land (Junior Alvarado, Riley Mott), 12-1
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
