Keen Ice, Destin drill for Jockey Club Gold Cup

ELMONT, N.Y. - Keen Ice, the probable favorite for next Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Destin, one of his major threats in the race, worked four furlongs in 48.50 seconds in company Saturday morning over the Belmont Park training track.

Keen Ice, under Jose Ortiz, worked inside of Destin, under Hector Ramos, with the two going their opening quarter in 23.61 seconds and their final quarter in 24.89. The two galloped out five-eighths in 1:01.54, then Keen Ice began to edge away through six furlongs in 1:14.78 and seven furlongs in 1:29.18.

“That’s what we’ve become accustomed to seeing from him, a good, solid work with a very strong gallop-out,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of Keen Ice. “Seemed like he was into it from the beginning to the end; looked very good.”

Keen Ice won the Grade 2 Suburban here by three lengths and then finished second, beaten 5 1/4 lengths by Gun Runner, in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga. It was by design that Pletcher skipped the Woodward and pointed to the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Destin, the runner-up in the 2016 Belmont Stakes, is coming off a nose victory in a third-level allowance at Saratoga. He has been working with Keen Ice for awhile and it seems to have helped move him forward.

“He’s not an overzealous work horse, he does what he has to do,” Pletcher said. “He’s not as powerful a gallop-out horse as Keen Ice is, but I think he’s trained well enough and hopefully with a few races under his belt is rounding into top form.”

Pletcher is also likely to run Rally Cry in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. On Saturday, Rally Cry worked four furlongs in 49.31 seconds at Saratoga.

At Belmont, Diversify worked five furlongs in 59.65 seconds, pulling away from workmate Deuces High late in the work. He galloped out a sharp six furlongs in 1:12.20. Afterward, trainer Rick Violette confirmed that Diversify will run in the Gold Cup with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard.

Others expected for the Gold Cup include Good Samaritan, Pavel, and potentially Highland Sky.

Champagne contender works fast

As expected, Aveenu Malcainu scratched from Saturday’s New York Breeders’ Futurity at Finger Lakes to run in next Saturday’s Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park. On Saturday, over Belmont’s main track, Aveenu Malcainu worked a fast half-mile in 46.56 seconds in company with Small Bear.
Luis Saez, who has been aboard for both of Aveenu Malcainu’s victories and will be on for the Champagne, was aboard for the work, which went in splits of 22.76 and 23.80.