Imperial Hint headed to True North

Imperial Hint has bounced back from his sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day and turned in a sharp work at his home base of Parx on May 25. He is scheduled to work again this week and then run in the Grade 2 True North at Belmont Park next Friday.

Trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. considered both the $250,000 True North and the $75,000 Mr. Prospector at Monmouth Park as potential races for Imperial Hint, but settled on the more ambitious spot.

“His coat is all dappled out,” Carvajal said. “He’s doing really good.”

Imperial Hint won four of five starts last year at 4, and concluded his campaign with a strong runner-up effort to Roy H in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita.

“Last year I would pick spots for him where he might not have to run against the top horses, but this year I thought, ‘Why not take him to New York?’” Carvajal said. “He deserves to run in graded stakes.”

Imperial Hint began his 5-year-old season with an easy win in a Florida-bred stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. At Churchill, he set the pace as the 6-5 favorite but weakened over the sloppy track in the seven-furlong race and was beaten four lengths.

“I think the Churchill track kind of fell apart on him last time, but it’s not like he was beaten that far,” Carvajal said. “If everything goes good this year, I would like to go back to Kentucky for the Breeders’ Cup and get my revenge.”

Imperial Hint was credited with a three-furlong bullet work May 25. Carvajal plans to work him four furlongs in the coming days. Carvajal typically lets Imperial Hint gallop out an extra furlong.

“He worked really good last weekend,” he said. “I told his exercise rider Pedro Castillo to go three-eighths and let him gallop out a half-mile. He went in like 35.2 and galloped out in 47.3.”

Others targeting the 6 1/2-furlong True North include Bobby Abu Dhabi, Joking, Limousine Liberal, Recruiting Ready, Westwood, Whitmore and possibly Skyler’s Scramjet