Deputy Glitters works for Belmont, Sweetnorthernsaint still
on the fence
With exercise rider Simon Harris aboard, Tampa Bay Derby (G3) hero DEPUTY GLITTERS (Deputy Commander) worked five furlongs in 1:01
4/5 over a fast track at Belmont Park on Monday morning in
preparation for the June 10 Belmont S. (G1). The Tom Albertrani-trained colt is
coming off an eighth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
“He’s a real good work horse, so we just wanted him to do something in hand
and let him gallop out strong,” said assistant trainer Andy Rehm, who supervised
the work while Albertrani serves a suspension. “He got some unexpected company at the quarter-pole. One of (trainer) Bill Mott’s horses hooked up with him, but it didn’t affect
(Deputy Glitters).”
Deputy Glitters has turned in two straight off-the-board efforts, finishing
sixth in the sloppy Wood Memorial (G1) prior to the Derby, but Rehm believes that
the colt could be a factor in the Belmont.
“He ran well in the Derby,” Rehm said. “He was wide the whole way around. If
we got the same kind of trip Bluegrass Cat (Storm Cat) got, I think we could
have been second. Bluegrass Cat is kind of the same horse as Deputy Glitters —
he beat us a length and we beat him a length,” he said, referring to their two
battles earlier this year at Tampa Bay. Bluegrass Cat won the Sam F. Davis S.,
and Deputy Glitters took revenge in the Tampa Bay Derby.
“He’s going to be laying close and he
can run all day, so he fits the profile of the Belmont,” Rehm added.
Edgar Prado will pick up the mount on Deputy Glitters in the Belmont.
Trainer Michael Trombetta is still unsure whether Illinois Derby
(G2) winner SWEETNORTHERNSAINT (Sweetsouthernsaint) will contest the Belmont. During the Preakness S. (G1), the dark bay gelding grabbed a quarter while running second.
“We’re kicking it around,” Trombetta said. “His foot is fine. He was a little
tender for a day or two, but it turned out to be no big deal.”
Trombetta said that the most important factor will be how Sweetnorthernsaint
feels and trains during the next week.
“Everything would
have to be going unbelievably well,” the conditioner said. “I’m kind of dragging my feet here for a
while. We need to work him by Saturday. If he doesn’t work by Saturday, he won’t
run in the Belmont.”
In other Belmont news:
Belmont possible CAUSE TO BELIEVE (Maria’s Mon) logged one mile in 1:39 4/5 at
Bay Meadows on Monday with rider Russell Baze in the saddle. The El Camino Real
Derby (G3) winner exits a 13th-place finish in the Derby. Trainer Jerry
Hollendorfer said that his charge’s Belmont status remains uncertain.
“The owners have given me permission to do what I want,” Hollendorfer
said.
“I want to see how he comes out of this work before making a decision.”
Hollendorfer’s only Belmont starter was Globalize, who finished 10th in the 1 1/2-mile contest
in 2000.
“The Belmont is a very difficult race to win,” the trainer
commented. “It
could have been loaded with horses this year, but unfortunately some have gone
by the wayside.”
Another under consideration for the Belmont, HIGH FINANCE (Talk Is Money),
completed a mile over Belmont’s main track in 1:38 2/5 on Sunday. The Rick Violette Jr.
trainee has annexed his last two races by a combined 14 1/4 lengths.
“He breezed really well and right now we’re seriously considering (the
Belmont),” Violette said. “We know it’s a huge step up, but it’s a
wide open race and nobody knows who’s going to get a mile and a half. His breeze was really
spectacular. He went the last eighth in 11 and change.”