Marine Stakes

Notes:
A compact field of six - three Ontario-breds and three Kentucky-breds - is entered in this 150,000 guaranteed event that also awards up to 30,000 for the former in what has become a prep for the 1,000,000 Queen s Plate in July. Kentucky-bred Winning Cause and Ontario-bred Silent Admirer are the Triple Crown nominees in this group, but neither is expected to parlay success here into the G1 Belmont Stakes. Up With the Birds, who won the restricted Coronation Futurity over this course as a juvenile, is the one to beat as he returns to Polytrack for the 1 st time since that score. This will be his 3 rd start off the layoff that followed his 2-year-old season. He returned from that to take the Black Gold S. at Fair Grounds in March then just missed to the highly-regarded Todd Pletcher trainee Jack Milton in Keeneland s G3 Transylvania S. last month. Winning Cause, another Pletcher trainee, looks like the biggest threat to Up With the Birds and enters off consecutive victories, including the G3 Lexington S. last month. The connections considered running him for the roses in Louisville, but opted to keep him on synthetic, over which Winning Cause is unbeaten in three starts. Stakes veteran Five Iron has finished 2 nd in both black type tries here. His conqueror in the 4/21 Woodstock S. came back to take the Tom Ridge S. at Presque Isle Downs on 5/13. Trainer Josie Carroll thought enough of Drenched to nominate the colt to the G3 Grey S. before his debut then entered him against Ontario-breds in the Cup and Saucer S. while still a maiden. He ran to his long odds in that one and needed four more starts to get his picture taken before winning back-to-back races. Ghost Hunter, making his debut for trainer David Cotey, earned a triple digit BRIS Speed Rating when running 3 rd over the Churchill Downs dirt last out. The runner up from that, Code West, easily won his next start and is Belmont Stakes-bound. Silent Admirer won at 1 st asking then was a solid 2 nd in a statebred allowance contest.