Belmont Stakes: Sloppy track welcomes Exaggerator to New York

ELMONT, N.Y. – Rain and a sloppy track made for an appropriate setting Monday morning, when Preakness winner Exaggerator visited Belmont Park’s main track for the first time as he continued preparations for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes here on June 11.

Shortly before 8 a.m., with heavy showers having turned to lighter rain, Exaggerator came through the paddock tunnel, went off the right way, and, after jogging for an eighth of a mile, galloped about 1 1/2 miles over the sloppy track. Exaggerator pulled up at the 1 3/8-mile pole, walked back through the paddock, and went home.

“I think he went at a real decent clip. He was such a handful back here trying to walk him,” said Julie Clark, assistant to trainer Keith Desormeaux. “He certainly didn’t seem to mind the track at all.”

Exaggerator won the Santa Anita Derby and Preakness over sloppy tracks.

Clark said being able to train Monday should help Desormeaux figure out how he wants to train Exaggerator for the rest of the week. Desormeaux isn’t sure whether to breeze Saturday or wait until next Tuesday.

Exaggerator arrived at Belmont on Sunday following a relatively quick four-hour van ride from Pimlico. Conditions were much different Sunday, as it was sunny and hot when Exaggerator arrived. As hotwalker Victor Vargas walked Exaggerator around a tree in a courtyard between barns 29 and 30, the 3-year-old almost tried to rear and looked as though he wanted to roll in the dirt.

“That’s him [being] mellow,” Clark said.

Exaggerator had a relatively easy week following his 3 1/2-length victory in the Preakness on May 21. He went back to the track on May 24 and 25, walked for two days, then went to the track Saturday before shipping on Sunday without training.

Overall, Clark likes the way Exaggerator has rebounded from the Preakness.

“He had started to put on just a little weight – he doesn’t really drop much – but he started to look a little more filled out instead of tucked up,” Clark said Sunday.

Heavy rain fell overnight and into Monday morning, and Clark was trying to find a window to send Exaggerator to the track without getting rained on. Clark sent Exaggerator from her barn to the paddock a little after 7:45, when the rain was fairly light. Clark said she liked the way Exaggerator behaved in the paddock.

“I’m hoping that carries over for schooling and race day,” she said. “That to and from the paddock, he can be a handful.”

◗ Lani stayed in the barn Monday after stretching his legs with a vigorous gallop Sunday morning over the main track. He is scheduled to have a timed workout Wednesday, according to Keita Tanaka, the agent for owner Koji Maeda.

◗ On Sunday at Churchill Downs, Suddenbreakingnews worked six furlongs in 1:12.40. Trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel moved the work up a day to avoid forecasted wet weather in Louisville, Ky., on Monday.

Going solo under Joe Rocco Jr. while equipped with his familiar shadow roll and breastplate, the Mineshaft ridgling went in splits of 24.40 seconds, 36.60, 48.60, and 1:00.20, according to Churchill clocker John Nichols. His seven-furlong out time was 1:25.40.

“I thought he looked good,” said Von Hemel. “He went real smooth and galloped out strong. Everything seems to be in order.”

Suddenbreakingnews likely will be the last Belmont horse to arrive as he will do all his serious training at Churchill before shipping June 7.

– additional reporting by Marty McGee