English Soul targets Bouwerie Stakes for return

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York-bred 3-year-old filly English Soul worked three furlongs in 36.05 seconds Wednesday over the Belmont Park main track, her first breeze in three months.

English Soul won the East View Stakes at Aqueduct on Jan. 14 but has since been sidelined due to illness and an abscess on her neck. Trainer Ray Handal decided to give English Soul an extended break because she had been in training since she was purchased at auction as a 2-year-old. English Soul was at veterinarian Patty Hogan’s farm in central New Jersey for about a month before returning to Handal’s Belmont Park barn.

“We trained her for about a month, getting some foundation in her,” Handal said. ”It looks like she didn’t miss too much.”

Handal said he is pointing English Soul to the $125,000 Bouwerie Stakes for New York-breds on May 28.