Seymourdini returns to work tab with eye on Cigar Mile

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Seymourdini, who has won all three of his starts this year by a combined 36 1/4 lengths, worked five furlongs in 1:02.18 on Friday over Saratoga’s main track. It was his first official workout since he won the State Dinner Stakes at Belmont Park by 10 1/2 lengths on July 3.

Trainer Linda Rice said her long-term objective remains the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 2, with one potential start before then, perhaps in the Bold Ruler at Belmont Park on Oct. 28.

Rice said Seymourdini came out of the State Dinner “with a little issue we had to address,” and she had shipped the colt to Dr. Patty Hogan’s farm in central New Jersey for a stay.

“I could have pressed on, but I didn’t want to run in the Woodward or Forego, and I said, ‘Let’s not just train him for three months,’ so I gave him a little time at Patty Hogan’s farm,” Rice said.

Matt King Coal, Rice’s other top older male horse, worked five furlongs in 1:00.77 on Thursday. He finished third in the Governor’s Stakes at Mountaineer on Aug. 5, and is possible for the Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park on Sept. 23.