Graded stakes will have to wait for Matt King Coal

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Linda Rice said that Matt King Coal, a 5 3/4-length maiden winner at Belmont on Oct. 29, will skip graded stakes opportunities this weekend and point for the Grade 3, $200,000 Jerome over Aqueduct’s inner track Jan. 2.

Rice had considered running Matt King Coal in either the Grade 2, $300,000 Remsen at Aqueduct or the Grade 2, $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs, both this Saturday. But with Matt King Coal having raced twice in October and having put up a Beyer Speed Figure of 96 in his maiden win, Rice thinks he might be better served by waiting.

“I just ran him back in less than a month, and he ran a big number, fast Ragozin sheet number, so I’m just going to give him 60 days and start him out as a fresh 3-year-old,” Rice said.

Rice also will use patience with Seymourdini, a 2-year-old son of Bernardini who won a one-mile maiden race by nine lengths last Sunday at Aqueduct. Breaking from the outside post, he easily made the lead after an opening quarter of 23.53 seconds and widened his advantage while in hand around the turn. He covered a mile in 1:38.40 while being mildly urged the last 70 yards. His final time was slower than that of Shagaf, a first-time starter by Bernardini trained by Chad Brown.

Shagaf stalked the pace before drawing clear inside the eighth pole and winning by six lengths Sunday. Shagaf ran a mile in 1:37.61 and was assigned an 87 Beyer. Seymourdini received a 79.