At Belmont Park on Sunday, Grade 1 Whitney Invitational Handicap winner Fort
Larned turned in his final serious work for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million
Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational, covering five furlongs in 1:01 shortly after
6:30 a.m. (EDT).
Exercise rider Kate Merritt was aboard for the move, which tied for the
fourth-fastest of 11 at the distance over the main track listed as good.
“He did exactly what we wanted him to do, and went very well,” said Peggy
Dunleavy, assistant to trainer Ian Wilkes. “He was very professional, and did it
the right way.”
The four-year-old Fort Larned heads into the 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup
having put together impressive back-to-back victories in the August 4 Whitney
and the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker on June 30, recording BRIS Speed
ratings of 109 and 106, respectively.
Maintaining that form has been a primary focus, Dunleavy said.
“Keeping him happy is the key,” she said. “It’s an easy ship from Saratoga to
here, and we’re keeping the same basic routine. He likes this track, to be quite
honest. He’s a pretty easy horse to be around.”
Wilkes, who was at Belmont Saturday to saddle Island Bound to an unplaced
finish in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Handicap, departed for Kentucky Sunday
morning and will return on Thursday, Dunleavy added.
Jockey Club Gold Cup contender Hymn Book fired a bullet Sunday morning, to
the delight of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.
The Grade 1 Donn Handicap hero zipped a half-mile in :46 4/5, tying for the
fastest of 18 at the distance over the good main track.
“I wanted to do something more with Hymn Book because he hasn’t raced in two
months,” McGaughey said of the Stuart S. Janney colorbearer, most recently
fourth to Fort Larned in the Whitney.
“I’m very pleased with both of them,” the trainer added, including turf star
Point of Entry, who is bound for Saturday’s Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic
Invitational.
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