Vagrancy Pits Dubai Escapade, Smokey Glacken

The talented duo of Dubai Escapade and Smokey Glacken, a combined 6-for-6 this year, meet for the first time in Sunday's $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap (gr. II) at Belmont Park.

The 6 ½ furlong-event drew a field of six fillies and mares.

Smokey Glacken, trained by Jimmy Jerkens, has won three stakes races this year. Two of them, the First Lady (gr. III) and Hurricane Bertie (gr. III) handicaps, came at Gulfstream Park. Her last score, a narrow neck victory, came March 25 in Aqueduct's Distaff Breeders' Cup (gr. II). Jerkens freshened Smokey Glacken for the Vagrancy and says she has trained like a mare on a mission.

"She's doing good," said Jerkens of Smokey Glacken, who worked a bullet half mile over the training track at Belmont May 29 in :47. "She was all-out to win at Aqueduct, but that inner track is tough. It's on the cuppy side, and it's different from what she was running over in Florida."

Smokey Glacken finished sixth in the 2005 Vagrancy, but bounced back in a Saratoga allowance race. After that, she been close to flawless, winning four of six starts. All four victories have come in graded stakes races.

"I just couldn't believe how bad she was doing last spring," said Jerkens. "We gave her time, brought her back in an easier spot, and she's been great since."

Smokey Glacken drew post 2 in the Vagrancy, inside fellow speed horses Dubai Escapade and High Button Shoes. Jockey Javier Castellano has the mount.

Dubai Escapade, a $2 million daughter of Awesome Again  , is a half sister to grade I winner Madcap Escapade. Trained by Eoin Harty, Dubai Escapade is undefeated in three starts in this country, winning two allowance races and Keeneland's Madison (gr. II).

"She's doing really well right now," Harty said. "She's always showed she's had tons of talent, but she's stepped up to the plate with each start. Every time she runs, she sets the bar higher and higher."

Dubai Escapade, whose only loss in five starts came on the turf, makes her Belmont Park debut in the Vagrancy. She benefits from her outside post, where jockey Edgar Prado can let her break and get comfortable.

Leave Me Alone won the Test (gr. I) last summer, Saratoga's premier sprint race for 3-year-old fillies. Since then, however, Leave Me Alone has gone winless in six starts for trainer Eric Kruljac.

Leave Me Alone is turning back to 6 ½ furlongs after finishing last of eight in the Louisville Breeders' Cup, a 1 1/16-mile route at Churchill.

$150,000 Vagrancy Handicap (gr. II, Race 8, 4:45 p.m.), Fillies & Mares 3 & Up, 6 1/2 Furlongs
PP. Horse, Weight, Jockey
1. Magnolia Jackson (NY), 117, Norberto Arroyo, Jr.
2. Smokey Glacken (KY), 120, Javier Castellano
3. Grecian Lover (FL), 114, Mike Smith
4. High Button Shoes (KY), 114, Eibar Coa
5. Leave Me Alone (CA), 117, Garrett Gomez
6. Dubai Escapade (KY), 120, Edgar Prado