Banned breezes for Virginia Derby

Banned, seen here romping in the American Turf, will try for a graded hat trick in the Virginia Derby (Reed Palmer Photography/Churchill Downs)

Glen Hill Farm’s BANNED (Kitten’s Joy), a two-time graded winner on
turf, tuned up for a run in the $600,000 Virginia Derby (G2) at Colonial
Downs on July 16 with a sharp half-mile work over Churchill Downs’ firm
Matt Winn Turf Course on Thursday.

The bay three-year-old, who captured the American Turf S. (G2) and
Jefferson Cup (G3) in his last two under the Twin Spires, breezed four
furlongs around the dogs in :50 2/5 for trainer Tom Proctor.

“He’s a little keener than I’d like him to be at this point, but
that’s OK, it was still a good work,” Proctor said.

Proctor gave his rising star a bit of a breather after his Jefferson
Cup win, but is now gearing Banned up for the Virginia Derby.

“I was thinking about working him Tuesday, but I wanted to give him
an extra couple days because it’s the summer and hot and you don’t want
to cook them,” Proctor explained. “I probably could have worked him
Tuesday though, because I don’t think he ran too hard in his last race.”

A big effort by Banned at Colonial Downs could convince Proctor to
point his pupil to a run in the 1 1/4-mile Secretariat S. (G1) at
Arlington Park on August 13.

“We’ll have to see how he comes back from the Virginia Derby, but
it’s a big possibility we will run in the Secretariat,” Proctor
remarked. “I don’t know if he’s really bred to go that far and the
bottom half of his pedigree says he can’t, but if you look at his action
he looks like he could handle 1 1/4 miles.”