Golden Soul, Incognito give trainers reason for optimism

With one day to go until Saturday's Belmont Stakes, trainer Dallas Stewart is

getting a sense of déjà vu.

Stewart will send out Golden Soul in the Belmont, five weeks after the

Charles Fipke homebred ran second at odds of 34-1 in the Kentucky Derby, beaten

2 1/2 lengths by Orb.

Orb and Golden Soul are among the 10 Derby horses to return in the Belmont,

including Oxbow, who won the Preakness on May 18 after finishing sixth in the

Derby.

"I'm feeling that he's as good now as he was then," Stewart said of Golden

Soul. "I'm feeling good about him up here. Other than Orb, he beat them all."

Under Robby Albarado, who finished second in the 2007 Belmont with Curlin and

in 2008 with Denis of Cork, Golden Soul will break from post 14, outside the

entire field.

"I think the first turn will be important," Stewart said. "Obviously, we

don't want to be way, way wide. We'll just let Robby handle that. If everybody

breaks good, I suppose he'll just take him back and drop him in. If they don't,

he'll just try to work him over. He could be a little wide, but I guess that's

OK if he's not in traffic. We'll just have to see."

Golden Soul jogged 1 1/2 miles on the main track Friday morning. He had been

galloping since his arrival late Tuesday afternoon, following a similar pattern

Stewart employed following the Derby.

"He gallops so strong all the time," he said. "He galloped almost two miles

every day, and that's even more taxing than working. And he did serious,

old-time gallops. I think through the stretch, he's going to have a good bit of

stamina, because he's feeling great."

Stewart feels Albarado, aboard for the first time in the Derby, will have a

better feel for Golden Soul, and is also glad to have Albarado's experience on

his side.

"You can't make all kinds of moves going a mile and a half, and he knows

that," Stewart said. "Robby feels great about him. He's got the foundation, the

freshness, the soundness, the pedigree. He's feeling right. He looks great, and

the track shouldn't be a problem for him if it's muddy or whatever. It's all

good."

In giving his analysis of Incognito's chances in Saturday's Belmont Stakes,

trainer Kiaran McLaughlin used modern technology to make his point.

Sitting at the desk inside his barn 11 office Friday morning, McLaughlin

propped up his iPad and called up the replay of the Peter Pan from the New York

Racing Association website.

In his stakes debut, Incognito ran near the back of the pack from post 8 and

was dead last with an eighth of a mile to run, before closing with a flourish

along the inside to miss third by a nose.

His effort was easy to overlook behind that of the winner, Belmont contender

Freedom Child, who led gate-to-wire to win by 13 1/4 lengths.

"If you just read the chart, it looks like he just ran even," McLaughlin

said. "But he was last, taking a lot of mud in the face, and at the

three-eighths pole, he dropped over to the inside. He came flying up the rail

when he got a clean face, and he actually galloped out in front of the winner.

That's pretty strong."

Incognito, who will run in the silks of Godolphin Stable in the Belmont,

galloped over Belmont's training track on Friday. He will be ridden for the

first time by Irad Ortiz Jr., who replaces injured regular rider Mike Luzzi.

"I was talking to Irad this morning. The thing is, we have to settle early,"

McLaughlin said. "A lot of people think you have to be close, but we would like

to settle back, mid-pack toward the rear. We can't win if we're up 1-2-3-4, in

my opinion. We'll be back and we might take mud in the face for a while. We'd

like to get clear when it's time to go."

Dealing with kickback has been an issue with Incognito, who had won two

straight prior to the May 11 Peter Pan, including a victory over older horses in

an allowance on April 13 at Aqueduct.

"It doesn't matter if it's dry and fast, he doesn't like dirt in his face so

much. He just doesn't like it," McLaughlin said. "We have enough time and

distance for the most part to get the last five-eighths with a clean face.

"He definitely was flying late up the rail (in the Peter Pan) and galloped

out in front of all of them. We've always liked him. He really wants the

distance."

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com