Stablemates V. E. Day, Wicked Strong work toward Jockey Club Gold Cup

ELMONT, N.Y. – Stablemates V. E. Day and Wicked Strong, separated by a nose in the Grade 1 Travers three weeks ago, put in stamina-building workouts Saturday morning for their rematch in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 27 at Belmont Park.

V. E. Day, working by himself at 8 a.m. over the Belmont training track, went seven furlongs in 1:28.20, getting his final three furlongs in 37.39 seconds and galloping out a mile in 1:41.03. V. E. Day, under exercise rider Kelvin Pahal, started the work at the half-mile pole, which is where Pahal pulled him up.

Two hours later, Pahal was aboard the Jim Dandy winner Wicked Strong, who went six furlongs by himself in 1:15.93 over the training track, with a final three furlongs in 37.24. He galloped out seven furlongs in 1:30.59.

The works were the second for both horses since their thrilling finish in the Travers, but these works were more serious than their half-mile moves Sept. 5.

“They were doing real good, and they were both good and ready for it,” Jimmy Jerkens, who trains both horses, said afterward.

While it is not Jerkens’s first choice to run the horses against each other again, he didn’t see any legitimate alternatives. With both coming off terrific efforts at the 1 1/4-mile distance, Jerkens didn’t want to back either one up in distance in next Saturday’s $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at 1 1/8 miles. Jerkens also was leery of running at Parx, a track that sometimes can be quirky.

“Never really thought of the race in Philly,” Jerkens said. “The extra week has to help, plus the mile and a quarter. Not too many horses want to do it these days.”

V. E. Day, a son of English Channel, has won four consecutive races, beginning with a maiden victory in a one-mile off-the-turf race May 11 at Belmont. Following an allowance win on turf at Belmont, V. E. Day won the Curlin Stakes by a head over Charge Now and the Travers, both at Saratoga.

Wicked Strong won the Wood Memorial in April, then finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby and in a dead heat for fourth with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, California Chrome, in the Belmont Stakes. Jerkens added blinkers to the colt’s equipment, and he responded with a decisive victory in the Jim Dandy and a fantastic effort in the Travers.

Jerkens said he has made a more conscience effort to slow down Wicked Strong in his morning training.

“We were really [focused] on keeping something in the tank where we were not working him so fast and hard,” Jerkens said. “Galloping, we put him in a different bridle where he doesn’t gallop so fast. I have to think his last two races were the best races of his life. He was getting too tough pulling in the morning, still does on occasion with this one, but he’s much more manageable. His works before the Belmont were just sensational, then he went out there and ran as flat as a pancake, so I started to think we were overdoing it in the morning.”

Jerkens said both V. E. Day and Wicked Strong likely would work again next Saturday over Belmont’s main track in their final move before the Gold Cup.

Tonalist, the Belmont Stakes winner, was scheduled to work Sunday in preparation for the Gold Cup. Others targeting the Jockey Club Gold Cup include the Whitney winner Moreno, the Suburban winner Zivo, and last year’s 3-year-old champion, Will Take Charge.

Zivo, who had a six-race winning streak snapped when he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Woodward on Aug. 30, worked four furlongs in 49.44 seconds Saturday morning over the Belmont training track.

Other notable names to work Saturday at Belmont included:

** Close Hatches, a three-time Grade 1 winner this year, worked four furlongs in 47.93 over the main track, her first move since her five-length victory Aug. 22 in the Personal Ensign at Saratoga. She is being pointed to the Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 5.

** Artemis Agrotera, the Grade 1 Ballerina winner, worked four furlongs in 47.07 over the main track, with rider Rajiv Maragh taking a hold of the filly after an opening quarter of 22.87. Artemis Agrotera is being pointed to next Saturday’s Grade 2 $300,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap at Belmont.

** El Kabeir, the impressive 10 3/4-length maiden winner Aug. 20 at Saratoga, worked five furlongs in 1:00.38 over the main track. He is being pointed to the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne here Oct. 4.

** Wonder Gal, a New York-bred stakes-winning 2-year-old filly in her debut and a troubled third in the Grade 2 Adirondack last out, worked seven furlongs in 1:29.24 over the Belmont main track. She is being pointed to the Grade 1 Frizette on Oct. 4.