Classic Empire has first jog since Preakness

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Classic Empire returned to training for the first time since his gutsy runner-up finish in last weekend’s Preakness by jogging around the Churchill Downs oval early Friday morning under the watchful eye of Norman Casse.

“He was great,” said Casse, assistant to his father, trainer Mark Casse.

Working on the assumption that neither Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming nor Preakness winner Cloud Computing will run in the June 10 Belmont Stakes, Classic Empire looms a clear-cut favorite for the third leg of the Triple Crown. Travel arrangements are indefinite.

J Boys Echo easing back

J Boys Echo, termed “probable” for the Belmont by trainer Dale Romans, was scheduled to breeze here Saturday in his first workout since a 15th-place finish in the Derby.

“We’ll see how he does and evaluate our situation as we go,” Romans said.

Shortly after the Derby, Romans said he was inclined to point J Boys Echo to the $250,000 Iowa Derby on July 7 at Prairie Meadows, but now “everything is step by step,” he said Friday.

Paden loves Churchill

Few horses have shown a more pronounced preference for a particular track than Paden has shown for Churchill. The 6-year-old gelding won again here Thursday when grinding out a neck victory in a first-level allowance, moving his career record to 8 for 18 at Churchill. Elsewhere, his record is 2 for 18.

Not surprisingly, trainer Tom Amoss said he hopes to find another race here for Paden before the spring meet closes June 30.

Whitmore possible for True North

Whitmore, whose victory in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap on the Preakness undercard at Pimlico further entrenched him as one of the premier sprinters in North America, could run next in the Grade 2, $250,000 True North, a six-furlong race on June 9, the day before the Belmont Stakes, in New York, according to trainer Ron Moquett.

Mindful of the six-furlong Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 4 at Del Mar, Moquett said he is reluctant to have Whitmore stretch out to longer distances this year.

Limousine Liberal points to Aristides

Trainer Ben Colebrook has confirmed Limousine Liberal as a probable starter for the Grade 3, $100,000 Aristides, which highlights the action here next week.

A 13-1 winner of the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes on the Derby undercard, Limousine Liberal is one of at least a half-dozen older horses deemed likely for the six-furlong Aristides, which anchors a June 3 card that also will include the $65,000 Mighty Beau for turf sprinters.

◗ Jockey Robby Albarado was a visitor to the Churchill jockeys’ room last weekend and told track publicity Friday that he is “a couple of weeks away” from returning to the saddle. Albarado is recovering from a lower-leg fracture sustained in an April 23 spill at Keeneland.

◗ Jockey Francisco Torres has targeted the July 1 opener of the Ellis Park summer meet for his return to the saddle. Torres fractured his C-6 vertebra and his tailbone in a March 30 spill at Fair Grounds. The 48-year-old jockey has ridden nearly 3,200 winners in a career dating to 1986.

◗ Jockey Manoel Cruz has hired Tony King as his agent while planning to ride primarily on the Kentucky circuit for the rest of the year. Cruz, a winner of nearly 2,800 races in North America since 2001, won the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap aboard Some in Tieme on May 20, his 47th birthday.