Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, who hasn’t raced since finishing second in the Preakness May 20, will make his eagerly awaited return Saturday at Belmont Park going a mile in the Grade 2, $150,000 Jerome Handicap.
Trainer Neil Drysdale was non-committal yesterday, as usual, saying, “It’s a good possibility, although I don’t particularly like the weights. It’s not so much what he carries [highweight of 124 pounds], it’s the spread.”
But another horseman with an eye on the Jerome told The Post, “They’re keeping it a big secret, but he’s definitely going to run. You can take it to the bank.”
Fusaichi Pegasus still is the clear frontrunner for the 3-year-old championship with victories in the San Felipe, Wood Memorial and Derby, when he became the first favorite to win the roses in 21 years.
His bid for the Triple Crown was foiled when, favored at 3-5, he was upset by Red Bullet in the Preakness over a muddy track. The week before he was to run in the Belmont Stakes, he gouged his foot in a freak stall accident and hasn’t raced since.
Over the summer, the Mr. Prospector colt, who cost $4 million as a yearling, was syndicated to stand stud next year in Kentucky for a reported record price of $70 million.
After the injury, Fusaichi Pegasus was taken out of training for two months, but he’s had four recorded workouts in the past three weeks. He went three furlongs in :38.2 Aug. 30 at Hollywood Park, then shipped to Belmont, where he drilled four furlongs in :48.2 Sept. 6, six furlongs in 1:15.2 Sept. 11 (with Drysdale timing him in 1:13 and change), and seven furlongs last Sunday in 1:28.1.
“He looked happy and was just cruising along,” Drysdale said. “He’s getting fitter and training very well.”
Fusaichi Pegasus will use the Jerome, where his possible opponents include Albert The Great, Big EE, Hook And Ladder, Mighty, Trippi and El Corredor, as a prep for his major fall goal, the Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs.
Drysdale followed a similar path in 1992 with A.P. Indy, who was voted Horse of the Year with victories in the Santa Anita Derby, Peter Pan, Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic.
This season, if he wins the Classic, Fusaichi Pegasus is the only horse in America with a chance of dethroning top Horse of the Year candidate Lemon Drop Kid, the winner of four straight, including last Saturday’s Woodward.
