Brant out, Six Speed in Woody Stephens
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Brant, a Grade 1-winning 2-year-old who finished fifth in the San Felipe in his lone start at 3, will not run in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens, trainer Bob Baffert said Saturday.
“I’m not going to bring him, I’ll find another spot for him, that’s a tough race,” said Baffert, who mentioned the Grade 3, $275,000 Maxfield Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 28 as a possible spot.
Meanwhile, Six Speed, who finished 13th in the Kentucky Derby after setting the early pace, worked a sharp five furlongs in 1:00 on Saturday morning over Saratoga’s main track and will be entered in the Woody Stephens. It was his second work since being transferred to trainer George Weaver.
“I thought the horse worked well, feels like the horse is training good, we’re running in the Woody Stephens,” Weaver said. “We asked him for more this week, last week was kind of a maintenance work.”
Prior to his run in the Derby, Six Speed, previously trained by Bhupat Seemar, had won three one-turn races including the Group 3 Dubai 2000 Guineas and was second in the UAE Derby at 1 3/16 miles.
Irad Ortiz Jr., who was going to ride Brant, will now ride Six Speed.
Other 3-year-olds pointing to the Woody Stephens, at seven furlongs, include Civil Liberty, Crude Velocity, Englishman, Gilded Bandit, Obliteration and Solitude Dude.
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