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Belmont Park Notes 5.28.17

by NYRA Press Office

·      Twisted Tom breezes for G1 Belmont Stakes, Cloud Computing out

·      Clement readies Belmont Stakes Racing Festival contingent

·      Mohaymen puts in penultimate work ahead of Met Mile

·      Classic Rock throws a bullet for G2 Woody Stephens

·      Tu Brutus looks for front-running success in G2 Brooklyn

·      Mind Your Biscuits back on the worktab pointing for G2 Belmont Sprint

Cobra Farm’s Federico Tesio winner Twisted Tom will run in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, said trainer Chad Brown, following his five-furlong breeze Sunday morning at Belmont Park.

Twisted Tom, under exercise rider Peter Roman, worked five furlongs on the main track in company with the 4-year-old Economic Model, winner of the 2016 Easy Goer. The pair went together in 1:01.16, with the last quarter going in 23 3/5 seconds, and galloped out in 1:13 4/5, according to NYRA clockers.

“He [Twisted Tom] worked great,” said Brown. “This horse has continued to improve all year, and more of the same today. It was a nice, strong work from him. [The Belmont is a] huge class test for this horse, but I love the way he’s developed. I do think he can stay a mile and a half, I think the longer the better for him, so I’m anxious to get him out to that distance, but it’ll be a tough field, a large field.”

A New York-bred gelding by Creative Cause, Twisted Tom faced statebreds in his first four starts, graduating into open company in the March 18 Private Terms at Laurel Park, beating O Dionysus by a nose. He returned April 22 in the 1 1/8-mile Tesio on a sloppy and sealed track, this time posting a 2 ¼-length victory over O Dionysus.

“He appreciated the time after the win in the Tesio and has had a nice string of works since then, so the horse seems to be sitting on a new top again,” Brown said.

Not already nominated to the Triple Crown series, Twisted Tom will require a $75,000 supplemental fee to run in the June 10 Belmont, and will vie to become the third gelding in history to win the Belmont, and the first since Ruler On Ice in 2011 (Crème Fraiche was the first in 1985). Brown added that Cloud Computing, winner of the Preakness Stakes, will not run in the Belmont.

Other confirmed Belmont runners (as of Sunday afternoon) are: Classic Empire (Mark Casse), Epicharis (Kiyoshi Hagiwara), J Boys Echo (Dale Romans), Lookin At Lee (Steve Asmussen), Senior Investment (Kenny McPeek), Tapwrit (Todd Pletcher), and True Timber (Kiaran McLaughlin). Irap (Doug O'Neill), Meantime (Brian Lynch) and Multiplier (Brendan Walsh) are considered likely for the race.

Conquest Mo Money (Miguel Hernandez), Gormley (John Shirreffs), Hollywood Handsome (Dallas Stewart), Irish War Cry (Graham Motion), and Patch (Pletcher) are also possible.

The field for the Belmont Stakes is limited to 16 starters. The largest field to date was 15 runners in the 1983 Belmont, won by Caveat.

*          *          *

Not one inclined to rest, trainer Christophe Clement was a busy man Sunday morning at Belmont Park, overseeing a bevy of works for stakes contenders for the upcoming Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, June 8-10.

Moyglare Stud Farms’ multiple graded stakes winner Celestine, who won the Grade 2 Honey Fox Stakes last out at Gulfstream Park, impressed Clement as she completed five furlongs in 1:01.18 over the main track, through splits of 36 1/5 seconds and 48 2/5.

“I thought she looked very good this morning,” said Clement. “I was pleased with the work.”

Celestine is pointing for the Grade 1, $700,000 Longines Just a Game on Belmont Stakes Day, Clement said, and Jose Ortiz, who has been aboard for her first two starts and wins this year, will retain the mount.

Reigning Grade 3 Jaipur Invitational Stakes winner Pure Sensation breezed five furlongs in 1:01.93, while stablemate Disco Partner completed four furlongs in 50.44 seconds, both also on the main track.

“Pure Sensation looked good this morning,” added Clement. “The plan is to go to the Jaipur with Jose Ortiz. Disco Partner is on target for the race as well with Irad Ortiz, Jr.”

With his set of Belmont Stakes Racing Festival contenders working on the dirt instead of the turf Sunday, Clement added that tactic is usual fare for his training regimen.

“I’ve never worked Disco Partner or Purse Sensation on the turf. I like to keep it consistent by working them on the dirt where it’s easier for me to judge their maintenance and see how they’re doing. I never worked Gio Ponti on the turf and he turned out OK,” said a jovial Clement.

Talented 3-year-old Frostmourne, who ran second in his first start of the year in the April 22 Woodhaven Stakes, worked four furlongs on the inner turf in 49.09 seconds. Clement said he will be pointed for the either the Grade 3, $200,000 Pennine Ridge on June 3 or the Grade 3 Penn Mile at Parx.

Lastly, Clement said 6-year-old Blacktype who finished third in the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes at Pimlico Race Course has come out of the race in good order and would be pointed toward the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker on June 18.

“I thought he ran well,” said Clement. “There was really a pace but he finished well.”

*          *          *

Mohaymen breezed four furlongs in 47.09 seconds behind a pair of workers on the Belmont Park main track, putting in his penultimate work before the Grade 1, $1.2 million Mohegan Sun Metropolitan Handicap on June 10.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he was pleased with the effort for the 4-year-old son of Tapit, who last year won the Grade 2 Holy Bull and the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.

“He got a little bit farther back than we wanted so it was hard to go by them. The two in front of him worked well. But he worked 47, so it was a fast work. He’s doing very well. He was happy after it. He’s doing well and we’ll have one more work and see where we’re at.”

McLaughlin said Mohaymen will work either Saturday, June 3, or the following day depending on the weather for his final breeze before his first Grade 1 start since the King’s Bishop on August 27.

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Grade 2, $500,000 Woody Stephens contender Classic Rock made a positive impression Sunday morning as he made his first appearance on the Belmont Park worktab, breezing a five-furlong bullet in 59:98 seconds on the main track, the fastest of 27 at the distance.

“He looks like he’s on a good schedule,” said trainer Kathy Ritvo. “He handled shipping really well, and he worked really nice this morning, nice and easy. He’s getting better all the time.”

Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, the 3-year-old colt by Maclean’s Music, has gone 3-for-3 at Gulfstream Park, Ritvo’s training base, including a four-length score in the Roar on April 21 with Ritvo’s son Michael aboard. Classic Rock was slated to make his graded stakes debut in the Grade 2 San Vicente in February at Santa Anita Park following his January optional-claiming win, and even shipped to California for the engagement, but a virus knocked him out of consideration for the race.

“We had a setback this winter,” said Ritvo. “We went out to California to run in the San Vicente and he ended up getting sick on us out there. We sent him home and brought him back to Florida when he got better, so he’s had 3 ½ months between his last two races, but he’s won his last three going seven furlongs, so we’re here.”

Classic Rock will breeze again next weekend, said Ritvo, and Luis Saez, who was aboard for the work, will ride in the Woody Stephens.

*          *          *

Tu Brutus has been training well entering the Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn Invitational on Belmont Stakes Day on June 10, trainer Gary Contessa said Sunday morning.

The Chilean-bred 5-year-old won his first North American stakes race with an 11-length score in the Flat Out on May 7 at Belmont Park. He earned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure for that effort, building on a 118 Figure in a second-place finish to Send It In in the Grade 3 Excelsior in his U.S. debut on April 8 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Brooklyn, run at 1 ½ miles, will mark just the second time Tu Brutus has run at the distance. His only other experience came in a third-place finish in the 2016 Group 1 El Derby at Valparaiso in his native country.

“He’s amazing in that he bounces back so quickly,” Contessa said. “He’s been training well. I don’t know if a race like this sets up for anyone going a mile and a half. He’s going to be in front. The question is, ‘does anybody go with him?’ To set up well, I’d like it for him to be in front by himself. He’s been a headstrong horse early on in his races and he hasn’t been quitting. He keeps going.”

Tu Brutus worked five furlongs in 1:01.64 on the Belmont training track on Wednesday. Contessa said Tu Brutus will breeze one final time on Tuesday, which could be pushed to Wednesday, depending on weather conditions. The 5-year-old son of Scat Daddy has a career record of 9-3-3 in 19 starts, including 8-2-3 in 17 starts in Chile before Contessa took over training duties and brought him north.

“It’s just maintenance stuff because he doesn’t need a whole lot,” he said. “He puts a lot into his training.”

Contessa said Tu Brutus could be a possibility for the Grade 1, $1.2 million Whitney on August 5 at Saratoga Race Course if he comes out of the Brooklyn well. That prestigious race, run at 1 1/8 miles, would represent a turnback, which his trainer said could be in his favor.

“Watching his replays of his races in Chile, his mile and an eighth races, he’s even more powerful because he doesn’t make the lead, sits back third or fourth, and just explodes when the rider lets him go,” Contessa said. “He has the constitution to run all day. But I believe he can get a mile and an eighth and I’m not worried about it.”

*          *          *

Putting in his first serious work since returning to the United States, Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse winner Mind Your Biscuits breezed three furlongs in 36.87 seconds on the main track under the watchful eye of trainer Chad Summers. 

“He looked very good this morning, I was pleased with the way he moved,” said Summers. “He didn’t work with blinkers today, we’ll get to that point about a week from the race to tighten him up because he really puts in fast works with them on, but we just wanted to begin the process of getting him ready for the [Grade 2] Belmont Sprint [July 8] and today was a good step in that direction.”

Following the trip to Dubai, Mind Your Biscuits got a short vacation at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky before arriving at Belmont. Summers added that he was looking to chart a similar course to California Chrome following his victory in the 2016 Dubai World Cup, from which he returned to win three consecutive graded stakes races, including the Grade 1 Pacific Classic.

“We liked the way California Chrome was handled following his win in Dubai and it worked for them so we’re hoping it’ll also work out for us, but he’s come back from that break great and we’ll start with the Belmont Sprint. Our long-term goal this summer at Saratoga in the [Grade 1] Forego [August 26].”