Atreides targets Belmont's Kelso Handicap

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Local sensation Atreides, who is undefeated, unchallenged, and owns three consecutive triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, will take to the road to make his graded stakes debut in the Grade 2, $400,000 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park on Sept. 27.

Atreides captured his debut by 5 1/4 lengths going six furlongs with a 105 Beyer at Gulfstream Park on July 12 and an entry-level allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs by three lengths, worth a 102 Beyer, four weeks later. He then rolled to a 17 1/2-length triumph in the one-mile Monarchos Stakes on Aug. 30, posting another 105 Beyer.

“Right now, it looks like we’ll be going to Belmont for the Kelso,” trainer Marty Wolfson said Wednesday. “The other option would be the Indiana Derby the following week, but that’s around two turns, and I really don’t want to send him two turns yet. And it looks like we’ll be able to get [Joel] Rosario if we run in the Kelso.”

Wolfson said he has no long-range plans for Atreides, a homebred son of Medaglia d’Oro and a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Dreaming of Julia who is owned by Stonestreet Stables.

“At the moment, I’m not thinking of anything beyond the Kelso,” Wolfson said. “We haven’t even discussed the Breeders’ Cup. I’ve been dealing with John Moynihan, who manages this horse for Barbara Banke, and I have to say, you couldn’t find a better group of people to work for or a better owner than she is.”

Wolfson said Atreides’s best asset is his ability to relax, both in the mornings and when he runs.

“He relaxes beautifully and definitely doesn’t have to be on the lead, like he was in the Monarchos,” Wolfson said. “And one thing I can say for sure, he has the prettiest head of any horse I’ve ever trained.”

Barnmates prep for Musical Romance

Wolfson worked two of his nine nominees for next week’s Musical Romance Stakes over a wet track here Wednesday. Heart Stealer, who had to bypass the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga due to a recurring foot abscess, went an easy half-mile in 49.30 seconds shortly after a brief downpour soaked the track just before 8 a.m.

Flores Island completed the same distance in 49.39 after the renovation break, finishing and galloping out the best of the pair.

“I’m thinking of running both in the Musical Romance, although I really hate running them against one another,” Wolfson said. “I also have another filly for the same race I really like a lot, Georgia, who’ll breeze here [Thursday].”

◗ Wolfson has another regally bred 3-year-old in the barn, Wait No More, who is set to launch her career here in Friday’s fourth race. Wait No More is a homebred daughter by Medaglia d’Oro out of the multiple Grade 1 winner Wait a While owned by Alan Cohen’s Arindel Farms. She will break from the rail and goes five furlongs on turf in her debut.