Jim Dandy or Haskell return spot for Mohaymen

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mohaymen had his strongest breeze Friday since finishing fourth in the Kentucky Derby, working five furlongs in 1:00.66 over the Saratoga main track.

Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch caught Mohaymen’s first three furlongs in 35.80 seconds and his final quarter in 24.86. Welsch caught Mohaymen galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.71. Mohaymen is pointing to either the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 30 or the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 31.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he has to talk with Rick Nichols, vice president and racing manager for owner Shadwell Farm, about where Mohaymen will run next.

“He has one more work either way, wherever we go,” said McLaughlin, who was at Belmont on Friday morning.

Welsch noted that Mohaymen seems a bit more relaxed in his training than he was at Churchill Downs. McLaughlin said the smaller track and heavy traffic at Churchill may have had Mohaymen revved up.

“He was a little aggressive in Kentucky,” McLaughlin said. “We switched exercise riders, trying to just settle him a little bit.”

While Mohaymen worked on Saratoga’s main track, several of McLaughlin’s stakes horses worked over the synthetic surface at Greentree training facility adjacent to Saratoga.

Frosted, the Metropolitan Handicap winner, went four furlongs in 48.60 seconds in preparation for the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 6. Kareena, the Jersey Girl Stakes winner, went four furlongs in 48.40 seconds in preparation for the Grade 1 Test. Sentiero Italia, who won last summer’s Grade 2 Lake Placid at Saratoga, worked five furlongs in 1:00. Sentiero Italia could make her seasonal debut in the De La Rose Stakes on Aug. 6.