NEW YORK (July 3, 2019) — A automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint is on the line in the John A. Nerud Stakes on Saturday, July 6 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Reside at 4 Pm ET on NBC as part of the”Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You Are In — Presented by America’s Best Running.”
The seven-furlong. $300,000 John A. Nerud is one of three stakes races on the Stars and Stripes Day two-hour broadcast from Belmont, which will also incorporate the 1??1/4-mile, $1 million Belmont Derby (G1) Invitational on mulch for 3-year-olds, along with also the 1 1/4 mile, $750,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies, additionally on turf.
Saturday’s series marks the third of 11 telecasts from the”Breeders’ Cup Challenge: Win and You Are In Series — Presented by America’s Greatest Running” on NBC and NBCSN from some of America’s most iconic racetracks. The series Contributes to the 36th Breeders’ Cup World Championships in Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., on Nov. 1-2 on NBC and NBCSN. Complete series TV schedule can be accessed here: http://www.breederscup.com/challenge-series
NBC Sports’ coverage will be hosted by Ahmed Fareed, who will be joined by analyst and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, reporters Britney Eurton and Laffit Pincay III and reporter/handicapper Eddie Olcyzk.
The nine-horse field for the John A. Nerud, known for one of Thoroughbred racing’s most renowned coaches and owners, and among the Founders of the Breeders’ Cup, is directed by the 4-year-old colt Promises Fulfilled, trained by Dale Romans, a winner of six races in 14 starts. In preparing for last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Promises Fulfilled won the three successive races, taking Amsterdam and the Allen Jerkens Stakes at Saratoga and the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland, before some fourth-place ending in the Sprint at Churchill Downs. A chestnut son of Shackleford, that won the 2011 Preakness Stakes for Romans, Promises Fulfilled comes into Saturday’s race off a fourth-place end from the Metropolitan Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day, June 8.
The 4-year-old Nicodemus, trained by Linda Rice, has three wins in eight starts, including a victory in the Westchester in Aqueduct in May. He comes into Saturday’s race off a fourth-place finish from the True North, beaten by two 1/2 lengths.
Three Diamonds Farm’s 6-year-old gelding Do Share is seeking his 10th career win. . Trained by Michael Maker, Do Share won the Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct in March and was in the Churchill Downs Stakes on May 4 at his last start.
Pat on the rear, a 5-year-old New York bred, educated by Jeremiah Englehart, has won both his starts at Belmont Park this season. Pat on the Back won the six-furlong Affirmed Stakes over a sloppy track on April 26 and followed up that performance by accepting the one-mile Commentator Stakes on May 27.
An international cast of celebrities is expected for the Belmont Derby and the Belmont Oaks.
The Belmont Derby is the first leg of the New York Racing Association’s Turf Trinity, which includes the Saratoga Derby at August and the Jockey Club Derby back at Belmont in September.
The Belmont Derby drew a full field of 14 starters and you also eligible. Trainers Aidan O’Brien and Chad Brown each entered three horses. From his Ballydoyle base in Ireland, O’Brien has shipped over Cape of Good Hope (GB), who had been fourth in the French Derby at Chantilly in June and Blenheim Palace (IRE), second in the Dubai Duty Free Full of Surprises International Stakes at the Curragh in Ireland.
Brown, who has been the Champion Eclipse Award-winning trainer in North America the past 3 decades, has entered two unbeaten colts at Digital Age, who won the American Turf at Churchill Downs on May 4 and Demarchelier (GB), who captured the 1??1/8-mile Pennine Ridge at Belmont on June 1. French import Rockemperor (IRE), sixth in last month’s French Derby is the third Brown entrant.
Adding intrigue to the Belmont Derby is Western runner Master Fencer (JPN), who is returning to the turf following a sixth-place ending in the Kentucky Derby and also a fifth-place finish in the Belmont Stakes.
Nine fillies have been entered at the Belmont Oaks, headed by coach Rusty Arnold’s Concrete Rose, winner the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs and the Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs in her last two starts. Chad Brown is looking for better things with last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Newspaperofrecord, who is attempting to improve off two second-place finishes this season. From Japan comes Jodie (JPN), who was next in the Sho Flora Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse before finishing 14th in the Japanese Oaks on May 19.
***
Around Breeders’ Cup
The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships. The Breeders’ Cup also administers the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which offers automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The 2019 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, comprising 14 Graded Stakes with purses and awards totaling more than $30 million, will be held on November 1-2 in Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., also will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup site, www.breederscup.com. You might even follow the Breeders’ Cup on societal media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the very important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown. The 2019 Kentucky Derby posted a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 16.5 million viewers across NBC and NBC Sports Digital platforms — up 10 percent from last year’s race (15.0 million) featuring eventual Triple Crown winner Justify and signaling television’s largest Saturday audience since the NFL Divisional Playoffs (Jan. 12, 2019).