Juddmonte Goes for Third Manhattan

One of the more exciting and classier additions to the U.S. turf ranks this season is Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who turned in one of the top performances on this side of the Atlantic when storming away to take last year's GI Sword Dancer Invitational S. at Saratoga last summer. Now stabled in the barn of Chad Brown, the 6-year-old will look to give his owner and breeder Juddmonte Farms a third edition of the GI Woodford Reserve Manhattan S. at Belmont Park.

Runner-up to Main Sequence (Aldebaran) in the 2014 GI Breeders' Cup Turf and winner of that year's G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase, the dark bay was second in the 2015 G1 Dubai Sheema Classic and filled the same spot behind Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) in the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud last June before scoring by 2 1/2 comprehensive lengths at the Spa. Following a second straight runner-up effort in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Flintshire passed on a return trip to the Breeders' Cup, citing the potential for easy ground at Keeneland, and made his final start of the year back at Sha Tin, where finished 1 1/2 lengths adrift of Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Original plans called for Flintshire to kick off his 2016 campaign in the GI United Nations S. at Monmouth Park July 3, but Brown had a change of heart following his latest work [5fT, 1:00.60, June 4].

“The work was outstanding,” said Brown, who has accounted for three of the last four renewals of the Manhattan. “The horse looks fit and ready to go. It's a great opportunity to run for a huge purse in a very prestigious race and run out of your own barn and not have to ship. So, when I saw that final piece of work, it convinced me to run.”

The 8-5 morning-line favorite, clearly the class of the field, will have to fire fresh over a distance likely short of his best and his propensity to finish second cannot be ignored.

Brown has also entered Slumber (GB), a son of Juddmonte's 2005 Manhattan hero Cacique (Ire), who followed in his sire's hoofprints in winning the 2015 running from his favored stablemate Big Blue Kitten (Kitten's Joy) by 2 3/4 lengths. Slumber, who carried the Juddmonte silks to a pair of Grade II placings when trained by Bill Mott in 2014, was fourth–one spot behind Big Blue Kitten–in last year's Breeders' Cup Turf, was a latest third in the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic May 7. Wake Forest (Ger) (Sir Percy {GB}) is the last of the Brown quartet and came with a flying finish to take out the GI Man O'War S. May 14, though he or the commonly owned Slumber could be scratched from the Manhattan in favor of the UN.

Divisidero (Kitten's Joy) can cement his status near the top of the division if he were to follow up on his last-start defeat of World Approval (Northern Afleet) in the Turf Classic five weeks ago. The bay, winner of the 2015 Pennine Ridge S. over this turf course, has made steady progress this season, with a third in the GIII Canadian Turf S. Feb. 27 ahead of a runner-up effort in the GIII Appleton S. Apr. 2. He took the overland route and avoided a spill to his inside before staying on best of all at Churchill last time. Tactics could play a role, says trainer 'Buff' Bradley.

“We're going to need to pay attention to what is going on there with the pace, and maybe be a little closer because the pace figures to be a little bit slower than his last race,” Bradley offered.

In a sense, Ironicus (Distorted Humor) is the X-factor in the Manhattan. Trained by Shug McGaughey, who has saddled three winners of the race since 2005, the gray was a dual Grade II winner in 2015, including a track record-setting defeat of Grand Tito (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the Bernard Baruch H. Sept. 7. Confronting nine furlongs for the first time in the GIII Fort Marcy S., Ironicus closed from midpack to score by 1 1/2 lengths.