The streaking Economic Model (Flatter) takes a two-race winning streak into Saturday's GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont Park. The even-money morning-line favorite rebounded nicely from a well-beaten ninth-place finish in the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby Mar. 12 with a pair of convincing wins at Belmont, headed by the Easy Goer S. on the GI Belmont S. undercard June 11.
“The only blemish of his career, really, was in Tampa,” trainer Chad Brown said of the Jan. 30 GII Swale S. runner-up. “He's been training well since the Easy Goer, and the Dwyer seems like the next logical spot for him. If he runs well, we could look at running back in Saratoga.”
Swipe (Birdstone), runner-up to champion Nyquist (Uncle Mo) in four straight last season, capped by a big effort in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, underwent throat surgery following a sixth-place finish in the GIII Lexington S. at Keeneland Apr. 16. He returned with a useful rallying third-place finish against older horses in a local six-furlong allowance June 26.
“He's good,” said Julie Clark, assistant to trainer Keith Desormeaux. “His last race didn't take anything out of him. He slept the next morning, which is his normal routine anyway. He's been training really fantastic.”
The maiden Laoban (Uncle Mo), runner-up in the GIII Gotham S. at the Big A Mar. 5, gets blinkers back on in his first attempt since a sixth-place finish in the GI Preakness S.
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