Options aplenty for Unified

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The connections of Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes winner Unified will give their 3-year-old a chance to stretch out in distance, but where and when that will happen is not a question easily answered.

Unified galloped to a three-length victory in Saturday’s $300,000 Bay Shore, a seven-furlong race at Aqueduct, making the colt 2 for 2. On Feb. 21, Unified won a six-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream Park.

Unified came out of his Bay Shore victory in good order, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said, but he and the colt’s owner, the Centennial Farms partnership, now have the pleasant dilemma of trying to figure out where to run next. Unified is a son of Candy Ride out of the Dixie Union mare Union City, so his pedigree suggests he will stretch out in distance.

Among the options to stretch him out are the Grade 3, $250,000 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs on the May 7 Kentucky Derby card; the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan, a one-turn 1 1/8-mile race at Belmont on May 14; or the $100,000 Sir Barton at 1 1/16 miles at Pimlico on the Preakness card.

Another option is to wait until later in the year to stretch him out and point for the Grade 2, $500,000 Woody Stephens, a seven-furlong race at Belmont on the June 11 Belmont Stakes card.

“I’d like to stretch him out before the Woody Stephens,” said Jerkens, who added that he hadn’t given too much thought about where to run next.

Don Little Jr., the head of Centennial Farms, was equally perplexed at what to do next.

“We look forward to what’s next,” Little said Sunday. “What that is I couldn’t tell you today.”

Little said he somewhat likes the gradual progression of running Unified in the Woody Stephens; the Dwyer, a one-mile race at Belmont in July; and the Jim Dandy, a two-turn 1 1/8-mile race at Saratoga. But Little isn’t sure that waiting nine weeks to run the horse again is ideal.

“There’s a lot to think about and talk about,” Little said. “We’ll start thinking about it next week.”

Though both of Unified’s victories came in front-running fashion, Little isn’t convinced that that will be the colt’s running style moving forward.

“I don’t think that’s how he’s going to run forever,” Little said. “He’s trained behind horses and handled it well.”

Unified ran seven furlongs in 1:22.86 and was assigned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure for his Bay Shore victory.