Catholic Boy has eventful work; Diversify breezes a half-mile

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Jonathan Thomas had himself a few anxious moments while watching his 2018 Travers winner Catholic Boy work over the Belmont Park training track shortly before 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Catholic Boy was about an eighth of a mile into his breeze under jockey Javier Castellano when the sirens went on, indicating a loose horse on the track. Castellano kept Catholic Boy on the inner rail but eased back on the throttle noticeably approaching the quarter pole and until almost mid-stretch, at which point the rider-less horse passed by, in the opposite direction, an outrider in hot pursuit.

With the danger safely passed, Castellano allowed Catholic Boy to pick up the pace once again, galloping out a strong quarter-mile past the wire and around the turn.

“There was a moment or two where things got a little uncomfortable, there’s always a point where you worry the loose horse might drop down near the rail,” Thomas said a couple of hours later at his barn. “But Javier has great awareness, he just kind of let him slow down a little bit and when he saw the other horse had cleared, let him kick on and gallop out well. All and all, things are going to happen, and this went about as well as it could under the circumstances.”

Fortunately, for Thomas, the race he is pointing for with Catholic Boy, the Grade 1 Suburban, is still four weeks away.

“If this happened in his last work a week before the race, or something like that, I might be concerned,” said Thomas. “But right now we’re in a good maintenance pattern with him. He came back great, full of energy. We’ll probably start taking him over to the main and picking things up with him next week.”

The versatile Catholic Boy launched his 2019 campaign May 18 with a popular victory on the turf under Castellano in the Grade 2 Dixie on at Pimlico.

A couple of minutes before Catholic Boy’s eventful breeze, his new stablemate Diversify turned in a more conventional work on the training track, going an easy half-mile in 50.18 before galloping out a strong five furlongs in 1:03.02 and easing up six panels in 1:16.13.

Diversify was transferred to Thomas’ barn by owner Ralph Evans several months after the passing of trainer Rick Violette, for whom Diversify won both the Suburban and Grade 1 Whitney last season. Sunday’s work was his fourth here for Thomas since May 11.

“I thought he was good to the wire and then he went ahead and galloped out nicely,” said Thomas. “We know he’s fast, so we’re trying to get a good foundation in him before we begin to hook him into company in a week or two. I’d say if all continues to go well, he’s probably a month or so away from a start, although we’ve got nothing picked out for him at the moment.