Union Rags and Alpha the ones to look out for in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park
The 2-year-old Michael Matz trained colt, Union Rags is still unbeaten in his two starts, and now tops the 9 horse filed for the Grade 1 $300,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on 8 October, 2011.
The son of Dixie Union, out of Tempo by Gone West, Union Rags broke on to the scene at Del Mar when he won his maiden weight special race in his first attempt in a five furlong dash on 12 July, 2011.
Competing on dirt, the juvenile colt bested the distance in 58.25 seconds, and that drew attention and Michael Matz sent him to Saratoga to run in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special over at 6 ½ furlongs under jockey Javier Castellano.
Union Rags, a runaway winner on the sloppy muddy Saratoga track on 15 August, 2011, and if he can replicate the same performance on a dry track at Belmont Park in the Champagne Stakes, then the 8 juveniles he face could have a tall task ahead of them.
Phyllis M. Wyeth and Chadds Ford Stable owned juvenile colt was made the 7 to 5 morning line favourite for the Champagne Stakes, and drawing just inside Union Rags is the son of Bernardini, Alpha.
The Kiaran McLaughlin trained Alpha won his maiden by six lengths in his debut race, tackled the seven furlong distance at the Saratoga race course on 3 September, 2011.
Definitely Union Rags will be the one to beat, because of his heroics at Saratoga where ran away to win the race by a massive margin of 7 ¼ lengths, not to mention that the race was run on a sea of slop.
Ahead of the Champagne Stakes, the 2-year-old colt Alpha drilled a five furlong bullet in 59.88 seconds on 3 October at Belmont Park.
This will be Alpha’s second start ever, and McLaughlin said the colt is doing great and has turned in 2 workouts after his debut race, but he also said that the distance of a mile in the Champagne Stakes should suit his colt more.
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