Joking to return from long layoff in True North

ELMONT, N.Y. – The Grade 1 winner Joking, who has not raced in 20 months, is expected to return in the Grade 2, $250,000 True North Stakes on June 8, owner and trainer Charlton Baker said this week.

“I’m aiming high,” Baker said. “I might shoot a little low, but I’m aiming high.”

Joking, now 9, won the True North in 2016 and then, off a layoff of nearly four months, won the Grade 1 Vosburgh that October to earn a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita. Joking got sick after shipping to Southern California for the Breeders’ Cup, and the illness morphed into a life-threatening case of pneumonia. Joking spent several months recovering in Southern California, returned to Baker in New York, and was put back into training last year.

Twice, Joking popped a splint bone – one in each leg, Baker said – forcing Baker to stop on him. Joking has worked 10 times since March 27, including a five-furlong move in 1:00.98 out of the gate on Monday over the Belmont training track. Baker said Joking would have one more work over the weekend.

“It’s a tough spot, but we’ll give it a go if everything’s good,” Baker said.

Joking is certainly a Belmont horse for the course, with six wins and three seconds from nine starts here.

Entries for the True North will be taken Sunday. Among those expected for the race are Imperial Hint, Bobby Abu Dhabi, Limousine Liberal, Recruiting Ready, Westwood, Whitmore, and possibly Skyler’s Scramjet.