McGaughey Outlines Plans for Easy Goer
The first order of business upon Shug McGaughey’s return from a fishing vacation in Iceland Thursday involved rearranging a couple of upcoming weekends, one in New Jersey, the other at Saratoga. He accomplished this with extreme efficiency, requiring only a single sentence: “I haven’t totally decided,” he said, “but I’m probably going to run in the Whitney.”
McGaughey referred, of course, to Ogden Phipps’ Belmont Stakes-winner, Easy Goer, who is being directed toward the Travers Stakes, Aug. 19 at the Spa. Easy Goer, however, was expected by Monmouth Park officials to prep in the July 29 Haskell Invitational for 3-year-olds, a race worth $500,000 that has succeeded in attracting the leading Eastern 3-year-olds in recent years. In the wake of the Triple Crown, however, Easy Goer and Sunday Silence, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, are the only remaining 3-year-olds of consequence and, although they invited both, Monmouth officials will run the Haskell with neither.
The Whitney purse is only half that of the Haskell, but it is no surprise that the Phipps-owned colt will make his next start at the Spa. “What I want to do is get him to the Travers the best way possible,” McGaughey said. “I’d rather lead him a half-mile (to the track at Saratoga) than van him down there.”
Were the 4-year-old Seeking the Gold ready for the Aug. 5 Whitney, it is likely that McGaughey would have sent Easy Goer to Monmouth. A tender ankle, however, has delayed Seeking the Gold’s return to competition and conveniently provided Easy Goer with an alternate, less taxing route to the Travers.
Ordinarily, there would be some concern over a top 3-year-old facing top older horses for the first time in a race such as the Whitney. But with the Eastern handicap division virtually devoid of top-class talent at this point, Easy Goer will face a decidedly softer field while carrying less weight at Saratoga than he would at Monmouth Park, where the formidable California-based speed horse, King Glorious, has been training strongly toward the Haskell and could prove a testy opponent for a colt coming off a layoff and prepping for a more important engagement.
The field entered for today’s 12-furlong Brooklyn Handicap at Belmont Park illustrates how weak the division of older horses is this season. Forever Silver, the starting highweight in the Grade I, $350,000 final leg of the New York Handicap Triple, will carry only 116 pounds in what may be the weakest field assembled for a race of the Brooklyn’s stature.
Until Seeking the Gold returns, the California-based Blushing John is generally regarded as the handicap-division leader with Proper Reality, Private Terms and Dancing Spree, a stablemate of Easy Goer’s, rated behind him in the last weekly poll. None of these is expected at Saratoga for the Whitney.
Meanwhile, Easy Goer’s Triple Crown rival, Sunday Silence, makes his first start since his bid to sweep the series was snuffed in the Belmont and is expected to face only three modest opponents in Sunday’s Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park. The fields are getting worse
Surely, it is increasingly difficult of late to tell the difference between January and July just by glancing at the entries, but how bad has the weekday racing really become at Belmont?
This bad: Bert, a maiden New York-bred of no particular distinction making his fifth career start, won the fifth race yesterday by 29 lengths, which is believed to be the longest winning margin at Belmont since Secretariat’s historic 31-length victory in the 1973 Bemont Stakes. Bert lumbered behind a slow early pace and finished the 1116 miles on a main track rated “good” in an ordinary 1:4415 after the race was moved from the turf course because of rain minutes before Pick Six wagering closed. The field of abject mules behind him was strung out over some 45 lengths.
And this bad: Mr. Classic, who is 0 for 36 during the last two years and who will be making his 81st career start, is actually among the contenders in today’s feature. The favorite may be War, who is also winless since 1987.