Captain Cook looms as the favorite for the GIII Peter Pan S., a traditional prep on the road to the GI Belmont Stakes

The St. Elias Stable-owned colt, who finished fourth as the favorite in the GII Wood Memorial, figures prominently for Saturday's feature

Captain Cook will look to punch his ticket to the final leg of the Triple Crown / ADAM COGLIANESE / NYRA

SOUTH OZONE PARK, New York (Special for Turf Diario).- With the Belmont Stakes (G1) in sight, several promising colts will face off this Saturday in the traditional GIII Peter Pan S., which this year will be contested over 1800 meters with a purse of $200,000 at Belmont at the Big A. The race, a classic prelude to the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown, offers an automatic entry to the Belmont for the top three finishers, with a paid entry and post, excluding the supplement.

Among the 11 entrants, the name of Captain Cook stands out. The St. Elias Stable representative will be aiming for his third victory at the local track. The son of Practical Joke and trained by Rick Dutrow Jr., he recently finished fourth as the favorite in the prestigious GII Wood Memorial, where he stayed close to the pace but was overtaken in the final stretch by the winner Rodriguez (Authentic). Previously, he had claimed the Withers S. (L) in commanding fashion over Surfside Moon (Malibu Moon).

“We thought he ran as well as he could in the Wood. He had everything in his favor, but he was just outclassed. Still, he came out of it in great shape, and we're very happy with how he's been working,” said Dutrow, satisfied with the 35 days between races.

Also representing the same stable is McAfee, who finished fifth in that same Wood Memorial. A son of Cloud Computing, he’ll wear blinkers for the first time and is a half-brother to Champion Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), the current U.S. Horse of the Year.

Another prominent name is Hill Road, trained by Chad Brown for Amo Racing USA. The son of Quality Road, who finished third in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3), was a late scratch from the Wood due to a fever spike. “He’s fully recovered and looks very good. We’re taking it step by step, but if he responds here, we could think about the Belmont,” said the multiple Eclipse Award-winning trainer.

Hill Road is out of Exotic Notion (Lemon Drop Kid), and hails from a prestigious Argentine maternal line: his mother is a half-sister to multiple G1 winner City of Light (Quality Road).

Brown is also preparing Lordship, whom he considers a promising colt for longer distances. The son of Gun Runnerdebuted successfully at Tampa Bay Downs and is a full brother to G3 winner Hall of Fame.

Among those with recent race experience, Surfside Moon comes into the race in good shape after finishing third in the Federico Tesio S. at Laurel Park, following his second-place finish behind Captain Cook in the Withers S. The son of Malibu Moon seems to have found his stride on two-turn dirt races. “He came out of the Tesio well and had a couple of excellent workouts. I see him ready to make the leap,” said his trainer Chuck Lawrence.

Among those who’ve had a solid conditional performance is Uncaged, who stepped up with blinkers to comfortably win an optional race on a sloppy track. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the son of Curlin looks like a potential “dark horse” in the race. Pletcher, who has won the Peter Pan five times, also enters Vassimo (Nyquist), with experience on the Derby Trail in the South and two victories (one later disqualified).

The list is rounded out by Happily Delusional (Flatter), First Pitch (Improbable), and Brereton's Baytown (Upstart), who have more modest aspirations but are ready to capitalize on any slip-ups from the favorites.

The Peter Pan S. (G3) will be the eleventh race on Saturday at Belmont at the Big A, in a card that will also feature the Man o’ War S. (G2), Ruffian S. (G2), John A. Nerud S. (G3), and Take the A Train S. (L). The first post is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Eastern Time.