Asiatic Boy, racing for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, will carry 122 pounds with Alan Garcia aboard, the lightest impost since his maiden campaign in Argentina.  The son of Not For Sale, formerly trained by Mike De Kock, will also be medicated with Lasix for this nine furlong event which drew a field of seven others. 

Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein is the top-weighted favorite and is seeking to become only the second horse to win Grade 1 races on dirt, turf, and a synthetic surface.  The Helen Pitts-Blasi trainee won the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) at Churchill on the Kentucky Derby undercard. 

It is difficult to hypothesize on Asiatic Boy’s likely performance here as his 2009 campaign is the least-credentialed in his lifetime.  The Stephen Foster marks only the 16th appearance in his lifetime but his final Dubai World Cup prep, the third round of the Maktoum Challenge (G2), appears, in hindsight, to have been a relatively weak renewal.  Asiatic Boy’s appearance in America seems an attempt to revive a career that has clearly been best served on dirt.  While he is likely to improve second off the layoff, Asiatic Boy is 6-years-old and intact, and his connections will surely keep that in mind if his performances are not up to par.

Arson Squad, 11th in the 2009 Dubai World Cup, returns in the Stephen Foster also, carrying 118 pounds.

This year’s Dubai World Cup was a different story as the former Mike De Kock trainee came home a distant twelfth following a slow start and a somewhat impeded trip.  Now with Kiaran McLaughin, Asiatic Boy has had two solid workouts at his new home track, Belmont Park.  Asiatic Boy has 15 lifetime starts with seven wins and earning in excess of $3,000,000.

Click HERE for the original article from the Thoroughbred Times.

Should Asiatic Boy make the Stephen Foster, he is likely to tussle with 7-year-old Einstein, the recent winner of the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs, part of the Kentucky Derby undercard.  Trained by Curlin’s original trainer, Helen Pitts-Blasi, Einstein is quite possibly the top all-surface older horse running in America.  A win in the Stephen Foster would make Einstein only the second horse in history to have landed Grade 1 wins on dirt, turf, and synthetic surfaces.

Samantha Siegel of Jay Em Ess Stables reported this week that Arson Squad, eleventh in the 2009 Dubai World Cup, is expected to make his return in the Stephen Foster.