Vyjack’s breeze rescheduled for Tuesday; Frac Daddy
confirmed for Belmont
Monday morning rain at Belmont Park prompted trainer Rudy Rodriguez to push back Vyjack’s scheduled
breeze to Tuesday, four days ahead of his engagement in the Grade 1, $1 million
Belmont Stakes. Instead, the gelding galloped 1 1/2 miles over the main
track with Rodriguez aboard.
“He jogged a bit and galloped the wrong way,” Rodriguez said. “He was acting up
a little bit and I didn’t want him fighting me, so I opened him up a little bit.
He seems good.”
Rodriguez said Vyjack’s Tuesday breeze will come at 8:45 a.m. (EDT). The trainer also
confirmed that Julien Leparoux will ride the Pick Six Racing colorbearer for
the first time in the Belmont Stakes.
“He’s a very good rider and has very good hands,” Rodriguez said of Leparoux.
“So, hopefully, he’ll be able to get the horse to relax and be at the back of
the pack. And, hopefully, he’ll be able to make a move.”
Vyjack — who opened his career with four victories, including the Gotham
in March at Aqueduct — is looking to regain the winning thread in the Belmont
after finishing third in the Wood Memorial at the Big A in April and 18th in the Kentucky Derby on May 4.
Trainer Ken McPeek confirmed Monday morning that Magic City Thoroughbred
Partners’ Frac Daddy will run Saturday in the Belmont Stakes.
McPeek said the Scat Daddy colt will fly to New York from Kentucky tomorrow and
be ridden in the third leg of the Triple Crown by Alan Garcia.
“Talking to Carter Stewart, the principal partner for Magic City, he’s game, you
know?” McPeek said. “We still believe this is a really, really good horse, but
for whatever reason it hasn’t happened for him. Sometimes you throw deep and it
goes incomplete, but you can’t score if you don’t throw. (Stewart) is the ideal
client to throw deep and we won the Travers for him last year (with dead-heat
winner Golden Ticket).”
Frac Daddy, who descends from 1997 Delaware Handicap winner Power Play, has
one win in seven career starts. He broke his maiden in his second start last
November at Churchill Downs and then finished second in the Kentucky Jockey Club.
This year, he disappointed McPeek with a sixth-place finish in the Holy
Bull at Gulfstream Park, and then was three wide on the far turn when seventh
behind Orb in the Florida Derby. Frac Daddy ran in the Kentucky Derby and
finished 16th.
“I do believe the horse will run well,” McPeek said of the plan to go in the
Belmont. “I think the pace in the Belmont will suit him well, too. He drew
outside in the Derby and couldn’t get position, and I don’t think he handled the
slop. He’s worked on a dry track a couple times recently and worked freaky good.
I think he’s got a big shot at it.”
Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey said Kentucky Derby winner Orb was
maintaining good form Monday, the morning after the colt breezed four furlongs,
his final major work prior to the Belmont.
“He came out of his work good, ate up good, walked this morning, seems to be
fine,” said McGaughey, who trains the son of Malibu Moon for Stuart S. Janney
III and Phipps Stable.
As many as 15 horses could end up contesting the 2013 Belmont Stakes, which
could force Orb, a stretch runner, and jockey Joel Rosario to thread their way
through traffic.
“(The large field is) more concerning than anything else because not all of
them in there belong, but they have as much right to run as anybody else, so I
do think the race will be pretty spread out,” McGaughey said. “He ran with 18 in
the Derby.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher reported Monday morning that all five of his Belmont
Stakes hopefuls were “A-OK” following their breezes on Sunday, and that a
decision on race status for the filly Unlimited Budget and the lightly
raced Midnight Taboo was still pending.
“I have not yet spoken with (owner) Mike Repole, and he will make the final
decision,” said Pletcher, who definitely will saddle WinStar
Farm’s Revolutionary, Dogwood Stable’s Palace Malice, and Repole’s Overanalyze in
the 1 1/2-mile race.
Incognito, fifth in the Peter Pan, also emerged from his Sunday workout
in good shape, according to Art Magnuson, assistant to trainer Kiaran
McLaughlin.
Trainer Dominick Schettino said on Monday he and owners Anthony and MaryEllen
Bonomo will make a final decision on Always in a Tiz’s status for the
Belmont by Tuesday afternoon. Schettino and the Bonomos will choose either the Belmont
Stakes or the $150,000 Easy Goer on Saturday’s undercard for Always in a Tiz,
most recently ninth in the Wood Memorial.
D. Wayne Lukas’ Belmont Stakes contenders Oxbow and Will Take Charge remain
scheduled to arrive at Belmont Park via van Monday evening.
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