Tonalist works ahead of Jim Dandy Stakes
Saratoga Springs, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist was one of several 3-year-olds to workout Saturday at Saratoga for next week’s Jim Dandy Stakes.
Trained by Christophe Clement, Tonalist covered five furlongs in 1:01.79 with exercise rider Alvaro Hernandez.
“Nice work; I’m happy with it,” said Clement about the Robert Evans’ colt. “Everything went well. (Tonalist) started a touch slow and finished up well. He looked good; I’m excited.
“He’s put on quite a bit of weight since the Belmont. I don’t think he’s quite as fit as he was for the Belmont, but that’s OK. He’s not supposed to be quite as fit.”
Also working for the 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy was Wood Memorial winner Wicked Strong. The colt, trained by Jimmy Jerkens, went six furlongs in 1:13.09 and galloped out seven furlongs in 1:27 with exercise rider Kelvin Pahal.
The colt was wearing blinkers for the first time.
“I really feel he didn’t give us his best (fourth in the Belmont),” said Jerkens, who trains Wicked Strong for Centennial Farms. “He’s run very well, but he needs to run a little better. If (the blinkers) make a little bit of a difference, it’s worth a try. I like his reaction to the blinkers. I think they kept him a little straighter, more into the bridle the whole way.”
Samraat, trained by Rick Violette, worked a half-mile in 48.79 seconds with regular exercise rider Rodney Paine. The colt, owned by My Meadowview Farm, will start in either the Jim Dandy or the Haskell at Monmouth Park.
“The Jim Dandy is the first choice,” Violette said. “We’ll certainly look at who’s going where before we decide. There are pluses to both races. We’ll kind of handicap and see where our style suits best and what the competition is and pick our poison after that.”
Easy Goer Stakes runner-up Legend, trained by Jim Bond, got ready for the Jim Dandy with a five-furlong work in 1:02.44 with his regular jockey Luis Saez.
“I thought he worked good, knock on wood,” said Bond. “I just wanted a good five-eighths. He’s a really nice horse.”
Kentucky Derby runner-up Commanding Curve, trained by Dallas Stewart, is probable for either the Jim Dandy or the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga.
Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, the colt worked five furlongs in 1:00.61.
“He worked good, a minute and change,” Stewart said. “He really likes this track. I thought he liked it a lot as a 2-year-old. He was training here. He ran here one time, but it was muddy and it just didn’t work out good. But he trains very well on it and he worked good.”
Categorized in: Horses