Tom Pedulla offers five takeaways from a big holiday weekend of racing, including a promising debut by a half-brother to retired superstar Flightline and developments surrounding the highly anticipated Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets June 8 at Saratoga Race Course.

TAKING FLIGHT: Eagles Flight is bred for success as a half-sibling to Flightline, who retired undefeated through six starts and was honored as Horse of the Year in 2022. While that does not guarantee anything on the track, Eagles Flight fulfilled high expectations when he rallied to win his debut by 2 ¾ lengths while going six furlongs Monday at Santa Anita Park. Eagles Flight is by two-time Horse of the Year Curlin out of the Indian Charlie mare Feathered, a graded stakes winner. He is trained by John Sadler, not known for winning with first-time starters. Jockey Flavien Prat is confident the 3-year-old will benefit from his first race. “He was a little green out there, then he got into a nice rhythm down the backside,” Prat noted. “I was very pleased with the way he handled himself with the other horses.”  

Mike Maker (Anne M. Eberhardt/BloodHorse)

FINDING A WAY: The Wine Steward has placed second in each of his last three starts. In 2023, he missed by half a length to Locked in the 1 1/16-mile Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity to close his 2-year-old season. Then he opened the current campaign by finishing three-quarters of a length shy of Encino in the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes at the same distance at Keeneland before Antiquarian overtook him by three-quarters of a length in the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan Stakes on May 11. Although the Peter Pan is the traditional local prep for the Belmont, trainer Mike Maker is debating whether to run in the final leg of the Triple Crown or the seven-furlong Woody Stephens Stakes that same day at Saratoga Race Course. With the race being shifted to Saratoga due to a makeover of Belmont Park, it will be held at a mile and a quarter this year rather than the usual mile and a half. It would still be a testing distance for The Wine Steward, a son of 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso. “It depends on the trip, but I think he can get it,” co-owner David Staudacher said of the Belmont distance. He emphasized that the call is Maker’s to make.

Batten Down (Coady Media)

DECISIONS, DECISIONS: Juddmonte homebred Batten Down broke his maiden on his fourth attempt, demolishing his competition by 8 ¾ lengths going a mile and a quarter on April 30 at Churchill Downs. Does that make him worthy of a shot in the Belmont Stakes? Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said he will choose between the Belmont and the less salty Ohio Derby, which will be run June 22 at Thistledown, after the Tapit colt drilled five furlongs in 1:01.09 in company with Arthur’s Ride, an older horse that is a two-time winner, on Monday at Saratoga. Jockey Junior Alvarado was aboard Batten Down for the work and would welcome it if Mott opts for the Belmont. “I think this race would suit him perfectly,” he said. “He knows how to cover that ground and go fast and the same pace the whole way around. He’s got the talent. He’s just got to put it all together.”

Adare Manor (BENOIT photo)

NO CATCHING HER: Michael Lund Petersen’s Adare Manor successfully defended her title in the $200,000 Santa Margarita Stakes in the same front-running style she used last year. Her 4 ¼-length score for jockey Juan Hernandez against Coffee in Bed made her the first repeat winner of that race since Hall of Famer Bayakoa in 1989-90. It was the sixth stakes win for the Uncle Mo mare. It also marked her ninth victory overall in 17 starts with five runner-up efforts and boosted her career earnings past $1.8 million. “That’s why we’re in this game,” trainer Bob Baffert said after the commanding performance. “We love our horses, we love competing and we love watching them compete. And when you get a good one like this, you better enjoy them because they are hard to find.”

BAFFERT MILESTONE: Hall of Famer Baffert notched his 350^th stakes victory at Santa Anita while extending his record for Hollywood Gold Cup triumphs to 10 Monday – and he did it in style. Mr Fisk and pacesetting Reincarnate produced a one-two finish for Baffert. The result was bittersweet, though, because jockey Kazushi Kimura felt something was slightly off with Mr Fisk as he pulled him up. The horse was returned to the barn by equine ambulance as a precaution. On Tuesday, BloodHorse reported Mr Fisk was diagnosed with a condylar fracture and will undergo surgery.