6/2/08
Last updated: 6/1/08 6:08 PM
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Tale of Ekati finally put in a Tagg-approved
work Sunday
(Debra Kral/Horsephotos.com) |
TALE OF EKATI (Tale of the Cat), winner of the Wood Memorial (G1) at Aqueduct on
April 5, breezed six
furlongs in 1:11 4/5 on the muddy main track at Belmont Park Sunday morning. After two works that were less than what trainer Barclay Tagg had hoped
for, Tale of Ekati finally got the move he needed to set him up for a return
match against Triple Crown hopeful BIG BROWN (Boundary) in Saturday’s 140th running of the
$1 million Belmont S. (G1).
Tagg, who five years ago guided New York-bred Funny Cide to victories in the
Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness S. (G1), was less than happy with Tale of Ekati’s bullet
half-mile of :46 4/5 on May 20 and completely disgusted with the colt’s
six-furlong move of 1:18 4/5 on May 26 under jockey Eibar Coa.
“This was the move I was hoping for last week,” Tagg said. “Now, you can only
hope that it wasn’t too much for him. Everything seems to be going well now, and
we’re back on schedule.”
In the Wood Memorial, Tale of Ekati stalked 2007 juvenile champion War Pass
(Cherokee Run) and then powered to the victory in the lane. He finished fourth
by 11 lengths in the Kentucky Derby last out after a troubled trip, in which he
was steadied early.
“The Belmont is a tough race, and Big Brown is a tough horse,” Tagg said.
“But if you’ve got a horse that is doing well, you have to take a chance. We’re
back on schedule today, and this horse loves Belmont Park (two-for-two). I hope he
runs his race.”
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Coa will maintain the mount for the Belmont.
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Ready’s Echo (inside) will attempt to give
Pletcher back-to-back Belmont wins
(Joseph DiOrio/Horsephotos.com) |
READY’S ECHO (More Than Ready) also took to the track Sunday morning, working five furlongs over the fast training track in 1:00
4/5, and is on target for the Belmont.
“We’re very happy with the way he went,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, who won last year’s
Belmont with Rags to Riches, the first filly to win the race in 102 years.
Pletcher said a rider had not yet been determined for the Peter Pan S. (G2)
third-placer, who sports a record of one victory, two seconds and one third from
four starts.
Big Brown went out for his usual gallop Sunday morning around the Belmont
Park oval under exercise rider Michelle Nevin, drawing applause from the
“Breakfast at Belmont” crowd as he passed by the grandstand.
“He was very cheeky,” Nevin reported. “He had a basic gallop again today. He
felt good. He knows something is going on because all these people are around
him all the time, clapping for him in the grandstand.”
Nevin confirmed that Big Brown will have an acrylic and fiberglass patch
placed on the small quarter-crack on his left front foot Monday, and that he
is scheduled to breeze on Tuesday morning.
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Big Brown, who will be making his sixth career start in the Belmont, is hoping to become
racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed 30 years ago. He will
try to join Seattle Slew (1977) as the only two undefeated Triple Crown
conquerors.
While host Mary Ryan looked furtively for Big Brown to point him out to her
“Breakfast at Belmont” guests Sunday morning, three horses came by under the radar.
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Casino Drive will try to be this year’s Triple Crown spoiler
(Joseph DiOrio/Horsephotos.com) |
CASINO DRIVE (Mineshaft), Spark Candle (A.P. Indy) and Champagne Squall (Ire)
(Daylami [Ire]), working in company,
cruised by with Casino Drive eventually overtaking his workmates and setting
himself up for the Belmont.
“We got him in 1:10 and 3,” joked Nobutaka Tada, spokesman for owner
Hidetoshi Yamamoto and trainer Kazuo Fujisawa. “No, I am sure it was much slower
and probably not what Americans are used to. But we are very happy with the way
Casino Drive is coming along and how he is stretching out. We look forward to
the Belmont Stakes.”
Casino Drive is a son of the Deputy Minister mare Better Than Honour, making
him a half-brother to 2006 Belmont winner Jazil (Seeking the Gold) and a
three-quarter brother to 2007 Belmont queen Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy). Casino Drive’s sire is
2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, a son of A.P. Indy.
After arriving at Belmont Park April 30, Casino Drive won the nine-furlong
Peter Pan on May 10 by 5 3/4 lengths in a professional time of 1:47 4/5. He has
trained in a different manner from other horses in this
country, walking vigorously through the barn area every day for about an hour,
then going to the track, and then walking for another hour.
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“We really try to pick his feet up,” Tada said. “We want him to be ready, so
when he turns it on, he will be strong.”
Tada had a very late night Saturday. He found a local Irish pub where he
was able to watch the Japanese Derby (Jpn-G1) from Tokyo Race Course. Yamamoto’s Crystal Wing (Admire Vega) finished sixth to Toshi Fukami’s Deep Sky
(Agnes Tachyon).
“It’s all right,” Tada said. ‘We’re saving our best for the Belmont Stakes.”
Casino Drive’s stablemates will also be competing during this upcoming week. Spark Candle, a $1.5 million
Keeneland September yearling purchase who was under consideration for the
Belmont, will be entered in Friday’s $100,000 Hill Prince S. (G3) going a mile on the turf. Edgar Prado, who will ride Casino Drive
in the Belmont, has the mount on Spark Candle as well. Champagne Squall will likely run in a maiden race this week.
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An unspecified “reaction” will keep Tomcito in the barn on Belmont Day
(Joseph DiOrio/Horsephotos.com) |
In other Belmont news:
TOMCITO (Street Cry [Ire]), who was third to Big Brown in the Florida Derby
(G1) and seventh to
Casino Drive in the Peter Pan, will not start in the Belmont, according
to trainer Dante Zanelli.
The conditioner said the multiple Peruvian Group 1 winner was suffering from a “reaction” but did
not specify what caused it.
“It’s very depressing,” he said.
Southwest S. (G3) winner DENIS OF CORK (Harlan’s Holiday), third in
the Kentucky Derby last out, is scheduled to work Monday at Churchill
Downs to complete his serious preparation for a rematch with Big Brown
in the Belmont. Trainer David Carroll said his charge would take to the
track and work four furlongs just after the renovation break under
jockey Robby Albarado, who has the call for the Belmont.
“It’s nothing major, just a final stretch of the legs, so to speak,”
Carroll explained. “I’ve been very happy with him. The weather’s been
good, the track’s been good and he seems to be on course.”
Denis of Cork will travel to New York by plane on Tuesday, along with
fellow Belmont hopeful MACHO AGAIN (Macho Uno), who captured the Derby
Trial S. prior to running second in the Preakness.
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