Belmont 2026: Golden Tempo works with Ortiz aboard; four other hopefuls breeze
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Led by Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, five horses pointing to the $2 million Belmont Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga put in workouts Saturday morning at three different venues.
At Keeneland, where heavy rains prompted trainer Cherie DeVaux to push back by one day a work for her Derby winner, Golden Tempo was credited with a five-furlong workout in 1:00.20 over a track labeled good. Golden Tempo went in company with So Sandy, runner-up in last year’s Curlin Stakes at Saratoga. The pair went out right after the 9 a.m. renovation break and before other horses were permitted on the track.
A video of the work posted on the X account of clocker Bruno De Julio showed Golden Tempo very much in hand under Jose Ortiz as he worked on the inside of So Sandy. De Julio timed Golden Tempo in 47.80 seconds from the half-mile pole to the wire and had him out five furlongs in 1:00.20, six furlongs in 1:13.20, and seven furlongs in 1:27.80.
Ortiz was aboard Golden Tempo for the first time since he guided him to a neck victory in the Kentucky Derby three weeks ago.
“He felt good,” Ortiz said. “He’s always very laid back, he’s very quiet. He just goes out there and does his job. He worked good, honestly. I’m very happy with the work.”
DeVaux, who appreciated the job Keeneland maintenance did for getting the track in good condition following plenty of rain and for allowing her to work over an empty track, said she was “really pleased” with what she saw from Golden Tempo.
“It looks like he took another step forward from the Derby,” DeVaux said. “Jose was aboard and said the same thing. Jose has the best opinion as far as where we’re at, he knows him, and he had a hard time pulling the horse up.”
DeVaux said she hopes to be able to give Golden Tempo an easier half-mile move next Friday at Keeneland and then ship him to Saratoga next weekend.
At Saratoga, Chief Wallabee, the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, worked five furlongs in 1:01.16 over the Oklahoma training track, per Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch. Chief Wallabee began the move two lengths in front of Gilded Bandit – a recent allowance winner – and went in splits of 24.03 and 48.59 to the wire before competing the work in 1:01.16 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.28. Chief Wallabee finished three lengths in front of his workmate.
“That was fast enough for him,” trainer Bill Mott said. “That’s the type of work I wanted. . . . I just wanted a little pressure behind him. I thought [Gilded Bandit] might go up and join him, but he kept going pretty good.”
Also at Saratoga, Emerging Market, the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby who finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby, worked a half-mile in 50.19. He worked in company with fellow 3-year-old Hadrian’s Wall (second in both career starts), leaving that one nearing the wire and galloping out five furlongs in 1:03.96.
“I did a little more with him this week and I liked what I saw,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He galloped out really well. The horse is doing really good.”
At Belmont Park, Brown’s other two Belmont prospects, Ottinho and Growth Equity, worked a half-mile together in 49.80. Ottinho, the Blue Grass Stakes runner-up, in blinkers, was on the inside of Growth Equity, the Peter Pan winner. The pair galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.80.
Ottinho suffered a foot bruise after the Blue Grass and has been training in a bar shoe, but is not likely to run in it, Brown said.
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“I think he can get out of it by race day,” Brown said. “He’s going great in it. The horse has really picked up the last two weeks. He definitely wants the mile and a quarter. The question with him, is he fast enough numbers-wise?”
Brown has seen enough from Growth Equity where he has basically confirmed him as a starter for the Belmont.
“At the end of the day, he’s by a Derby winner [Nyquist], he handled the mile and an eighth the right way, his [speed] figures keep getting faster every race, and the field is not quite as deep as the Derby was,” Brown said. “He’s fresh, he’s in good form.”
As of Saturday, there were still 11 horses under consideration for the Belmont Stakes, the field for which will be drawn on June 1. Others under consideration include Chip Honcho, Commandment, Ocelli, Potente, Renegade, and Powershift.
– additional reporting by Mike Welsch
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