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Street Sense blazes five furlongs under Twin Spires
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Street Sense and Calvin Borel taking a spin around the track
(Michael J. Marten/Horsephotos.com) |
Kentucky Derby (G1) hero STREET SENSE (Street Cry [Ire]) sizzled five
furlongs in a bullet :57 2/5 under jockey Calvin Borel at Churchill Downs on
Thursday.
The work was easily the fastest of 15 at the distance and a full three
seconds faster than the day's next best move. The Carl Nafzger trainee was
clocked in fractions of :12 1/5, :24 1/5, :35 3/5 and :47 2/5, which means he
finished his final eighth-mile in :10 seconds flat. Street Sense galloped out six
furlongs in a remarkable 1:09 4/5.
The move came over a fast track shortly before the mid-morning break for
track maintenance. The track yielded no other spectacular workout times during
four hours of training, and several horsemen described the surface as being
"deeper than usual."
It was the final workout for Street Sense at Churchill Downs before he
departs for Saratoga on Saturday. The reigning juvenile champion is slated to
run in either the $500,000 Jim Dandy S. (G2) on July 29 at Saratoga or the $1
million Haskell Invitational (G1) on August 5 at Monmouth Park.
"He's happy right now," Borel said. "He's had a little freshening. He's put
on about 50 pounds, and he's wanting to do it now. I never moved on him this
morning. He kind of worked like he did going to the Breeders' Cup. He's
unbelievable -- the older he gets, he's getting better and better."
Trainer Ian Wilkes, a longtime assistant to Nafzger, oversaw the work for the
colt's trainer, who is on vacation and was not present for the trial. Wilkes
said Nafzger wanted a "strong work." The James Tafel homebred has not competed
since finishing a close second to Curlin (Smart Strike) in the May 19 Preakness
S. (G1) at Pimlico.
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"This was our major work, so we were looking for a good work," Wilkes said.
"He's a fast horse and they work fast. This horse is unbelievable in the way he
can do things. He does them easy. It's not like he's slowing down -- he's
working to the wire quicker than how he started out."
"I had him on cruise control," Borel said. "He's got so much power to him now
it's just unbelievable. He couldn't blow out a match when we got back -- I just
couldn't believe it, because I had let him work pretty good."
Wilkes said that Tafel and Nafzger had yet to make a final decision on which
1 1/8-mile race would serve as his prep for the August 25 Travers S. (G1). The colt
has earned $3,158,200 from a record of 9-4-3-2.
Also working for Nafzger on Thursday was Golden Rod S. (G2) heroine LADY
JOANNE (Orientate), who captured the Dogwood Breeders' Cup S. (G3) before
finishing a close second to Octave (Unbridled's Song) in the Mother Goose S.
(G1) on June 30 at Belmont Park. The bay filly breezed five furlongs in 1:01 2/5
with exercise rider Karen Salisbury astride.
Lady Joanne will join Street Sense on Saturday's journey to the Spa. Her next
start has yet to be determined.
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