Bravazo completes final major work before Belmont

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – D. Wayne Lukas knows as well as anyone what’s important in training racehorses, but even he believes the meaning of a workout can be overstated. So, after Lukas sent Bravazo through a one-mile drill Thursday morning at Churchill Downs with Danielle Rosier aboard, he wasn’t about to pick apart every detail.

“That went real well,” Lukas said, “although [Rosier] was worried about it beforehand. I told her, ‘We’re not saving lives here, we’re not going to get the Nobel Prize for this.’ But actually, she did a real good job.”

Bravazo was timed in 1:42.60 by Churchill clocker John Nichols in what will be his lone major work prior to the June 9 Belmont Stakes. He finished a late-closing second behind Justify in the May 19 Preakness. The move went just as designed by Lukas, the Hall of Fame trainer who can claim four Belmont wins among his record-tying 14 victories in Triple Crown events.

“I thought the track was pretty dead today, so the time was very close to what I wanted,” Lukas said. “I’ve had luck doing this type of work between the Preakness and Belmont before.”

Over a fast surface, Bravazo passed under the wire with full momentum before turning in fractions of 13.20, 25.60, 38.20, 1:03.40, 1:16.60, and 1:30, with a nine-furlong out time of 1:58. The colt will ship by van Monday to New York in the company of stablemate Warrior’s Club, who runs in the Metropolitan Mile on the Belmont undercard.

“The Belmont’s a little different animal,” Lukas said. “I thought we wouldn’t have to do much more than this before we head out.”

Bravazo, a Calumet Farm homebred by Awesome Again, will be looking to foil a Triple Crown sweep by Justify in the 150th running of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont. Lukas has been extremely pleased with how Bravazo came out of the Preakness.

“His energy has been good and his attitude has been what you want to see,” he said.

While Bravazo was working, Justify was merely jogging clockwise around the outside perimeter of the one-mile track in his first day back to the track following a half-mile breeze Tuesday in 46.80 seconds. Jimmy Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, accompanied Justify and exercise rider Humberto Gomez throughout the simple routine while astride the Baffert stable pony.

“He felt strong in the saddle,” Barnes said. “He’s happy.”

Baffert, who had been in Louisville to oversee two training sessions including the Tuesday work, is scheduled to return this weekend from his California home. He is considering another breeze Monday for Justify before the colt is flown Wednesday to New York.

By winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Justify gave Baffert his 13th and 14th wins in Triple Crown races, tying Lukas. Justify will be seeking to become the 13th horse to sweep the Triple Crown and just the second to do so while unbeaten, following Seattle Slew in 1977.

Seahenge to arrive Tuesday

Seahenge is expected to arrive in New York on Tuesday from Ireland for a run in the Belmont Stakes.

Ryan Moore is expected to ride Seahenge, according to T.J. Comerford, the head traveling assistant to trainer Aidan O’Brien.

Seahenge is a Kentucky-bred son of Scat Daddy who finished seventh in the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile in the slop at Churchill Downs. Seahenge was 13th early on in the 14-horse field, and did pass some horses to finish seventh, 13 3/4 lengths behind the upset winner Funny Duck.

”He ran okay,” Comerford said. “He came through with a pretty good finish.”

In his only other start on dirt, he was beaten 26 lengths by Mendelssohn in the Group 2 UAE Derby in March. Seahenge was a Group 2 winner going seven furlongs on turf last September.

Seahenge is a half-brother to International Star, a three-time graded stakes winner on dirt during the 2015 run-up to the Triple Crown.

Meanwhile, Bandua, the other expected European shipper, is only 50-50 to run now, trainer Dermot Weld said Wednesday.

Weld said he would likely have a final decision Sunday.

– additional reporting by David Grening

PROSPECTIVE BELMONT STAKES FIELD

HORSE	TRAINER	JOCKEY	LAST RACE/FINISH
Bandua	Dermot Weld	TBD	Allowance - 1st (Cork - IRE)
Blended Citizen	Doug O'Neill	Kyle Frey	Peter Pan Stakes - 1st (BEL)
Bravazo	D. Wayne Lukas	Luis Saez	Preakness - 2nd (PIM)
Free Drop Billy	Dale Romans	Robby Albarado	Kentucky Derby - 16th (CD)
Gronkowski	Chad Brown	Jose Ortiz	Burradon Stakes - 1st (Newcastle - ENG)
Hofburg	Bill Mott	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Kentucky Derby - 7th (CD)
Justify	Bob Baffert	Mike Smith	Preakness - 1st (PIM)
Noble Indy	Todd Pletcher	Javier Castellano	Kentucky Derby - 17th (CD)
Restoring Hope	Bob Baffert	Flavien Prat	Pat Day Mile - 12th (CD)
Seahenge	Aidan O'Brien	Ryan Moore	Pat Day Mile - 7th (CD)
Tenfold	Steve Asmussen	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Preakness - 3rd (PIM)
Vino Rosso	Todd Pletcher	John Velazquez	Kentucky Derby - 9th (CD)