In the late 1970’s, three straight 2-year-old champions – Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Spectacular Bid – proved their true mettle by winning titles again as 3- and 4-year-olds.
Of the 23 juvenile champs since then, however, only two went on to become stakes winners at 3 and 4: Easy Goer – and Macho Uno, the favorite for today’s Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park.
Winner of the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by a nose over Point Given, Macho Uno missed last year’s Triple Crown. In fact, he did not race as a 3-year-old until July and scored his lone stakes victory in the Pennsylvania Derby.
This season, the 4-year-old gray son of Holy Bull is 2-for-2, taking an allowance race at Gulfstream in March followed by the June 1 Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs. In the Mass ‘Cap, Macho Uno was blocked behind a wall of horses in midstretch, swung out for running room under jockey Gary Stevens, then exploded to win by 1 3/4 lengths.
“He’s shown so much improvement from 2 to 3, and then from 3 to 4,” said trainer Joe Orseno. “The only time he’s been off the board was when he ran a great fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year.”
A field of seven will line up for the Suburban, with one major defection. Seeking Daylight, 8 1/4-length winner of the Brooklyn Handicap here in his last start, suffered a hairline fracture of his left front cannon bone during a routine gallop Thursday. The 4-year-old Seeking the Gold colt is set for surgery and is out indefinitely.
Despite Seeking Daylight’s absence, Macho Uno faces several tough challengers. Lido Palace, trained by the ever-dangerous Bobby Frankel and ridden by Jerry Bailey, ran second in last year’s Suburban and followed that with impressive victories in the Whitney and Woodward. The 5-year-old Chilean-bred, who shares the 119-pound highweight assignment with Mach Uno, finished fourth in his only start this year, the Feb. 3 San Antonio at Santa Anita.
“I think he’s ready,” Frankel said. “Hopefully, that break I gave him will improve him. He hadn’t had a break in a while.”
Evening Attire, a solid second in the Mass ‘Cap, E Dubai, runaway winner of last year’s Dwyer, and Pleasant Breeze, the likely pacesetter after winning his last two starts gate-to-wire by a combined 13 lengths, all rate an upset chance.
