by Don Clippinger
The New York Racing Association's trio of Grade 1 steeplechase races winds up Thursday with the $150,000 Lonesome Glory H., and Bruton Street-US's Scorpiancer (Ire) (Scorpion {Ire}) will have an opportunity to prove that he belongs in the top rank as the fall championship season kicks into high gear.
Imported last summer and lodged in the stable of leading trainer Jack Fisher, Scorpiancer won his first two U.S. starts, including an impressive victory in the Foxbrook Champion Hurdle at Far Hills, N.J. Put away for the year, he has run with the top horses this season and has been competitive without winning. He ran second in the A. P. Smithwick Memorial, the first of Saratoga Race Course's Grade 1 jump races, and was third in the other, the New York Turf Writers Cup H. Scorpiancer will carry high weight of 154 pounds in a field of eight. He also will have a new jockey, Sean McDermott, after the 7-year-old gelding's only U.S. rider, Connor Hankin, departed for U.S. Marine Corps officer training.
With the year's major winners awaiting later engagements, the Lonesome Glory attracted a diverse field that includes two imports, Swansea Mile (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) and Hisaabaat (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), making their first American starts for Rosbrian Farm and trainer Ricky Hendriks. Each carries 152 pounds.
Leading owner Irv Naylor, who has had a quiet summer after a blockbuster spring campaign, will field Charminster (Ire) (Broadway Flyer) and Jamarjo (Ire) (Marju {Ire}). Charminster won the Virginia Gold Cup's G2 David Semmes Memorial in May, but had a troubled trip in the New York Turf Writers and finished fifth.
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