The wet weather that prompted the New York Racing Association to cancel Friday’s nine-race card at Belmont Park also led to the postponement of two graded stakes scheduled for Sunday that were stepping-stones to Breeders’ Cup races next month at Santa Anita.

The Pilgrim, for juvenile colts, and the Miss Grillo, for juvenile fillies - both Grade 3, $150,000 races carded for 1 1/16 miles on turf - were moved to Wednesday due to the potential of more than four inches of rain in New York over the weekend. Both races are part of the Win and You’re In program, with the winner of the Pilgrim earning a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and the winner of the Miss Grillo getting into the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Had the races been carded for turf on Sunday and moved to the dirt, they would no longer qualify as Win and You’re In races.

According to P.J. Campo, NYRA’s director of racing/racing secretary, two inches of rain fell Thursday night and early Friday morning. At least an additional two inches of rain was forecast for Friday and Saturday, though, remarkably, no rain fell during the four-hour span during which Friday’s Belmont races would have been run.

Campo said he felt comfortable carding one race each on Belmont’s two turf courses Sunday, but was leery of doing more than that. The Grade 2 Kelso will be run on the Widener Turf, and a New York-bred maiden will go on the inner turf as the nightcap.

“We just don’t think we can get the Kelso and the two baby races in,” Campo said. “It’s hard to get at least three in with that much rain.

“A lot of guys are counting on these baby races, especially for the Breeders’ Cup, being Win and You’re In. . . . We thought moving it to Wednesday would probably be the smart thing to do. Everybody’s been notified, everyone’s pretty happy with the decision.”

Todd Pletcher, trainer of probable Pilgrim favorite Bittel Road, said while he wants to run his horse here, he also is considering other options such as next Saturday’s Summer Stakes at Woodbine or next Sunday’s Woodford Reserve Bourbon at Keeneland.

“We’re not committed to staying on firm ground,” Pletcher said. “Obviously, when you know a horse handles something you don’t want to change anything, but it just depends on what the conditions are like here. If it’s a bog, it might sway us to go elsewhere.”

Belmont’s main track was sealed after racing Thursday, and training on Friday was limited to the outer part of the main track.
(Source: NTRA)