Gulfstream Park: Social Inclusion has sharp workout for Aqueduct's Wood Memorial

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Twenty-four hours before he was scheduled to board a van headed for Aqueduct, Social Inclusion worked a half-mile in 46.90 seconds Saturday morning at cloudy, muggy Gulfstream Park.

Among the first horses to breeze following the early renovation break, Social Inclusion, with jockey Luis Contreras up, broke off at the half-mile pole and went in fractions of 11.94 seconds and 23.50 for the opening quarter-mile. With his ears straight up, Social Inclusion floated through a final quarter in 23.40. He galloped out five furlongs in 59.79 and pulled up six furlongs in 1:14.13.

“He’s unbelievable the way he works so easy,” Contreras said. “I asked him a little bit at the end, but he was in hand.”

“I was very pleased by the way he worked,” trainer Manny Azpurua said. “I expected that type of work; he may have even done it better than I expected.”

In the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 5, Social Inclusion will attempt to officially join the Triple Crown trail. Social Inclusion won a six-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream by 7 1/2 lengths, running six furlongs in 1:09.35. He came back three weeks later and won a conditioned allowance race by 10 lengths over the Grade 2 winner Honor Code. Social Inclusion ran 1 1/16 miles in a track-record 1:40.97 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 111, the highest posted by a 3-year-old this year.

Azpurua said he would have preferred to have stayed home and run in Saturday’s Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, but owner Ron Sanchez preferred to wait the extra week and point to the Wood.

“We take the chance to go to New York and hope he runs a good race,” Azpurua said. “I believe everything is going good; now it all depends on the track and the weather, but I believe he’s really a good horse.”

Entries for the Wood will be taken Wednesday. As of Saturday, the field remained in flux, ranging from eight to 13 possible starters. Those considered definite were Samraat, Social Inclusion, Uncle Sigh, Harpoon, Tonalist, Kristo, Los Borrachos, and Wicked Strong. Possible starters include Effinex, Kid Kruz, Noble Moon, Oliver Zip, and Schivarelli.

On Saturday at Aqueduct, Noble Moon worked six furlongs in 1:14.40 in company with the Grade 1-winning filly Sweet Reason.

Noble Moon has not raced since winning the Grade 2 Jerome at Aqueduct on Jan. 4, and trainer Leah Gyarmati is not sure the Wood is the ideal spot to run off a three-month layoff.

“If he comes out of this really, really good and is bouncing off the walls, I might give it a shot,” Gyarmati said. “If he’s just normal, I might wait. It was a good work. I’m going to wait another day or two to get this figured out.”

Cleburne targets Calder Derby

Cleburne, unraced since winning the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs on Sept. 7, will make his 3-year-old debut in the $250,000 Calder Derby next Saturday, trainer Dale Romans said.

Cleburne was entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile but had to scratch due to a bucked shin. He has wintered in south Florida, breezing six times since early February, including a five-furlong move in 1:01.46 on Saturday at Gulfstream.

“I thought he worked very well today,” Romans said. “It would be too much to ask to run in one of those big preps off the layoff. We have 10 points toward the Derby; we’ll sit with them and see what happens.”

In the Calder Derby, Cleburne will take on Ring Weekend, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby.

Also Saturday, Medal Count worked for Romans, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.38. Plans for Medal Count, fifth in the Fountain of Youth, are still “up in the air,” according to Romans.