Mitole breezes for Saratoga; Midnight Bisou's next race undecided

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mitole, winner of seven straight races, including the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont on June 8, returned to the work tab Sunday, breezing a half-mile in 51.07 seconds over the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga.

Bill Heiligbrodt, who along with his wife, Corinne, owns Mitole, said the horse would run next in Saratoga but was noncommittal about the specific race. Mitole is trained by Steve Asmussen.

Though Heiligibrodt said he’d be intrigued by trying to stretch Mitole out to 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 3, but he quickly added “I probably won’t. . . . We’ll find a nice race for him. I haven’t discussed it with Steve yet. I’m sure we’ll look at the Vanderbilt, I’m sure we’ll look at the Forego.”

The $350,000 Vanderbilt, a Grade 1 race at six furlongs, is July 27. The $600,000 Forego, a Grade 1 race at seven furlongs, is on Aug. 24.

Midnight Bisou to Shuvee or Molly Pitcher

Midnight Bisou, the leading older female dirt horse in the country, will make her next start in either the Molly Pitcher Stakes at Monmouth on July 20 or the Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee at Saratoga the following day, said Jeff Bloom, the head of Bloom Racing, which owns the filly.

Bloom said either race will be designed as a prep for the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga on Aug. 24.

Bloom said tangibles such as the weather and how Midnight Bisou trains over Saratoga’s main track would play into where the filly makes her next start. Last summer at Saratoga, Midnight Bisou ran second in the Coaching Club American Oaks and third in the Alabama.

“She’s a horse that shows up anywhere she goes,” Bloom said. “One could make the argument [Saratoga] is not her favorite track to run over, but at the same time we’ll still plan to run her there.”

Midnight Bisou, trained by Steve Asmussen, is 4 for 4 this year with victories in the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park and the Ogden Phipps, both Grade 1 races.

On Sunday, Midnight Bisou worked a half-mile in 51.68 seconds over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga.