Central Banker pointed to Belmont Sprint Championship

Trainer Al Stall Jr. will be back July 5 in New York to run Central Banker in one of the new races on the revised Belmont Park stakes schedule, the Grade 3, $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship at seven furlongs.

Central Banker won the Grade 2 Churchill Downs on the Derby undercard, then was scratched from the Met Mile on the June 7 Belmont Stakes undercard because of a medication mix-up.

“I just kept him there in New York with my staff,” said Stall. “He’s doing good, ready to run.”

Stall said Departing, third in the Foster, “ran a big race but got a little heavy down the lane. He showed us enough tactical speed and was very comfortable, but I didn’t quite have him fit enough. We gave him such a long rest over the winter, and that was just his second race back. We were asking a lot of him.

“We’ll definitely look at the Whitney” Aug. 2 at Saratoga, said Stall. “He’s never run at Saratoga, but he trained unbelievably well there last year, as good as any horse I’ve ever taken up there in 16 years.”

Stall said he also is excited about a 3-year-old named Rocket Time, a Tiz Wonderful colt who earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure in a 6 1/4-length maiden score Sunday at Churchill. “We’ll probably find an allowance race at Saratoga for him or maybe the Prelude at Louisiana Downs,” he said.

** Jockey Luis Saez has been suspended three days for his role in the disqualification of his mount A Little Bit Sassy from first to fourth in the Regret Stakes here Saturday night. Agent Richard DePass said the suspension will not be appealed and that Saez will miss Saturday, Sunday, and next Thursday.