2013 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Palace Malice, who scratched from the May 2nd Westchester Handicap (gr. III) with a foot bruise, has been entered to race on May 10th in the $100,000 Diablo Stakes at Belmont Park.
The six-furlong race will mark the first start for Palace Malice since finishing sixth in the Whitney Handicap (gr. I) at Saratoga last August. Following that race, the son of Curlin was diagnosed with bruising in his cannon bones and was retired from racing, but after recovering well and receiving a clean bill of health from veterinarians, Palace Malice was put back into training with an eye on winning the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) at Keeneland. His first major goal of the season is the prestigious Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) at Belmont on June 6th, with the Diablo Stakes being utilized as a prep race.
Palace Malice will face a strong field of seven in the Diablo, including two-time grade I winner Palace, who finished fifth in the Carter Handicap (gr. I) on April 4th in his seasonal debut. Another major contender is Clearly Now, who won the seven-furlong Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes (gr. III) last July in the track-record time of 1:19.96 seconds.
The full list of entries is as follows:
$100,000 Diablo Stakes
Six furlongs at Belmont Park
1 Piquant
2 Palace
3 Classic Salsa
4 Doubledown Again
5 Stallwalkin Dude
6 Palace Malice
7 Tenango
8 Clearly Now
