Most Thoroughbreds do not race beyond a 1 1/4 miles.
Then there's Michael Foster's Next.
When the 6-year-old Not This Time gelding runs July 5 in the $200,000 Brooklyn Stakes (G2) at 1 3/8 miles, it will mark the first time in nearly two years that he will be running at a distance less than 1 1/2 miles.
In "cutting back" to 1 3/8 miles, the William "Doug" Cowans-trained runner will seek back-to-back victories in the Brooklyn while having to run a furlong less than a year ago under regular rider Luan Machado.
Traditionally contested at Belmont Park at a mile-and-a-half distance, with the Elmont, N.Y., track closed as it is being rebuilt, the Brooklyn joined a string of summer stakes that used to call Belmont home and have been shifted to Aqueduct Racetrack.
As a result of the Big A's smaller circumference, the Brooklyn will be contested over a somewhat shorter trip, which should not pose an insurmountable obstacle for the gelding who has emerged as America's premier marathon runner on dirt.
"It does add a few moving parts (at Aqueduct)," said Cowans, whose three graded stakes wins were all posted by Next. "But he can't be doing any better and is doing great. We've been waiting for this race."
The Brooklyn was one of the aforementioned seven starts at 1 1/2 miles or longer that produced six wins for the million-dollar earner.
"It's meant everything to train this horse," Cowans said about the horse he claimed from trainer Wesley Ward for $62,5000 in April 2022. "He's a little bit unique in the way that he has so much stamina, and I've never really had a horse that's run in these kind of marathon races. He's been a lot of fun and we're going to keep being easy with him and hitting those marathon spots. Hopefully, he's around for a few more years."
While the lone loss in that stretch was a third in the 1 1/2-mile Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 3, 2023, his current four-race win streak, which started with the Brooklyn, was capped by a resounding 11 1/4-length victory in his lone 2024 start, the very same Isaac Murphy Marathon that happily washed away memories of the previous year's setback.
"He was coming off a long layoff and we were expecting a big race," Cowans said of the gelding produced from the Awesome Again mare Bahia Beach. "I had him a bit more ready this year than I did last year when he ran third, and we were pretty confident bringing him out. He's held his form for a long time, and we gave him the break just because there's no racing for marathoners in the winter."
The Opposition
His six rivals include another accomplished distance runner in Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Crupi.
The 4-year-old Curlin colt trained by Todd Pletcher registered a breakthrough victory in his last start, winning the 1 1/4-mile Suburban Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course for his first graded stakes score after 15 career starts.
Also entered are Dai Vernon (Good Magic ) and Masqueparade (Upstart )—second and third, respectively—two months ago in the Isaac Murphy Marathon.
Belmont at the Big A, Friday, July 5, 2024, Race 8Entries: Brooklyn S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Lure Him In (FL) Flavien Prat 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 10/1 2 2Dai Vernon (KY) John R. Velazquez 118 William I. Mott 10/1 3 3Crupi (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Todd A. Pletcher 7/2 4 4Masqueparade (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 118 Rob Atras 12/1 5 5Drake's Passage (NY) Manuel Franco 118 Christophe Clement 4/1 6 6Next (KY) Luan Machado 122 William D. Cowans 4/5 7 7Spencer's Boy Luna (KY) Charle Oliveros 118 Eric R. Reed 30/1
