Belmont Park: Aruna targets New York Handicap

ELMONT, N.Y. - Aruna, winner of the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay on May 26, will make a return trip to Belmont Park for the Grade 2, $200,000 New York Handicap on June 30, trainer Graham Motion said.

Motion said that his main summer objective for Aruna is the Beverly D. at Arlington Park on Aug. 18, but he doesn’t want to wait that long to run her back.

“It’s a long wait from the Sheepshead Bay,” Motion said. “It makes sense for her to have another race in between.”

Motion said that Went the Day Well, who finished 10th in the Preakness after running fourth in the Kentucky Derby, will likely target the Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 28.

Motion said that Animal Kingdom, last year’s Kentucky Derby winner, is galloping in the fields at Fair Hill and will soon be transferred to the track.

“Everything’s going very well with him,” Motion said. “He hasn’t lost as much fitness as did the last time.”

Motion was referring to last year when Animal Kingdom was sidelined following the Belmont Stakes and needed to undergo surgery to repair a hind leg fracture.