Adventist stays sharp in case he gets Derby call

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – While his connections wait to see if there will be the necessary defections to make it into the Kentucky Derby field, Adventist worked a half-mile in 48.81 seconds Thursday over the Belmont Park training track.

Adventist, equipped with blinkers and working by himself, went his first quarter in 25.17 seconds and his second in 23.64. Trainer Leah Gyarmati, via two-way radio, instructed exercise rider Eduardo Azocar to let Adventist finish, and Azocar got after the colt a little bit.

“I just wanted him to kind of pick it up the last few jumps just so he’s got in his head [to finish],” Gyarmati said. “I wanted something that doesn’t take anything out of him but yet keeps him on his toes. He galloped out really good, too. I thought it was really good.”

Adventist galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.37 and six furlongs in 1:18.03.

Adventist , third in the Withers, Gotham, and Wood Memorial, sits 22nd on the Kentucky Derby points list, meaning he needs two horses to drop out in order to make it into the body of the race. He still could be entered as an also-eligible, a decision his owner Jeff Treadway and Gyarmati have yet to make.

“I’ll let that be Jeff’s call,” Gyarmati said. “It’s his money.”

If he doesn’t enter the Derby, potential options for Adventist’s next start could be the Preakness or Peter Pan.