Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott expressed his satisfaction Saturday morning
after Ron the Greek and Flat Out turned in “very good” works at Saratoga in
preparation for the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on September
29.
Ron the Greek, runner-up in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap, worked six furlongs
in 1:14, while Whitney third-pace finisher Flat Out zipped five furlongs in a
bullet 59 4/5. Both works were on the Oklahoma training track.
“Very good works from both of them,” Mott said. “I was pleased. Flat Out
worked particularly well and his gallop out was very good. He generally works
quicker, anyway. It was a typical work from Ron the Greek, so I’m happy.”
Flat Out, whose most recent victory came in last year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup
while in the care of Scooter Dickey, and Ron the Greek, winner of the Grade 1
Stephen Foster Handicap and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap this year, will
work again next weekend, weather permitting, said Mott.
Atigun, who was fourth, beaten just over a length, in the Grade 1 Travers,
breezed five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 over the Oklahoma track as he readies for the
Jockey Club Gold Cup.
“Atigun is doing super,” reported trainer Ken McPeek, who also sent out
Golden Ticket, who dead-heated with Alpha to win the Travers, for a five-furlong
move in 1:00 3/5. “It was a nice, maintenance work for both of them.”
Owned by Shortleaf Stable, Atigun was three-, four- and five-wide throughout
the 1 1/4-mile Travers, coming up a length short of third-place finisher Fast
Falcon after a solid stretch run.
“He didn’t have the cleanest of trips,” said McPeek of Atigun, who prior to
the Travers was sixth over a sloppy track in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and third in
the Grade 1 Belmont. “Who’s to say he wouldn’t have won?”
McPeek said he most likely will send Golden Ticket to the Grade 2
Pennsylvania Derby on September 22, partly because he wants to keep his two
three-year-olds apart and partly because he believes the 1 1/4 miles of the
Jockey Club Gold Cup suits Atigun better than the 1 1/8-mile Pennsylvania Derby.
“Both horses are doing extremely well,” he said. “I think Golden Ticket will
improve a little bit off the Travers, and Atigun is improving, too.”
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