Include on target for return

CHICAGO - The Grade 1 winner Include has resumed steady training in Maryland and remains on target for a return to racing in September, trainer Bud Delp said Tuesday.

Include hasn't raced since finishing third in the Suburban Handicap at Belmont on July 1. Shortly after the Suburban, Delp and owner Robert Meyerhoff elected to treat an injury to the colt's splint bone that Include had incurred early in his career. Delp said the treatment has been successful and that Include is scheduled to have his first timed workout on Thursday morning.

"He's been given a 100 percent clean bill of health," Delp said. "He's been galloping fantastic in the last week."

Delp hopes to have Include ready to run in the Sept. 22 Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park, but could also send Include to New Jersey for a start six days later in the Meadowlands Cup. Include's ultimate goal this fall is the Breeders' Cup Classic.

A 4-year-old homebred by Broad Brush, Include has won nine of 13 lifetime starts and almost $1.4 million. His lone loss this season came in the Suburban, and earlier in the year he won the Grade 1 Pimlico Special, beating Albert the Great.