Belmont Stakes (gr. I) runner-up Ten Most Wanted will likely make his next start in the $400,000 Swaps Stakes (gr. I) on July 13 at Hollywood Park or the $1 million Haskell Invitational Handicap (gr. I) on Aug. 3 at Monmouth Park, trainer Wally Dollase said Wednesday. The bay son of Deputy Commander arrived back at his home base of Hollywood Park on Monday after a 12-hour trip from New York.
Ten Most Wanted left Belmont Park at 7 a.m. Monday morning and would have made it back to California at about noon local time had the plane not experienced some minor mechanical trouble while on an unexpected trip to drop off a horse in Dallas. That delayed Ten Most Wanted's return to his Hollywood Park stall until after 7 p.m. Apparently no worse for wear, Ten Most Wanted is expected to return to the track Thursday.
"He'll run in one of those races," Dollase said. "One's $1 million, but it's only three weeks before the Travers (Aug. 23), which is the ultimate goal for him this summer. The Swaps is four weeks from now and then six weeks after that to the Travers, so that may be where he'll run. The Swaps is also right here over his home track. We'll just have to see."
Ten Most Wanted finished three-quarters of a length behind Empire Maker as the nearly 10-1 fourth choice in the six-runner Belmont field. Before that he won the Illinois Derby (gr. II) as a prep for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), where he finished ninth in the field of 16. From seven starts, Ten Most Wanted has two wins, two seconds and a third for earnings of $573,460.
Ten Most Wanted, pointed toward the Swaps Stakes.
