There are two stakes at Saratoga on Thursday, but one’s limited to New York-breds. That leaves only the $75,000 Michael G. Walsh Novice Stakes over the jumps at 2 3/8 miles for the Midlantic-bred set to contest.
The group of nine entrants includes two horses bred in the mid-Atlantic, both, as it happens, in Maryland. Elizabeth Voss trainee Kingdom is half of a coupled entry that’s 7-2 in the morning line. The son of Louis Quatorze most recently ran second in the Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes at Saratoga. He’s by Louis Quatorze out of the winning Eastern Echo mare Distant Drumroll. He was bred by Mary Voss and is owned by The Fields Stable.
Meanwhile, Top Striker is 8-1 in the morning line. Archibald Kingsley trains this son of Van Nistelrooy-Two’s Cozy, by Cozzene for Mrs. George Sensor. Top Striker was bred by Sycamore HallFarm, LLC. He’s won five times in his career, three on the flat and twice over jumps, once in stakes company. He ran seventh in the Kiser.
