Santiva readies for Belmont with five-furlong drill at Churchill Downs

Santiva is one of eight Derby runners — including the top seven finishers — expected in the Belmont field (Harold Roth/Horsephotos.com) Grade 2 winner SANTIVA (Giant’s Causeay), who exits a sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1), tuned up for a run in next Saturday’s $1 million Belmont S. (G1) with a strong five-furlong work at Churchill Downs on Saturday. The Eddie Kenneally-trained colt breezed five furlongs over a fast track in 1:01 with assistant trainer Brendan Walsh in the saddle. Santiva worked in company with stablemate Manx Miss (El Corredor) and the duo finished with identical clockings for five furlongs, a time that tied for sixth fastest of 27 works at the distance. Santiva breezed in fractional times of :13, :25 1/5 and :36 4/5 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:14 2/5. His gallop out time was faster than either of the day’s two six-furlong works.

“I’m very happy with him,” Kenneally said. “He hasn’t missed a
beat since the Derby. He’s been on schedule and has had a good four weeks, and
hopefully he’ll have another good week until we get to the Belmont

Winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) in his two-year-old
finale, Santiva is scheduled to ship on Tuesday to Belmont Park, where both
Derby winner Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux [Brz]) and Preakness (G1) winner
Shackleford will be awaiting in the 1 1/2 mile race that New Yorkers have dubbed
the “Test of the Champion” through the years. 

The Belmont Stakes will be the fourth start of the year for
Santiva, who opened the season with a promising runner-up finish to likely
Belmont rival Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) in the Risen Star (G2) at Fair
Grounds. But Kenneally’s colt then encountered major traffic woes in his final
Kentucky Derby prep — a ninth-place finish behind confirmed Belmont contestant
Brilliant Speed (Dynaformer) in the Blue Grass S. (G1) over Keeneland’s
Polytrack.

“He didn’t get everything out of the Blue Grass that we had
wanted,” Kenneally said. “He got a little bit tired, perhaps, in the Derby. He’s
a horse that’s done well since then and we’re happy enough with the way he ran
on Derby Day.”

Kenneally believes Santiva is ready for the challenge of the 1
1/2 miles in the Belmont Stakes, which will be uncharted territory for every
three-year-old in the race.

“The thing about it is you don’t know who is going to really be
a mile-and-a-half horse until you try, so you don’t know about those horses
either,” Kenneally said. “Our horse is a horse that likes to run, he doesn’t
quit and he keeps grinding it out. He’s a tough little horse and he keeps
fighting. He’s tactical and he doesn’t have to be coming from way back.

“He likes to run in the middle of the pack, relatively close to
the leader in the first tier of runners, so I think his running style would be
effective in a race like the Belmont. I don’t think the Belmont favors closers.
The Belmont traditionally, for the most part, favors horses that like to lay up
close to the pace — not on the lead, necessarily, but close to the pace.”

Santiva’s victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club remains his only
triumph in his career record that stands at 1-3-1 in seven races. His earnings
total is $257,597.

Shaun Bridgmohan, who was aboard Santiva in both the Kentucky
Derby and Kentucky Jockey Club, is scheduled to ride in the Belmont.