Lucky 7 Stables’ Maryland-bred colt Romeo will step up in class for Thursday’s $150,000 Listed Tremont Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds on Day Two of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

The Tremont is carded as Race 1 on a 10-race Thursday program that also includes the $150,000 Astoria for juvenile fillies in Race 3, the Grade 2, $200,000 Intercontinental for older fillies and mares sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on turf in Race 7, and the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker for older turf milers in Race 9. First post is set for 12:40 p.m. Eastern, with admission gates opening to the public at 11 a.m.

Trainer John “Jerry” Robb and jockey Xavier Perez, who upset last year’s Tremont with 13-1 shot Studlydoright, will look to repeat that success with Romeo, who breaks from the outside in the five-horse field.

The son of Honor A. P. enters off a dominant 10 1/4-length debut win over stablemate G Q Worthy in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race on May 3 at Laurel Park. With Perez aboard, Romeo went wire-to-wire, setting fractions of 23.46 and 46.51 seconds en route to a final time of 52.55, all under a hand ride. The effort earned him a field-best 63 Beyer Speed Figure.

Robb admitted the lopsided margin caught him off guard.

“I had two in that race, and they worked a head apart each time – never 10 lengths apart – so, it was a bit of a surprise the way he won it,” Robb said in a NYRA release. “He pretty much never moved on him. He did it all on his own. It was a fast race, and he did it easy, so that’s why we’re coming up there to match him up against some better horses and see how he fares.”

Romeo continued to train forwardly following his debut, turning in a bullet five-furlong move in 1:02 flat on May 24 at Laurel Park. He returned on May 31 with another five-furlong drill in 1:01.60 over the same surface.

“He worked well this morning. He was with company, but well in hand. He’s coming into the race good and we’re trying to find out what we have,” Robb said.

A $14,000 RNA at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale, Romeo was privately purchased by Robb’s wife, Gina Robb, after the auction. He is out of the Not For Love mare Fancy Love and hails from a strong female family—his third dam, Fleet Lady, was a dual graded stakes winner and the dam of dual Grade 1 winner Midshipman and Grade 2 winner Fast Cookie.

“I liked his pedigree, and when I went to go look at him, I loved the way he walked,” Gina Robb said following the colt’s debut victory. “I thought he was a steal.”

Romeo is 9-5 on the morning line in a five-horse field for the Tremont.

The morning line favorite at 8-5 is the filly Mythical, an 8 ½-length debut winner versus her own sex rivals at Gulfstream Park. Emisael Jaramillo will ride for trainer Jorge Delgado.

The rest of the field includes the maiden Blinging It Back (3-1) for trainer Mark Casse and jockey Jose Ortiz, Churchill maiden winner Mercilesanihilator (4-1) for Larry Rivelli and Jareth Loveberry, and two-race maiden Baytown Dreamer for Paul McEntee and Joseph Bealmear.