There were a couple of options that trainer Arnaud Delacour was considering for Air Recruit after the 5-year-old gelding turned in a strong 2026 debut on July 5 at Colonial Downs.

In the end, though, he knew what his decision almost had to be: A return to the $100,000 Oceanport Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park – the same race he won a year ago.

That’s because for owner Mark Grier, who lives in Far Hills in Somerset County and has a parterre box at the track, “it means a lot for him to run at Monmouth Park.” Delacour said.

“He will be there Saturday. Mr. Grier loves Monmouth Park,” he said. “If we can make it happen so his horses run there we try to do it.”

Air Recruit is part of a seven-horse field (plus two MTOs) entered for the mile and a sixteenth grass feature for 3-year-olds and up. The Kentucky-bred son of Air Force Blue returned from a near eight-month layoff to finish second, beaten just a neck, in an optional $75,000 claimer in his seasonal debut.

He also had just one race last year before winning the Oceanport Stakes.

“His first back was a very good effort. I was very happy with him,” said Delacour. “He came back well. I thought that the mile and an eighth might have been a little long for him but he actually ran hard until the end. So I was delighted.”

Though Delacour saw plenty of potential in Air Recruit from the outset – running him the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2023 — he has faced his challenges with the horse.

After setting the pace in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile before fading, finishing seventh by 3¼ lengths, the horse spent the next 20 months on the sidelines, missing the entire 2024 racing year.

“We had a bit of an issue and he needed quite a bit of time to recover,” said Delacour. “It was soft tissue ligament issue that needed time to recover. He has recovered fully. We have not had a major issue with him since then.”

A winner of 4-of-9 career starts (all on the grass) with earnings of $301,150, Air Recruit won two of his four races last year before being on the shelf for another seven months-plus until his return on July 5.

“I thought he was set to race this winter. I had planned to run him on the turf at Gulfstream or Tampa Bay,” said Delacour. “For some reason he went the wrong way and I am not sure why. There was nothing wrong with him. We just didn’t have him where we wanted so we took our time and he came around.”

Delacour says he hopes Air Recruit’s impressive return will set him up for a promising second half of the season.

“He tailed off a little bit last year at the end of the year so we had to give him some time off,” he said. “I think we have him in the right place now.

“Numbers-wise he ran probably one of his best numbers in his comeback race. So if he can take a little bit of a step forward maybe he can get it done Saturday. Right now he was at the level he was last year and I hope he can get a little better.”