Behrens, ranked as the top older horse in the country with 28 points in the “NTRA Champions on Fox” series of national stakes races, will be odds-on to add to that total Monday under highweight of 121 pounds in the Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park.
The Suburban, which highlights the Independence Day weekend here, will be televised live on the Fox Sports Net from 4-5 p.m., along with a taped broadcast of the Iselin Handicap at Monmouth.
Trained by Jim Bond and ridden by Jorge Chavez, Behrens has blossomed over the last few months. The 5-year-old son of Pleasant Colony returned from a six-month layoff in January to finish second in the Broward and Donn handicaps. Since then he’s been unbeatable, winning the Gulfstream Park, Oaklawn and Massachusetts handicaps.
Behrens wasn’t beating any stiffs, either. Running Stag and Real Quiet, second and third in the MassCap, came back to post impressive victories in the Brooklyn Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup, respectively.
Bond, who breezed Behrens six furlongs Monday over the Saratoga training track in 1:14.2, the last quarter in a sharp :24.1, is confident the big bay will make it four in a row.
“The handicap division is very light at the top,” he said. “This is more of a maintenance race. He’s telling me he wants to run and he’s happy. Everything’s been golden.”
Behrens doesn’t have much to beat. Only five others – Hanarsaan, Corroborator, Golden Missile, Brushing Up and Catienus – are definite for the Suburban, with Social Charter and Jazz Club possible. Not one of them has won a Grade 1 or 2 event this year.
Today’s co-features are the Grade 2, $150,000 Prioress at six furlongs for 3-year-old fillies and the Grade 3, $100,000 Poker at a mile on grass for 3-year-olds and up.
Gather The Day, trainer John Kimmel’s unbeaten Dayjur filly, makes her stakes debut in the Prioress and will be heavily favored to win her fifth in a row.
But the Poker is a wide-open betting race, featuring such hard-hitting turfsters as Rob ‘n Gin, Bomfim, Fortitude, Notoriety and Optic Nerve.
Look for Rob ‘n Gin, who is 0-3 this year losing by a half, a neck and a nose, to finally get the job done under new rider Jerry Bailey.