Tonalist, Wicked Strong Headline Jim Dandy

Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Tonalist looks to the $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II) July 26 as a hopeful launching pad for the Travers Stakes (gr. I) and perhaps a shot at the 3-year-old title. But familiar characters along with a few new rivals will attempt to foil his effort at Saratoga Race Course.

 

Tonalist, a 3-year-old son of Tapit   who took the June 7 Belmont for Robert S. Evans and trainer Christophe Clement, has been training forwardly at Saratoga since his win in the 1 1/2-mile classic. He shares highweight assignment of 123 pounds with Centennial Farms' Wicked Strong, the Twinspires.com Wood Memorial (gr. I) winner who last dead-heated for fourth in the Belmont with dual classic winner California Chrome. 

 

 

 

Tonalist, favored at 8-5 on the morning line, is 2-for-2 at the nine-furlong distance, having broken his maiden at Gulfstream Park Jan. 18 before eventually airing by four lengths on a sloppy, sealed track in the Peter Pan.

 

 

Joel Rosario, who rode Tonalist in both the Peter Pan and the Belmont, will be in the irons as they break from the 4 hole, while Wicked Strong breaks from the outside under Rajiv Maragh in the field of seven. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens said Wicked Strong will race in blinkers; the Hard Spun   colt tried them for his pre-race tuneup July 19 over the Saratoga main track under exercise rider Kevin Pahl.

 

 

Wicked Strong made a belated run from mid-pack in the Belmont, leaving Jerkens displeased with his effort.

 

"I was a little disappointed. He ran okay, but I didn't think he ran as good as we thought he would," the trainer said. "He was a little lackluster. He spit the bit out down the backside for some reason. I thought he'd be sitting there with a nice pull, but for some reason he spit the bit and (Maragh) had to get after him. He finished okay. All in all, I guess he finished slightly better than the rest of them did."

 

Another Triple Crown veteran entered in the 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy is West Point Thoroughbreds' Commanding Curve, runner-up in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). Dallas Stewart sent the Master Command ridgling to finish ninth of 11 in the Belmont last time out.

 

Commanding Curve is cross-entered in the July 25 Curlin Stakes, where he drew the rail, but will start in the Jim Dandy, where he got post 6 under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan with a 117-pound impost.

 

Kid Cruz flirted with the classics but ultimately wound up bypassing the Belmont to run in the July 5 Dwyer Stakes (gr. III), a 1 1/16-mile contest he won with a strong rally by three-quarters of a length. Also winner of the June 7 Easy Goer at Belmont and of the Federico Tesio and Private Terms Stakes in Maryland, the Lemon Drop Kid   ridgling gets Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons from the 5 hole and is closest in the weights to the big two with an assignment of 119. He was claimed by his current connections and trainer Linda Rice for $50,000 last fall.

 

"I obviously took a little different route," Rice said. "The Easy Goer really turned him around. He needed that race, and it was a pretty attractive spot. It helped him and got him back in the game, and he's really turned the corner since."

 

In the three inside post positions, all assigned 117, are Cousin Stephen, Legend, and Ulanbator.

 

Cousin Stephen, a Proud Citizen   colt who races for Chad Brown, won a June 16 allowance at Parx Racing going a mile on the dirt last out. Legend, a son of Tiznow   trained by H. James Bond, was second in the Easy Goer last time out by 3 3/4 lengths. Ulanbator, by Offlee Wild   from the barn of Ian Wilkes, was third in the Dwyer and second in the June 14 Matt Winn Stakes (gr. III) at Churchill Downs.