Kentucky Derby runner Six Speed now trained by Weaver
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Six Speed, the UAE Derby runner-up who finished 13th after setting the pace in the Kentucky Derby, is now with trainer George Weaver. On Friday, Six Speed worked a half-mile in 49.95 seconds over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track. Six Speed will be nominated to the Grade 1 Woody Stephens, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds, and the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, a one-turn mile race for 3-year-olds and up. Both races are on June 6.
“The horse worked well. We were just looking to stretch his legs,” Weaver said. “We’ll do something more significant with him next week.”
A cutback in distance makes sense for Six Speed, who won three consecutive one-turn races in Dubai, including the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas at one mile at Meydan. He then set the pace and finished second to Wonder Dean in the UAE Derby at 1 3/16 miles before setting the pace and retreating to 13th in the Kentucky Derby. Wonder Dean finished eighth in the Derby.
Six Speed was trained for his first six starts by Bhuphat Seemar. After North American connections, led by by Blacktype Thoroughbreds, bought into Six Speed, the plan was always for the horse to remain in the U.S. following the Triple Crown series.
Cy Fair confirmed for Royal Ascot
The 3-year-old filly Cy Fair, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint last fall and the Grade 3 Mamzelle Stakes at Churchill Downs last month, will take on males 3-year-olds and up in the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes on June 16 at the Royal Ascot meet, trainer George Weaver confirmed Friday.
Cy Fair has won 4 of 6 six starts in her career and Weaver said it’s time to raise the bar for her next race.
“As far as raising the bar, there’s not anything that does that in the near term [in the U.S.],” Weaver said. “Obviously, she would be super live in any five or 5 1/2-furlong race over here against 3-year-old fillies, but it’s not impossible in a situation like that one or two come off [the turf] and you’re not even running for two months.
“She raised the bar already,” Weaver added. “It doesn’t make any sense not to try something like that.”
Weaver has already had success in Ascot, winning the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes in 2023 with Crimson Advocate.
Cy Fair, a daughter of Not This Time, is owned by Medallion Racing, Swinbank Stables, Joey Platts, and Mark Stanton.
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