Joevia works his way into Razorback Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Following a solid workout Sunday morning at Belmont Park, Joevia was confirmed as a starter for the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 17, trainer Gregg Sacco said.

In the Razorback, Joevia will be returning to stakes company for the first time since he finished third in last year’s Belmont Stakes. On Jan. 17, Joevia came off a 223-day layoff to win a second-level allowance race at Aqueduct.

In Sunday’s work, done in company with the maiden Combat Ribbon, Joevia went five furlongs in 1:01.71, starting from the half-mile pole and working a furlong past the wire. He continued out six furlongs in 1:14.49 and seven furlongs in 1:27.99.

Sacco said the Razorback was a race that brothers Michael and Jeff Fazio – the owners of Joevia – mentioned after the 4-year-old won his return race.

“If he came out of the allowance well, that was their first choice,” Sacco said. “He’s had two really good works since the race.”

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Junior Alvarado, who was aboard for the allowance win, worked Joevia on Sunday and will ride him in the Razorback, run at 1 1/16 miles.

“He just let him run from the wire on, but I was really happy with the way he went,” Sacco said.

Joevia is scheduled to ship to Arkansas on Thursday. A flight will take him from Newark, N.J., to Memphis followed by a three-hour van ride to Oaklawn.

Also working Sunday for Sacco was two-time Grade 1 winner Mind Control, who went a half-mile by himself in 49.06 seconds. It was his second workout since he came off a layoff to win the Grade 3 Toboggan here on Jan. 18. Exercise rider Ricardo Arredondo Contreras was aboard for the work.

“Last week, he went a little faster than we would have liked, so we just kind of slowed it down a little bit this week,” Sacco said. “Ricardo was sitting like a statue on him and when he pulled him up, he was bucking.”

While Sacco said the Grade 1 Carter on April 4 is the major goal for Mind Control, it is possible he could run in the six-furlong Toboggan on March 7 before then.

“We might back him up for the Tom Fool or we might just wait for the Carter, depending on where we’re at in early March,” Sacco said. “Right now, he’s just happy and thriving.”