Dr. John Chandler's Cetewayo returns to the races Saturday as the 116 pound highweight in the $350,000 United Nations Handicap (gr. IT) at Monmouth Park. The United Nations is a 1 3/8-mile turf race for horses 3-year-olds and upward.
The Michael Dickinson-trained Cetewayo won the $75,000 Riggs Handicap in May of last year in his only start as a 5-year-old. As a 4-year-old, he won the Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap (gr. IT) and the Bowling Green Handicap (gr. IIT) before falling at the top of the stretch in the Man O' War Stakes (gr. IT) won by Daylami. He returned to the races the next month and finished second to Buck's Boy in the Turf Classic Invitational Stakes (gr. IT). He concluded his campaign with a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT).
As in Cetewayo's 4-year-old season, Honor Glide won both the Bowling Green and Sword Dancer last year before finishing out of the money in both the Man O' War and Breeders' Cup Turf, the latter won by Daylami. Honor Glide is winless this year and comes into the United Nations off a troubled fifth-place finish in the Manhattan Handicap (gr. IT). Honor Glide is trained by Christophe Clement and will be ridden Saturday by Jose Santos.
Trainer Phil Oliver will start the locally-based Loch Bering in the United Nations. "We're taking a shot," said Oliver. "The field won't be that big, and it's a grade I race, so it's worth taking a chance."
The field for the United Nations, with jockeys and weights, consists of:
1--Tough Leader, Jose Ferrer, 112
2--Monkey Puzzle, Joe Bravo, 115
3--Aly's Alley, Charles Lopez, 111
4--Honor Glide, Jose Santos, 116
5--Cetewayo, Carlos Marquez Jr., 117
6--On a Soapbox, Larry Melancon, 108
7--Loch Bering, Dale Beckner, 112
8--Down the Aisle, Robbie Davis, 114
