Trainer Alexis Barba will arrive Saturday morning to watch the colt gallop,
Make Music for Me, who has a record of 9-1-2-1, arrived at Belmont Park on
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“The first day he galloped over a hard, sealed, sloppy track and went well,
and the last two last two days it’s been deep and sandy, and he’s getting across
it really well, too,” Durnin said. “So far, knock wood, he’s gotten over
anything he’s put his foot on. And it made sense to get here early so he can get
a couple of nice breezes over the track and really get a feel for it.”
Make Music for Me’s first victory came in his seventh start, in the Pasadena
S. on the turf at Santa Anita March 6. As a two-year-old, he was unplaced once
in six starts, finishing second to eventual Preakness S. (G1) winner Lookin at
Lucky (Smart Strike) in the Best Pal S. (G2) and the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and
third, beaten 1 1/4 lengths, behind him in the CashCall Futurity (G1).
“The way Lookin at Lucky ran in the Preakness does his form good as he
finished close to him three times,” Durnin noted. “In the Derby, he wasn’t
stopping at all. Eight wide cost him a bit of ground. Hopefully, there won’t be
any distance limitations. He does relax, so I don’t think he’ll use himself up
early.”
Joel Rosario, who was aboard in the Kentucky Derby, is scheduled to ride Make
Music for Me in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont.
SPANGLED STAR (Distorted Humor), third in the Withers S. (G3) at Aqueduct on
April 24, will make his next start in the Belmont, owner Lawrence P. Roman
confirmed on Thursday.
Trained by Rick Dutrow, Spangled Star broke his maiden by 4 1/4 lengths at
Laurel in January in his seventh start, then was third in a February allowance
race at the Maryland racing venue in his final effort prior to the Withers.
“He seems to be getting a little better with every start,” Roman said. “He’s
lightly-raced and he’s bred to go the distance. When I bought him, I had the
Belmont S. in mind. For most people the Kentucky Derby is the race they want to
win the most, but for me that race is the Belmont.”
Roman remains realistic when he assesses Spangled Star’s chances of winning
the Belmont, which is the final and longest leg of the Triple Crown.
“No one in the field has gone a mile and a half,” Roman said. “I expect him
to be a longshot, but other longshots like Da’ Tara (Tiznow) have won it in
recent years.”
Star Spangled worked six furlongs in 1:13 2/5 over the fast main track at
Aqueduct on Friday morning. It was the fastest of six works at the distance.
Following a fifth-place finish in a first-level turf allowance on Thursday,
Shortleaf Stable’s NEW MADRID (Rock Hard Ten) will skip the Belmont S., trainer
Tim Ice said Friday morning.
“He won’t run in the Belmont,” Ice said. “He needed to show me more yesterday
than he did. The (April 10) Arkansas Derby (G1) wasn’t so long ago that I think
he needed the race or anything. He’ll run back in a dirt allowance race and
we’ll see from there.”
New Madrid finished sixth in the Arkansas Derby a month after breaking his
maiden at Oaklawn in his third career start.