King's Bishop field still in flux

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The status of two 3-year-olds nominated to Saturday’s Grade 1 King’s Bishop remained uncertain on Tuesday as both Mike Maker, who trains the Brazilian import Uareoutlaw, and Mike Stidham, who campaigns Grade 3 winner Comedero, were still up in the air regarding their status for the seven-furlong fixture.

“We were kind of hoping the race might come up a short field and he’d have a chance to get Grade 1 stakes-placed,” Maker said regarding Uareoutlaw, who was purchased privately in Brazil earlier this year by owner F. Thomas Conway. “Right now our main goal with him is the Indiana Derby, and I am hoping to get a race into him before then.”

Uareoutlaw was a Grade 1 winner in his native Brazil before joining Maker’s barn earlier this summer.

Stidham said a final decision regarding the King’s Bishop for Comedero would be made shortly before entries are drawn on Wednesday.

“The other possibility is to go to Philadelphia Park for a two-turn stakes, which looks like an easier spot,” said Stidham, referring to the mile-and-70-yard Smarty Jones on Sept. 6. “What I don’t want to do is get hooked on the front end going seven furlongs in the King’s Bishop and then have a horse like Discreetly Mine sitting on his heels.”

Comedero had his five-race win streak snapped when he ran second as the 1-2 favorite on Aug. 8 in Monmouth’s Select Stakes.

Maker and Stidham’s final decision could also hinge on which direction the connections of Trappe Shot choose to go Saturday, either in the King’s Bishop or Travers. That choice was expected to be announced Wednesday.

Discreetly Mine figures to be favored in the seven-furlong King’s Bishop even if Trappe Shot runs. Other confirmed starters include D’ Funnybone, Hurricane Ike, In Jack’s Memory, and Thiskyhasnolimit. Bulldogger also remains possible for the race.

D’ Funnybone worked four furlongs in 49.66 seconds under jockey Edgar Prado over a good main track here on Tuesday. He was one of several key members of trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.’s barn to work immediately after the renovation break on Tuesday.