Catching Unified won't be easy in Peter Pan
ELMONT, N.Y. – Someday, trainer Jimmy Jerkens may want to see Unified sit off another horse in a race. Saturday would not seem like the right day.
Unified looks like the primary speed in a field of eight entered for Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. The Peter Pan, for 3-year-olds on dirt, is one of four graded events on an 11-race card that begins at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
Unified will be stretching out from seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles in the Peter Pan, but the race is run around one turn. This is only his third start, but Unified has shown brilliance in winning a six-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream in February and the seven-furlong, Grade 3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct last month.
“I kind of wanted to get that distance into him,” said Jerkens, who trains Unified for Centennial Farms. “He’s better than your average horse the way he’s run his first two starts. Sometimes you can afford to cut a few corners a little bit, make that next step when they’re really gifted like Quality Road was.”
Jerkens was the first trainer of Quality Road, and Unified is following a similar pattern. Quality Road won his career debut going 6 1/2 furlongs, then was beaten in a seven-furlong allowance sprint. In his third start, Quality Road won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, which in 2009 was a one-turn mile.
Unified has not only shown talent in the afternoon, he’s displayed grit in the morning. Jerkens notes that horses he’s worked with his older horse Team Colors – most recently second in the Skip Away Stakes – have been intimidated by the large gray colt. In preparation for the Bay Shore, Unified worked head-and-head with Team Colors while on the inside of him.
“Every horse I worked with Team Colors, they went right out the backdoor,” Jerkens said. “He didn’t. He was very gritty down in there. It was good to see.”
Jerkens is confident that Unified will be able to get the 1 1/8 miles of the Peter Pan. But he doesn’t want to see Unified set sprinter-type fractions.
“He’s got to settle the right way,” Jerkens said. “I don’t think he has to be on the lead, the way he trains in the morning. He acts like he likes to have a target.”
Decorated Soldier, the winner of the Northern Spur Stakes at Oaklawn, and Adventist, third in a trio of graded stakes, including the Wood Memorial, are the primary threats.
KEY CONTENDERS
Unified, by Candy Ride
Beyers: 102-99
◗ Scored a front-running victory in the Bay Shore going seven furlongs, beating King Kranz by three lengths. King Kranz came back to win the Gold Fever Stakes here on April 29.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Unified. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens is 16-4-3-2 with a $5.08 ROI over the past two years in dirt route graded stakes with last-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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DRF FORMULATOR fact: Over the last three years, Jerkens is 8 for 40 with a $2.01 ROI when going sprint to route, including a 6-for-28 mark on dirt over that span.
Decorated Soldier, by Proud Citizen
Last 3 Beyers: 87-73-40
◗ Stretched out from 6 1/2 furlongs to a two-turn mile in winning the Northern Spur Stakes on April 16.
“He had a pretty wide trip all the way around there and fought on resolutely throughout,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, a three-time Peter Pan winner.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Decorated Soldier. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 16-6-1-3 with a $2.55 ROI over the past two years in dirt route graded stakes on the NYRA circuit with John Velazquez aboard last-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Adventist, by Any Given Saturday
Last 3 Beyers: 89-84-85
◗ He has finished third in a trio of graded stakes around two turns, encountering some trouble in all three races.
◗ He may actually be better suited to the one-turn route.
“This is a nicer scenario, not necessarily because he’s not a two-turn horse,” said trainer Leah Gyarmati. “He is. He’s shown up very well going two turns. Maybe this offers us less opportunity to get in trouble.”
◗ He is reunited with Irad Ortiz Jr., aboard for the colt’s maiden win last December at Aqueduct.