Eddington has aggressive workout

ELMONT, N.Y. - Eddington, the third-place finisher in the Preakness, completed preparations for Saturday's 136th Belmont Stakes by working a sharp five furlongs in 59.10 seconds Sunday morning at Belmont Park.

Jerry Bailey, the regular rider of Eddington, was in the irons for the move, which was done in company with the maiden winning 3-year-old Withprobability. The plan was for the stablemate to act as a target for Eddington, but Withprobability never got far enough in front of Eddington to accomplish that. Eddington was aggressive throughout the move, according to Bailey, and finished about a half-length in front at the wire.

"I tried to slow him down but you look at him and you look at me," Bailey said. "I wanted a target as far as I could have one and the other horse just stayed enough to keep him aggressive. He was aggressive and he's focused right now. Can he keep it through a mile and a half, that's the question."

Trainer Mark Hennig said he was looking for a work in the 1:00-to-1:01 range, but is hoping the aggressiveness Eddington showed is a good sign.

"I'd love to see him get aggressive," Hennig said. "Both Jerry and I have always felt confident he has the ability it's just a matter of him being aggressive enough and developing that instinct to want to go after somebody or get the job done."

Also working Sunday at Belmont Park was Master David, the Wood Memorial runner-up who finished ninth in the Kentucky Derby. Master David worked six furlongs in 1:13 with jockey Jose Santos in the irons. Master David worked in company with the 4-year-old Ten Cents a Shine, who has not run since finishing ninth in last year's Preakness.

Trainer Bobby Frankel continues to give mixed signals about whether Master David will run in the Belmont Stakes. First, Frankel said he wouldn't have worked Master David eight days after he finished third in the Peter Pan Stakes if he wasn't going to run. "But, that doesn't mean I'm going to run either," Frankel said. "Just in case something happens."

Frankel said Saturday Master David was more likely to run in the $200,000 Northern Dancer Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 12.

If Master David does run, Santos will ride. Last year, the Frankel-trained Empire Maker won the Belmont, stopping Funny Cide and Santos's bid for the Triple Crown.

Also on Sunday, trainer Angel Medina confirmed that Caiman would run in the Belmont and that Ramon Dominguez, the second-leading rider in the country in terms of wins, would ride. Caiman, who is coming off two allowance wins at Hawthorne Park, was schedule to arrive in New York by van early Monday morning.