Blinkers help Unified focus in work

ELMONT, N.Y. – When Jimmy Jerkens gave Unified his last serious workout for Saturday’s Grade 2, $350,000 Belmont Sprint Championship, he equipped the colt with blinkers even though he has never run in them and won’t on Saturday.

In that workout on June 29, Unified went five furlongs in 1:00.27, the fastest of 17 breezes at the distance.

“Sometimes when he’s by himself on the main track, he’s in la-la land, and I wanted to work him on the track he’s going to run on,” Jerkens said. “I just wanted to make sure he was on the bit a little bit.”

Unified has four wins from six starts. One loss came by a neck to Green Gratto in the Carter on April 8, a race from which he emerged with filling in a hind leg. The other loss was a fifth in last year’s Grade 3 Pegasus, a race around two turns.

In the Belmont Sprint, which awards an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 4 at Del Mar, Unified will be reunited with Jose Ortiz, who has ridden him four times. Ortiz was at Keeneland on April 8, and Javier Castellano rode Unified that day.

Those expected for the Belmont Sprint include Mind Your Biscuits, Green Gratto, Awesome Slew, Cadeyrn, Fellowship, Stallwalkin’ Dude, and Tommy Macho.

◗ Gun Runner, the seven-length winner of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs on June 17, worked a half-mile in 50.42 seconds on Monday over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga. Gun Runner is pointing to the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 5.