Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle Pocket Square and Miss Teheran Sept. 25 in the $200,000 Athenia Stakes (G3T), a 1 1/8-mile inner turf test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Belmont Park.
Brown has won four of the last five runnings of the Athenia and has totaled five wins overall, including scores by Pianist (2013), Roca Rojo (2016), Off Limits (2017), Rymska (2018), and Tapit Today (2020).
Juddmonte homebred Pocket Square, a 4-year-old Night of Thunder chestnut, enters off a 4 1/4-length allowance optional claiming win traveling 1 1/8 miles on the Saratoga Race Course turf Aug. 25. She 3-5 on the morning line.
A group 3 winner as a juvenile in France for trainer Roger Charlton, Pocket Square posted a debut win for Brown in a 1 1/16-mile Keeneland allowance tilt in April. She followed with back-to-back fifth-place finishes in grade 1 events—in the one-mile Longines Just a Game Stakes (G1T) in June at Belmont and the 1 1/8-mile Diana Stakes (G1T) in July at Saratoga.
"We had very high hopes for her coming out of the allowance win at Keeneland and we tried her in some ambitious spots. She has always trained well," said Brown's Belmont-based assistant Dan Stupp. "She came back into form at Saratoga and hopefully that gave her confidence. She's made a good appearance at Belmont this fall."
Doubledown Stables' Miss Teheran, a 5-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Teofilo, captured a one-mile allowance optional claimer on the Saratoga turf Aug. 1 and rallied to finish second last out in the 1 1/16-mile Miss Liberty Stakes Aug. 28 at Monmouth Park. The late-running chestnut boasts a record of 4-4-1 from 13 starts with earnings of $199,372.
"She had a little bit of a trip and came with a nice late kick, but didn't quite get the job done. She gave a good account of herself and we were pleased with her effort," Stupp said of the Miss Liberty try. "Obviously, we would have liked to have won but she showed up off her allowance win at Saratoga and gave another good effort."
Miss Teheran, 9-5 on the morning line, has breezed back twice since the Miss Liberty, including a half-mile effort in :50.05 most recently on the Belmont main track.
"She's had a couple maintenance works and seems to be doing well," Stupp said. "She's a very honest filly and tries every time. She's a one-run late filly—save a little ground, get a little cover, and then get out and make her run."
Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call aboard Pocket Square from post 4, while Manny Franco will guide Miss Teheran from post 2.
Godolphin homebred Lake Lucerne, a 4-year-old Dubawi bay, enters from a narrow nose score in a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claimer Sept. 1 at Saratoga.
Out of the multiple grade 1-winning Awesome Again mare Round Pond, Lake Lucerne launched her career in England with trainer John Gosden before joining American trainer Brendan Walsh.
Made In Italy and Stand for the Flag complete the turf field. Spice Is Nice is a main-track-only entrant.
Rain is forecast in New York through Sept. 24 before clearing Saturday.
Belmont Park, Saturday, September 25, 2021, Race 10Entries: Athenia S. (G3T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Lake Lucerne (KY) Jose Lezcano 124 Brendan P. Walsh 5/1 2 2Miss Teheran (IRE) Manuel Franco 124 Chad C. Brown 9/5 3 3Made In Italy (IRE) Junior Alvarado 122 H. Graham Motion 12/1 4 4Pocket Square (GB) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 124 Chad C. Brown 3/5 5 5Stand for the Flag (KY) Dylan Davis 122 Rob Atras 20/1 6 6Spice Is Nice (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 126 Todd A. Pletcher 1/5
