Rich Strike, Early Voting among top 3-year-olds scheduled to run at Saratoga
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Coming out of the Triple Crown, where all three races were won by different horses, the 3-year-old division lacks a clear leader heading into the heart of summer. Perhaps one will emerge coming out of Saratoga.
Led by Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, Preakness winner Early Voting, and the runner-up in both races, Epicenter, the majority of the top contenders in the division are expected to race this summer at Saratoga.
Rich Strike, most recently sixth in the Belmont, returned to the work tab last Saturday at trainer Eric Reed’s Mercury Equine Center in Lexington, Ky., where he worked a half-mile in 50.40 seconds. Reed said after the Belmont he tried to give Rich Strike some easy weeks for as long as he could, but the colt didn’t care much for that.
“He likes to train really hard,” Reed said Monday. “He’s like the young kid that doesn’t know what’s best for him. He was happy when we let him training normal. He needed a little bit of a reprieve but he was real happy the last week when I started letting him pick it up.”
Reed said Rich Strike would have his next work at Mercury, then likely head to Churchill for two or three workouts before coming to Saratoga, where he would work once, maybe twice before the Travers on Aug. 27.
Epicenter and Zandon, second and third behind Rich Strike in the Derby, are both training to the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 30. Epicenter had his first workout in Saratoga on Monday, going five furlongs in 1:02.40 over the Oklahoma training track, finishing about three-quarters of a length in front of Flute Master, according to Saratoga clockers.
Before Monday, Epicenter had gone through four workouts at Churchill Downs since the Preakness, including a five-furlong move in 1:00.40 on July 3.
“We gave him a couple of light breezes and then one in company and he looked fabulous,” trainer Steve Asmussen said.
Since skipping the Preakness, Zandon has had six breezes at Belmont Park, including a half-mile in 48.07 seconds on Saturday. He will do the remainder of his work at Saratoga, per trainer Chad Brown.
Also at Belmont on Saturday, Early Voting worked a strong five furlongs in 1:01.08 in company with Highly Motivated. Brown said he has still not finalized whether Early Voting would run in the Haskell on July 23 at Monmouth or the Jim Dandy at Saratoga. Brown did say that Early Voting would have his next work at Belmont.
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Jack Christopher, undefeated in four starts, is heading to the Haskell. That will be his first try at 1 1/8 miles, and will likely determine whether he stretches out in the 1 1/4-mile Travers or perhaps cuts back to the H. Allen Jerkens, a seven-furlong race on the same Aug. 27 card. In 2017, the Brown-trained Practical Joke was beaten a half-length while third in the Haskell and came back to win the Grade 1 Jerkens.
Charge It, the 23-length winner of the Grade 3 Dwyer, is likely to train up to the Travers, trainer Todd Pletcher has said. Charge It helps fill the void in his barn left by the absence of Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal, who is sidelined for the remainder of 2022 due to bone bruising.
Tawny Port, the Grade 3 Ohio Derby winner, is pointing to the Jim Dandy, trainer Brad Cox wrote in a text. Cox runs Cyberknife in the Haskell, where he will again face Howling Time, whom he beat a nose in the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill.
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said White Abarrio, the Ohio Derby runner-up and Grade 1 Florida Derby winner, is under consideration for the Haskell or the Jerkens. Skippylongstocking, third in the Belmont Stakes, is pointing to the West Virginia Derby on Aug. 6 at Mountaineer, Joseph said.