For the first time since 2023, The Champagne Stakes will be run back at the newly renovated Belmont Park. It is one of three “Win and You’re in Stakes Races” for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile that will be run this afternoon. While many of the recent winners of this race have proven to be more effective at one turn, there are plenty of Triple Crown Race winners that have graduated with a trophy in this race. Tiz the Law was the most recent in 2019, but that list also includes Union Rags, Birdstone, Timber Country, Sea Hero, Easy Goer, Spectacular Bid, Seattle Slew, Riva Ridge, and Count Fleet. The great Secretariat crossed the line first in this race in 1972, only to have his number come down due to alleged interference. Last year, Napoleon Solo put on a show in this race and while he skipped the Breeders’ Cup, he’s turned into a Grade 1 winner as a three year old as well, scoring in the Preakness this past spring at Laurel.
There are six two year olds entered in this one turn mile contest this afternoon, many of which look to be promising runners. Post time for this race is scheduled for 3:53 (EDT) this afternoon.
Belmont Park, Saturday, Race 8: The Grade 1 Champagne Stakes
21 Total Derby points (10/5/3/2/1)
1 – Johnny Hockey (30-1 ML): Interestingly enough, this Grade 1 contest has two horses named after the late NHL Star, Johnny Gaudreau. This Omaha Beach colt is certainly the weaker of the two runners though. It took him five starts to break his maiden. He was never really a factor in his four starts in New York , but he did finally get the job done in a slow maiden special weight over at Monmouth. He tried the turf in the Skidmore and was never really a factor in that race. When looking at the quality of his opponents, he would be an absolute shock.
2 – Raku (12-1 ML): Paco Lopez will be in to ride this Monmouth invader for Kelly Breen. He was in the irons for his debut on Haskell weekend when he scored at first asking. He came back to run a game second in the Sapling Stakes when going a two turn mile. He’s a nice colt that can bank a lot of money in some of the stakes races in the Mid-Atlantic region, but he doesn’t seem like he’s in the same league as either of the favorites in this race.
3 – Gaudreau (8-5 ML): That maiden race on Whitney Day has the potential to go down as one of the best maiden races in the storied history of Saratoga. Coach Hope was second in that race and he came back to win by over a dozen lengths at Churchill in his next start. He races this afternoon at Keeneland where he’ll be a heavy favorite in the Breeders’ Futurity. U.S.S. Valor was a close third in that race and I’ll talk about his follow up performance below. Chad Brown sent out this son of Nyquist to score at first asking. He avoided the Hopeful in favor of this race for his second start, giving him some more space in between starts after a big effort. He’s a Louisiana bred that fetched $220K last October. His full sister was a winner on debut, but was a bit short when facing state bred stakes company in her second try. She did go one to win at a mile, but she’s had some trouble staying sound. The works have been solid as he’ll try to show what he can do for an encore.
4 – Club Reign (8-1 ML): Whit Beckman trains this debut winning son of Core Beliefs. He battled hard for the early lead and then opened up late. It was a professional score where he did all of the heavy lifting on the front end and he outlasted his rivals. That race kicked off the Travers Day card. The 5th place finisher from that race came back to score at Belmont earlier in the week. He worked once at Saratoga and then returned to Belmont for the fall where he worked over the Tapeta course here. His connections paid $475K for him at the OBS Sale in April, which is always telling. He has a nice future ahead of him, but this is a tough spot.
5 – U.S.S. Valor (3-5 ML): Two year olds these days rarely post triple digit Beyer Figures, but after a strong effort to be third in his debut, he came back with a huge effort at the Spa to break his maiden, posting a monster 105 Beyer in a race where he was geared down late. Team Valor has been high on this homebred for awhile, but I’m not sure they expected the kind of effort he put forth last month. He relished the added distance last time, so the mile should not be an issue. He has a half brother that was third in the Carter Stakes back in 2023 but none of the other runners from this mare have done anything of note. If he can run back to that last effort, he’s going to win this race, however, that is a big ask and he’s going to be a shorter price than the horse that beat him on debut.
6 – Earth Song (15-1 ML): While he only beat two rivals in his debut at Monmouth, he did earn some style points as he drew clear to win by over 11 lengths that day. He’s cross-entered in the Rocky Run Stakes at Delaware which feels like a more reasonable spot for him in his second career start. Ricardo Santana Jr. is named to ride and he got off to a strong start at this Belmont meet. AMO Racing paid $250K for him and they like their horses to run on big stages, so there’s a chance that he runs here. However, I think he’s another one that will be in over their head.
The verdict: 3-5-4
This really isn’t a fun betting race, but it’s an awesome race as a racing fan. It’s going to take a huge effort to beat either Gaudreau (#3) or U.S.S. Valor (#5), and I don’t believe any of their four rivals are up to that task. I’ll give the slight edge to Gaudreau, who I do think can move up after a strong effort at first asking. We’ve seen a monster effort from U.S.S. Valor, but I think I need to see him do it again before taking 3-5 on him. Either way, this showdown should be highly anticipated this weekend.
Club Reign (#4) has the best chance of the others here. He showed all the right signs in the sales ring and he backed it up on the track at first asking. He’ll need to take a big step forward to dethrone the top two and while I feel it’s unlikely, we’ve seen stranger things happen.
We’ll have coverage of every North American Derby Points Race, along with plenty of coverage leading up to the 153rd Kentucky Derby on May 1st, 2027. Current futures odds from Circa or Caesars-William Hill will be provided as they are available. Feel free to reach out on Twitter @EricSolomon718.
