Three-year-old Maryland-bred Fulmineo will bypass the Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes at Colonial Downs Sunday and instead run at Saratoga, in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational, trainer Arnaud Delacour said Friday.

The Bolt d’Oro colt is 10-1 on the morning line in both spots, and with boggy turf expected just about everywhere in the East, that made the decision something of a jump ball, Delacour said.

It didn’t hurt that the Saratoga race is a Grade 1 and offers a purse that’s $100,000 higher.

But there is one question.

“The distance is a bit of a question mark, obviously,” Delacour said. “It’ll be his first time going 1 3/16 miles, so we’ll see.”

Fulmineo arrives on a two-race win streak, with both victories – in the $100,000 James W. Murphy Stakes on the Preakness undercard at Pimlico and in the $125,000 Boston Stakes at Colonial Downs – coming at the one-mile distance. Both also came over turf rated soft, so that answers that question.

Fulmineo, bred in Maryland by Country Life Farm and Starr of Quality LLC, has been training this summer at Colonial Downs. He’s posted two half-mile works since the July 13 Boston, which he won by a half=length as the favorite.

“He’s been doing well,” Delacour said. “I’ve been happy with him.”

One factor that helped point the connections – Delacour said owners Mark Grier and Starlight Racing particularly wanted to race at Saratoga – towards the Spa was the way the Secretariat seemed to be shaking out.

“That was one of the arguments,” Delacour said. “If Trikari is going [to the Secretariat] and Cherie’s horse [the Cherie DeVaux-trained Brilliant Bertie] is going there, well, we could pretty much be running for third.”

Trikari, a Grade 1 winner trained by Graham Motion, is 3-1 on the morning line for the Secretariat. Brilliant Bertie, riding a three-race win streak, is the 5-2 morning line favorite.

Of course, since the Saratoga Derby is a Grade 1, you can assume the field will be solid. Legend of Time, the Charlie Appleby-trained runner who was the beaten favorite when Trikari won the Belmont Derby Invitational, is the 5-2 morning line favorite in the Saratoga Derby. Other contenders include Grade 3 Penn Mile winner First World War and Deterministic, who won the Grade 3 Gotham on the main track.

One other concern for Delacour is how the race will set up. Will there be enough pace for his charge to unleash his closing kick?

“I thought that we always had good setups in the mile races with a lot of pace in front of us,” the trainer said. “He needs a good pace because he’s a closer. I mean, I’m a little worried that in the Saratoga Derby that the pace is going to be a little slow and everybody’s going to kind of look at each other.”

That, of course, is how New York grass races often play out and a scenario that wouldn’t play to Fulmineo’s strengths. Delacour will leg up Tyler Gaffalione on Fulmineo; he’ll be the one charged with figuring out how to position his mount for maximum impact.

Still, for all the questions about pace and distance, Delacour likes a runner he calls “a very, very consistent horse” and appreciates the need to take a swing now and then.

“I think he delivered a great performance [in the Murphy], so I’m not afraid to be ambitious with him,” Delacour said. “I think he deserves it.”

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