Sunday, May 9, 2010
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- Albertrani plans summer campaigns for 3-year-olds
- Fly Down exits Dwyer in good shape
- Uptowncharlybrown in excellent form after first work for McLaughlin
- Lone Star Derby winner Game on Dude possible for Belmont
- Gio Ponti works a half with
Leading that group is Padua Stables' lightly raced Odysseus, among the top 2010 Triple Crown prospects before going to the sidelines with a left knee injury after finishing last in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 10.
"From the reports I get he's doing very well and we hope he'll be back in training in about thirty days," Albertrani said Sunday morning. "The injury wasn't as bad as we first thought – he might have done a little damage to the ligament in the front of his knee, but the reports are very, very good."
Odysseus began his career at Aqueduct last fall, finishing second after being bumped at the start in a maiden race on Halloween. Brought back at
A new addition to Albertrani's barn is Jack T. Hammer's Ron the Greek, who worked three furlongs in 39.12 over the
Previously trained by Tom Amoss, the horse had not worked since a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 27.
"He came in with a quarter crack so we had to nurse the foot a little," Albertrani said. "We'll see how he does over the next couple of weeks and then think about a schedule for him. I don't think there's any possibility of making the Belmont Stakes; the time frame just doesn't look as though it will work out. To go a mile and a half off of a 39 work the other day, I don't think so. I'm not Nick Zito. I can't win the
Albertrani was also optimistic about future prospects for Cocalero, who won first out at
"The horse who won yesterday is a nice colt and looks like a promising three-year-old," Albertrani said. "Towards the end of the summer, we could have some exciting things going on."
Albertrani added that multiple graded-stakes winning turf filly Gozzip Girl could make her 4-year-old debut in either the Grade 2, $150,000
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Fly Down came out of his six-length victory in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Dwyer at
"He ate up everything, and he's doing great," said Troncozo.
Owned by Richard C. Pell, Fly Down looks set to join stablemate Ice Box, the runner-up in the Kentucky Derby, in the field for the 142nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 5. Should he prepare for the 1 ½ mile Belmont to Zito's liking over the next 30 days, he will likely need a new jockey as Jose Lezcano, aboard for the Dwyer, is committed to Ice Box.
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Uptowncharlybrown emerged from his first work for Kiaran McLaughlin in excellent order, reported his new trainer, and will work the next three Saturdays as well in preparation for the 142nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes at
With exercise Renzo Morales aboard, the Limehouse colt covered a half-mile in 48.90 Saturday morning over
"He went very well and he's great this morning," said McLaughlin, who welcomed the
Uptowncharlybrown, third in the Grade 2 Lexington in his most recent start, will be ridden in the 1 ½ mile
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Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert may have a starter for the 142nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 5 in Game On Dude, a 4 ½-length winner of Saturday's Grade 3 Lone Star Derby.
"He could be a
A gelded son of Awesome Again, Game On Dude broke his maiden at second asking in February, then finished seventh in the Grade 1 Florida Derby in his first start for the Lanni Family Trust, Mercedes Stable, and Bernard C. Schiappa. He next finished fifth in the Grade 3 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs.
"We bought him three days before the Florida Derby and he was just green in there," said Baffert. "We ran him in the Derby Trial and he hated the mud."
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Four-time Grade 1 winner Gio Ponti breezed a half-mile in 49.16 over the Belmont Park turf course Sunday morning, his first work since a fourth-place finish in the Group 1, $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse on March 27.
"It was a nice, easy work," said trainer Christophe Clement. "He galloped out five-eighths, came back in good order and we are delighted."
Clement said that Gio Ponti would be pointed to the Grade 1, $400,000 Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day, June 5. The Castleton Lyons trainee won the race last year, his second of four consecutive Grade 1 victories on grass in 2009 en route to dual Eclipse awards as the nation's top Older Male and Male Turf Horse.
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