Fox Hill Farm has Triple Crown hopeful

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Ozone Park, NY (Sports Network) - Coming off a narrow defeat in the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, Fox Hill Farm's Normandy Invasion is expected to carry the owner's silks into the 2013 Triple Crown.

Owner Rick Porter and trainer Chad Brown are already mapping out a plan for the colt. Ridden by Jose Lezcano, Normandy Invasion lost by a nose to 3-2 favorite Overanalyze as the 7-2 third pick in the 10-horse Remsen.

"The big thing is that we know now that he is a special horse," Porter noted. "Chad and I watched the race together and yelled as loud as we could. He will ship to Florida shortly and have two and a half weeks of walking and jogging to give him a slight break even though he has only run three times."

Normandy Invasion finished fifth in his debut at Belmont Park, but came back to win at Aqueduct on Nov. 2. The colt came from well off the pace to collar Overanalyze down the stretch losing by a head bob.

"Chad is going to nominate him to several races for his next outing," Porter continued. "We will be nominated to the Holy Bull at Gulfstream and the Lecomte at the Fair Grounds and possibly the Southwest at Oaklawn. We will look elsewhere just in case I have missed some races for Normandy Invasion.

"He is a good one and we just need to keep winning as a three year old. We know he can get the distance, take dirt in his face and has a great turn of foot with a lot of heart thrown in. Let's hope for a big three year old year for him. He has the right name to be a top horse."

Porter has campaigned some top rated 3-year-olds in recent years. He had Hard Spun and the filly Eight Belles finish second in consecutive years (2007-08) in the Kentucky Derby.