Nicky the Vest fires Wood bullet

Nicky the Vest, the undefeated New York-bred, worked five furlongs in 1:00.29 Sunday morning at Belmont Park in preparation for a start in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 3.

His work was the fastest of 29 at the distance that morning.

Nicky the Vest went in company with Utmost, a 7-year-old who won the Grade 2 Sky Classic at Woodbine in 2018. Nicky the Vest actually started out a little in front of Utmost and finished a dozen or so lengths in front.

While trainer Jonathan Thomas didn’t expect the work to go exactly like that, he was pleased with the strong move put in by Nicky the Vest, whose previous work was somewhat on the slower side.

“The track’s been a little dead the last couple of weeks, so I certainly feel a lot better with that work under his belt going to a Grade 2,” Thomas said.

Nicky the Vest is a New York-bred son of Runhappy who won his maiden by 3 1/4 lengths and the Gander by 11 3/4 lengths.

Also working Sunday at Belmont for the Wood was Dynamic One, who went a half-mile in 49.22 seconds for trainer Todd Pletcher.

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