The Champagne Stakes (G1) is among the oldest and most prestigious races for 2-year-olds. With a win, a promising colt becomes a leading contender for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) next month as well as an early top prospect for the Kentucky Derby (G1) next year.
The 152nd running of the 1-mile Champagne headlines a card packed with six graded stakes races at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. The Champagne is being run at Aqueduct for the second year in a row as construction continues in revamping Belmont Park.
Triple Crown winners Count Fleet and Seattle Slew won the Champagne prior to their Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes sweeps. Secretariat finished first but was disqualified to second for interference before winning the Triple Crown.
Fierceness at Saratoga
With the BC Juvenile in the mix since 1984, Champagne-Juvenile winners include Fly So Free, Timber Country, War Pass, Uncle Mo and Shanghai Bobby.
A field of eight is entered for Saturday’s edition, with impressive first-time out winner Fierceness the 6-5 favorite for trainer Todd Pletcher, looking for a seventh Champagne win but first since 2014.
Fierceness, with Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard leaves from post 6, following his 11 ¼-length debut victory over a muddy track at Saratoga on Aug. 25.
General Partner, the 7-2 third choice on the morning line, could give trainer Chad Brown his third Champagne win in a row and fifth in eight years. The colt won at second asking, a four-length win at Saratoga on Sep. 2 after being bumped at the start.
Manny Franco rides leaving from post 4.
Timberlake, one of two entries from trainer Brad Cox, is the 3-1 second choice. The Into Mischief colt won at second asking by 9 ¼ lengths in July at Ellis Park and ran second to 54-1 longshot Nutella Fella in the Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga on Sept. 4.
Breeders’ Cup Qualifiers and Excitement Build for Champagne Stakes
The Champagne is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In’’ race for the BC Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 3, and a Derby points qualifier with 10-5-3-2-1 scale for the top five finishers.
“He’s very good and a pleasure to train. He’s got a great disposition,” Pletcher said of Fierceness. “He’ll go easy if you want him to, fast if you want him to. He’s got a great temperament. He’s always been that way. He’s very unassuming and is always going about his business until we asked him to pick it up one day and it was like, ‘Wow, this horse can run.’
“I don’t think slop is the reason he ran so well.”
Brown is feeling good about his General Partner.
“He’s doing super and I’m very pleased with this horse,” Brown said. “I’m curious how he’s going to step up going a mile. He fits. It’s going to be a solid race with some promising young colts in this race like there normally is every year.”
The Champagne is race 8, with a post time of 3:46 p.m. ET.
The other “Win and You’re In” race on the card is the $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies, with Life Talk – trained by Pletcher with Ortiz the rider – the 9-5 favorite in a field of six. An automatic berth to the BC Juvenile Fillies goes to the winner, and the race is a Kentucky Oaks (G1) qualifier with 10-5-3-2-1 points going top five finishers.
Four other stakes include the rescheduled $1 million Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (G1), the $500,000 Jockey Club Derby Invitational (G3), the $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint (G3), and the $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya.
The picks: 1 General Partner 2 Gold Sweep 3 Fierceness
The field for the $400,000 Champagne (G1), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Air Cav (Dylan Davis, Brad Cox), 15-1
2 Dancing Groom (Trevor McCarthy, Antonio Sano), 20-1
3 Timberlake (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox), 3-1
4 General Partner (Manny Franco, Chad Brown), 7-2
5 El Grande O (Kendrick Carmouche, Linda Rice), 8-1
6 Fierceness (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Todd Pletcher), 6-5
7 Gold Sweep (Jose Lezcano, Steve Asmussen), 8-1
8 Sweet Soddy (Jose Gomez, Ray Ginter, Jr.), 50-1
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.
