Saratoga: Drosselmeyer works on turf for Sword Dancer

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Drosselemyer, the 2010 Belmont Stakes winner, worked five furlongs in 59.04 seconds over the Oklahoma turf in company with the 3-year-old filly Royal Delta. Drosselmeyer is pointing to the Sword Dancer, while Royal Delta, winner of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes in May, is a candidate for either the Grade 2, $150,000 Lake Placid on turf Aug. 21 or the $500,000 Alabama on dirt the previous day.

Drosselmeyer made the first two starts of his career on turf, including a third-place finish in his career debut at Saratoga in 2009. The primary reason his connections have chosen to run in the Sword Dancer is the 1 1/2-mile distance.

“I think he handles the grass fine, the dirt fine, the Polytrack fine,” trainer Bill Mott said. “The only thing that could be an issue is a really boggy turf. The distance is important for us.”

Though she has never run on turf, Royal Delta is out of the mare Delta Princess, a multiple stakes winner on grass. In the Lake Placid, Royal Delta would be running against Winter Memories, the brilliant Lake George Stakes winner. In the Alabama, Royal Delta is expected to face It’s Tricky, Inglorious, Plum Pretty, and St. John’s River.

“The Lake Placid won’t be an easy race with the other filly in there,” Mott said, referring to Winter Memories. “That was about as brilliant a performance as we’ve seen all meet. I guess you need to go where you think you got the best chance to win.”

Also on Monday, Mott worked his 3-year-old Raison d’Etat in preparation for a start in the $1 million Travers Stakes. Raison d’Etat, second in the Curlin Stakes on July 29, went a half-mile in 48.00 seconds, getting his final quarter in 23.80 under exercise rider Kristen Lindsay. It was the fastest of 88 works at the distance over the training track.

“He was great, Krissy worked him beautifully,” Mott said. “It was his first work back, and it looked like it was very useful.”