BELMONT NOTES
LOUISVILLE – Sunday Break and Puzzlement, a pair of potential upsetters in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes after running 1-2 in the May 25 Peter Pan Stakes, both had their final major tune-ups yesterday morning at Belmont Park for Hall-of-Fame trainers Neil Drysdale and Allen Jerkens.
Sunday Break (by Forty Niner) took it easy, going five furlongs in a slow 1:02.1. He went the first quarter-mile in :25.3 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:16.
“Obviously, he was just breezing,” said Drysdale, who used the Peter Pan as a prep for A.P. Indy when he won the Belmont in 1992. “He just ran (in the Peter Pan).”
Jerkens, noted for his often-unorthodox training methods, sent out Puzzlement for an unusually long workout. The Pine Bluff colt breezed a mile-and-an-eighth in 1:55 under jockey Jean-Luc Samyn.
Puzzlement, who made his stakes debut in the Peter Pan, was never asked for speed, going in fractions of :26.3, :52.1, 1:04.2 for five furlongs and 1:41.4 for the mile.
“He went OK,” Jerkens said. “He doesn’t do much by himself, but he doesn’t need a fast work.”
Jerkens worked Puzzlement nine furlongs because “he’s got to go long, and I don’t know how else he’s going to realize he has to run a mile-and-a-half. But then, I’ve never won one of these (Belmont Stakes), so maybe I don’t know what I’m doing.”
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Artax Too, a surprise Belmont entry who won a “non-winners of two lifetime” allowance race on turf last out by a head and has never run in a stakes, worked five furlongs yesterday in 1:00.1 with Jose Santos up. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.
“He’s got the raw talent to run in the Belmont,” owner Ernie Paragallo said. “He’s a grand-looking horse.” Joe Aquilino is listed as the colt’s trainer.
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Trainer Bobby Frankel confirmed that Kent Desormeaux will ride Medaglia d’Oro in the Belmont.
“We’ve won a few Grade 1’s together this year, so I’m having good luck with him,” Frankel said. “Kent’s got to let him do his own thing. I don’t want to see him pushed along through the first part. I want him to come out of the gate on his own.”
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War Emblem, heavily favored to complete his Triple Crown sweep, will work this morning at Churchill Downs. Trainer Bob Baffert was unsure of the distance.
The Derby-Preakness winner will fly to New York tomorrow morning along with Belmont runners Proud Citizen and Perfect Drift, landing at Republic Airport in Farmingdale at 9:30 a.m. and arriving at Belmont about an hour later.
