Vyjack’s breeze rescheduled for Tuesday; Frac Daddy confirmed for Belmont

Vyjack will have Julien Leparoux aboard for the Belmont (Ross Woodson/Horsephotos.com)

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.

Frac Daddy is out of a mare by Hall of Famer Skip Away, runner-up in both the Preakness and Belmont in 1996 (Oaklawn Park/Coady Photography)

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.”