Shaman Ghost staying sharp for next start

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Shaman Ghost is all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Shaman Ghost, the Santa Anita Handicap winner, worked a fast five furlongs in 1:00.50 on Wednesday over Belmont Park’s training track. It was a full second faster than the next-fastest move at the distance. What exactly Shaman Ghost is working toward has not been decided.

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens lamented that the Grade 2, $400,000 Alysheba at Churchill Downs on May 5 is run at 1 1/16 miles, a tad short for Shaman Ghost. The Alysheba is viewed as a stepping-stone to the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at 1 1/8 miles at Churchill on June 17. That race is a likely target for Shaman Ghost unless owner Frank Stronach chooses to run him at Pimlico, a track he owns, in the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special on May 20.

“It’s a shame to keep training them when you’re not running, but what’s the alternative?” Jerkens said. “You don’t really want to send them home to the farm. Just keeping a horse hacking around is dangerous, too. You want to keep them active. He went faster than we wanted this morning.”

That might have been because he broke off at about the same time as another horse. Jerkens said Shaman Ghost tried to prop and that exercise rider Kelvin Pahal got after him to keep Shaman Ghost going.

Shaman Ghost “got into the bridle, and the rest was history,” Jerkens said.

“At least he feels good,” said Jerkens.

Jerkens said that a sharp work like that might actually make it easier for him to get Shaman Ghost ready even if his next start isn’t for two months.

“If you don’t run for a couple of months, maybe it’s good to do something like this now, and then you back off him a little bit and crank him back up again,” Jerkens said.

Prior to winning the Santa Anita Handicap, Shaman Ghost ran second to Arrogate in the inaugural $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfsream in January. That race came two months after he finished third in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs.