Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Sunday morning that CHARITABLE MAN (Lemon Drop
Kid) came out of
his victory in Saturday’s Peter Pan S. (G2) in fine form and that he and
owner William K. Warren Jr. would decide on the colt’s next start shortly.
“He came out of the race great,” McLaughlin said of Charitable Man, who
covered the nine furlongs in 1:47.13. “The main decision is, ‘Where do we go
next? What do we do?’ I will be corresponding with Mr. Warren today and
tomorrow, and we are looking at the (June 6) Belmont S. (G1) or the (July 4) Dwyer (G2) with heading to the
(August 29) Shadwell Travers (G1) as the main objective.
“There’s the Dwyer-Jim Dandy ([G2] on August 1)-Travers or the
Belmont-Travers, we’re just looking for the right sequence of races.”
Birdstone in 2004 was the last Travers winner to have prepped with a Belmont
victory, although Charitable Man’s sire, Lemon Drop Kid, won both the Belmont
and the Travers in 1999, having prepped for the Mid-Summer Derby with a
second-place finish in the Jim Dandy.
“The neat thing about Charitable Man is that we won the Futurity
(G2) here going seven furlongs,” McLaughlin said. “The distance, a mile to a
mile and a half, isn’t a big issue, and he’s three-for-three on dirt.”
McLaughlin added that another of his star three-year-olds, West Point
Thoroughbred’s MR. FANTASY (E Dubai), would start next either in the $600,000
Metropolitan H. (G1) at a mile on Memorial Day, May 25, or the
$250,000 Woody Stephens S. (G2) for three-year-olds going seven furlongs on Belmont
Stakes Day.
Trainer Barclay Tagg said that HELLO BROADWAY (Broken Vow) was “fine” Sunday
morning after setting blazing early fractions and then tiring to finish fourth in the Peter
Pan. Equipped with blinkers, Hello Broadway opened up by eight lengths under
Garrett Gomez as he rocketed through a half-mile in 44.89 and three-quarters in
1:08.93.
“Who would have thought he would run off like that?” said Tagg. “We’ll get
inside his head and figure him out one of these days. In every race, it’s always
been something with him.”
With Florida Derby (G1) hero QUALITY ROAD (Elusive Quality) walking the shedrow for the fifth straight day as he
recovers from a slow-to-heal quarter crack in his right fore hoof, chances of
the bay colt making the Belmont appear very slim. Trainer
Jimmy Jerkens said he was not sure when the colt, who would likely have been
one of the favorites in the Kentucky Derby (G1) had he not developed the quarter crack, would
return to training.