After trainer Dallas Stewart canceled his scheduled workout last Saturday for Kentucky Derby runner-up Golden Soul, saying, “[The Derby] was a hard race on him, and his appetite is still coming back,” you had to question the colt’s chances in next Saturday’s 145th Belmont Stakes. But Golden Soul answered the doubters yesterday at Churchill Downs, turning in his first drill since the May 4 Run for the Roses, and it was a beauty.
Working on his own, the chestnut son of Perfect Soul breezed six furlongs in 1:13 1/5, rattling off even fractions of :12 1/5, :24 3/5, :36 4/5, and :48 3/5. The Churchill clockers gave him an official time of 1:00 2/5 for five furlongs, and he galloped out seven in 1:28.
“The trainer was never concerned [about the canceled workout]; just the sportswriters were concerned. That’s my D. Wayne Lukas answer,” Stewart, a former assistant to Hall of Famer Lukas, said by phone from Louisville.
Stewart, 53, who saddled Dollar Bill to run fourth in the 2001 Belmont and Ready’s Echo to run fifth in 2008, was sky high over Golden Soul’s breeze, which can be seen on YouTube.
“It was beautiful,” he said. “Awesome. His best work ever, and he’s a really good work horse. He switched leads beautifully, the rider didn’t use the whip, and afterward he didn’t take a deep breath.
“He cleaned up [his feed bucket], and right now he’s out grazing. He looks great, fit and ready. We’re in it to win it.”
Stewart said postponing last weekend’s work was “really the right thing to do. The Derby was a hard race. A mile-and-a-quarter in the mud, are you kidding me? A mud race has to be harder than a regular race, and it seems to me you need more recovery time on the other end.
“Why did Orb run so bad in the Preakness? He ran harder than anybody in the Derby. I know my horse took more time to recover, and Orb ran harder than he did.”
Noting that Golden Soul was a late foal who did not really turn 3 until May 14, Stewart said, “This particular horse just needed more time. He didn’t miss a day of training after the Derby. I just gave him long, slow gallops. Why work him a half in :47, or a quick five-eighths, if he’s going to go a mile-and-a-half?
“I just didn’t see it, and he responded beautifully. That’s got to make you feel great as a horse trainer. He’s turning from a kid into a mature teenager. Given all that, you have to think you’ve got a shot.”
* Lukas worked his two Belmont horses yesterday at Churchill Downs. Preakness winner Oxbow was clocked going six furlongs in 1:14 3/5, while Will Take Charge, seventh in the Preakness, went six furlongs in 1:15 4/5, galloping out seven in 1:30 3/5.
***Shug McGaughey said he would finalize Orb’s Belmont status after the Derby winner works Sunday at 6 a.m.
“I’m leaning toward running,” McGaughey said. “I want to run.”
