Belmont Stakes workouts: California Chrome looks to be peaking

ELMONT, N.Y. – Heavy rain turned the track to a sea of slop on Thursday, with training limited to the outer half of the strip.

California Chrome jogged a mile, schooled in the starting gate like an old pro, then galloped another 1 1/4 miles and looked good doing it over the wet track.

After a couple of lackluster days, Ride On Curlin looked like his old self Thursday morning, dragging his rider down the stretch as he had prior to his seven-furlong work last Sunday. Samraat visited the track for the first time since shipping over from Aqueduct on Wednesday, jogging twice around – three full miles – in a downpour after the renovation break. Tonalist, Commanding Curve and Matuszak also skipped along nicely over the sloppy going, putting in strong gallops.[bc_playlist_id:234438:]

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The following are final thoughts on the 11 Belmont starters based on impressions made during training hours in New York over the last couple of weeks, with a lending hand from fellow Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Vesce.

Belmont Park: Raining, track sloppy, 57 degrees.

Medal Count has done all his training leading up to the Belmont at Churchill Downs, where he had made a very favorable impression prior to the Kentucky Derby only to lose his best chance due to an unlucky trip. Willing to give him a mulligan, especially in light of the two bullets works he posted at Churchill prior to shipping to New York on Thursday.

California Chrome still isn’t the prettiest mover in the morning, but all in all he’s had a very good last 10 days leading up to his quest to sweep the Triple Crown. His only workout since the Derby was eye-catching here last Saturday, an easy half-mile followed by a sensational half-mile gallop-out that carried him all the way around the clubhouse turn. He has gotten smoother and stronger on a daily basis coming out of that work. He’s hard to bet on at 3-5, but he’s also hard to bet against with any real confidence considering the way he seems to be coming into the race.

Matterhorn is a decided longshot, and his only work since his third-place finish in the Peter Pan was a maintenance-type half-mile in company with Commissioner over the training track on Sunday. He did little to suggest he might outrun his big price on Belmont Day.

Commanding Curve has had a very solid week since arriving from Churchill Downs. His one local work was good, not great, but much stronger than his final prep prior to his second-place finish in the Derby. His daily gallops have been extremely impressive, giving every indication he’s fit and ready to go the 12 furlongs and prove his performance at 37-1 in the Derby was not a fluke.

Ride On Curlin is likely the most aggressive galloper in the field, so it was a bit disconcerting when he did not display that same energy level the first couple of mornings coming out of Sunday’s seven-furlong drill, which was an average work similar to his final breeze prior to the Derby. But the Preakness runner-up was back to his old self on Wednesday, dragging his exercise rider around coming down the stretch over a wet track, perhaps an indication he’s capable of repeating his improved effort at Pimlico.

Matuszak will have to really step up his game to match strides with others in this field. After a couple of local drills that did not impress Vesce, he looked razor sharp to both of us on Sunday, finishing full of run without need of encouragement while readily pulling away from his workmate before galloping out extremely well into the turn. His gallops coming out of the work also have been strong, and it appears he’s cycling to his peak form at just the right time.

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Samraat has had a couple of mile works, one each at Belmont and Aqueduct, leading up to the Belmont. Both were orchestrated in typical Rick Violette fashion where he starts off slowly and is asked to finish. He washed out quite a bit in his Belmont drill, but less so last weekend at Aqueduct, responding with good energy when set down. He galloped out very willingly on both occasions. He gives the impression that he continues to maintain very consistent form and that he’s eligible to outrun his odds with the right trip on Saturday.

Commissioner got a bit hot but outfinished Intense Holiday when asked in his May 25 work, according to Vesce, but it’s hard to gauge how much that meant considering Intense Holiday suffered a career-ending injury during the drill. He came back with just a maintenance half-mile in company with Matterhorn last Sunday, and seemed the stronger of the pair on the gallop-out. He is showing signs he could be on the verge of delivering the kind of performance expected of him earlier at 3.

Wicked Strong looks ready to deliver a career-best effort if his last two works are any indication. Really impressed Vesce going a solid mile on May 25, caught my eye just cruising five furlongs in 59 over the training track again last weekend when given a pretty good target to chase, by chance, in Palace Malice, last year’s Belmont winner. Winner of the Wood Memorial, Wicked Strong is one of many in this field who seem to be on top of his game.

General a Rod, like Medal Count, did not arrive until Thursday, and his one work since the Preakness was a bullet at the Churchill Downs training center. He had trained okay when I last saw him prior to the Derby, and does have trip excuses in the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Tonalist has been extremely impressive over the past 10 days, turning in a steady series of strong jogs and gallops while stretching out nicely and looking every bit like a 3-year-old who should have little trouble handling the distance. We certainly haven’t seen the best of him yet. His final Belmont work was good – not great – in company with Life in Shambles, who was going easiest of the pair to the wire through a 35.30 final three-eighths. According to Vesce, the work was very similar to Tonalist’s final drill with the same mate prior to his easy tally in the Peter Pan.