Mubtaahij putting in work ahead of Belmont

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mubtaahij has been in New York for less than a week, but he’s already gotten a lot done as he prepares for the June 6 Belmont Stakes.

On Sunday, Mubtaahij worked five furlongs in company on the Belmont turf course, timed in 1:01.11. On Wednesday, the Irish-bred colt, who finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby, went out for a spin over Belmont’s main track, working a sharp three-furlongs in 36.02 seconds. He galloped out four furlongs in 47.88 seconds and pulled up five-eighths in 1:02.94.

“That’s normal for us,” Trevor Brown, the assistant to trainer Michael de Kock, said of the work schedule. “He handles it.”

Mubtaahij certainly handled Belmont’s main track Wednesday. He broke off at the three-eighths pole and went a slow first eighth in 13.19 seconds before turning it on in the stretch and going from the quarter pole to the wire in 22.83. He then went an additional eighth in 11.86 seconds.

Both Brown and Lisa Moncrieff, who was aboard Mubtaahij on Wednesday, said Mubtaahij prefers Belmont’s surface to that of Churchill Downs.

“I’m not trying to knock Churchill, I’m just saying he does move better over this ground than he did at Churchill,” Brown said.

At Churchill, Mubtaahij often came through the stretch on his incorrect lead. During his workout Wednesday, he was on the correct lead.

“I think he’s getting used to it,” Brown said. “We don’t really emphasize it back home. Our training tracks back home, the majority of them are just straight. In a race, our guys basically leave it up to the horse. Most of them do correct themselves in a race. But I think he’s getting used to this whole left-handed thing.”

Mubtaahij has been training in front shoes but no hinds since he arrived at Belmont last Friday. He did not wear shoes while training at Churchill. He wore shoes on all four feet in the Derby and will do so again in the Belmont.

Mubtaahij raced without the anti-bleeding medication Lasix in the Derby and will do so again in the Belmont, Brown said.

“We’re not totally against it, but if they don’t bleed, we’re not going to give it,” Brown said. “I’m sure if we had a known bleeder and we came over here, we’d use it.”

Brown said a rider has not been finalized for Mubtaahij. Christophe Soumillon rode him in the Derby and is a candidate to ride him in the Belmont. It is also possible that a U.S.-based rider could pick up the mount.

Brown said Mubtaahij will work again over the weekend on the dirt and in company with his stablemate Umgiyo.

Smith to ride Frammento

In 1990, Mike Smith rode in his first Belmont Stakes, finishing second to Go and Go aboard the Nick Zito-trained Thirty Six Red.

Twenty-five years later, Smith and Zito, both now Hall of Famers and two-time winners of the Belmont Stakes, will team up again when Smith rides the Zito-trained Frammento in the Belmont. Corey Nakatani rode Frammento to an 11th-place finish in the Derby. Smith rode Far Right to a 15th-place finish in the Derby.

“We go back to Thirty Six Red,” Zito said. “That horse did a lot for both of our careers. He’s Mike Smith. The owners are very impressed with him and the way he handles himself. The opportunity presented itself, he’s open, he’s my pick.”

Zito won the Belmont in 2004 with Birdstone, who finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby, and the 2008 Belmont with Da’ Tara, who was 1 for 7 and had not run in either of the two prior Triple Crown races. Both wins came in years when a Triple Crown was at stake.

Smith won the 2010 Belmont on Drosselmeyer and the 2013 edition on Palace Malice.

Zito also said he will be removing the blinkers from Frammento for the Belmont because “he doesn’t need them anymore.” Frammento wore blinkers in his last three starts.

Zito said Frammento will work the next two weekends at Saratoga before shipping here on the Wednesday of Belmont week.

American Pharoah arriving late

Meanwhile, American Pharoah has been taking it easy at Churchill since returning Monday from Pimlico, and he was scheduled to return to the track early Thursday for a light jog. Trainer Bob Baffert has said the colt will not have a workout at Belmont and is scheduled to be flown there the Wednesday before the race, June 3.

Besides American Pharoah, three other Belmont hopefuls will train at Churchill before shipping to New York: Keen Ice, War Story, and Conquest Curlinate.

Mark Casse, the trainer of Conquest Curlinate, said his sixth-place Preakness finisher, Danzig Moon, is back at Churchill and being pointed for the June 14 Plate Trial at Woodbine as a means of preparing for his main summer goal, the July 5 Queen’s Plate.

Casse said he intends to run four or five horses on Belmont Day, when a total of 10 stakes will be run.

◗ With a Triple Crown at stake, post time for the Belmont has been pushed back from 6:36 to 6:50 p.m. Last year, the Belmont went off at 6:54.

Final post on Belmont Stakes Day is now scheduled for 8:12 p.m.

– additional reporting by Marty McGee