Stephanie’s Kitten, Ball Dancing work in tandem

ELMONT, N.Y. – Several members of trainer Chad Brown’s turf brigade were out for morning workouts Saturday at Belmont Park, led by the Grade 1-winning duo of Stephanie’s Kitten and Ball Dancing, who are targeting graded events during Belmont Stakes week.

Stephanie’s Kitten, who scratched out of the Woodford Reserve on Derby Day, and Ball Dancing, who won the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland, went five furlongs in 1:02.11, with a final quarter of 22.75 seconds over the inner turf course.

The head-and-head move was done around a triple set of orange cones designed to keep workers off the part of the turf course that is used for racing.

Stephanie’s Kitten is being pointed to the Grade 2, $300,000 New York Stakes on June 5, while Ball Dancing is slated to run next in the Grade 1, $700,000 Just a Game on Belmont Stakes Day.

“I thought they breezed terrific together,” Brown said.

Shortly thereafter, Brown worked a pair of 3-year-old males, Takeover Target and Startup Nation, together and they went a strong five-eighths on turf in 1:01.59, with a final quarter of 22.26 seconds. Takeover Target, coming off an allowance win on May 7, was well in hand during the move and galloped out in front of Startup Nation, who has not run since finishing 11th in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Both are being pointed to the $200,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont on May 30.

“Takeover Target, with a recent race under his belt, might be a little further ahead in his development,” Brown said. “They both breezed well, but obviously Takeover Target was extremely impressive.”

On dirt, Brown breezed Social Inclusion and Zivo. Social Inclusion, second in an allowance race at Gulfstream on April 26, worked five furlongs in 1:00.39, equipped with blinkers.

Brown had been considering the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap for Social Inclusion, but said he is likely going to point for a different race.

“Obviously we still have big plans for this horse, but the Met Mile might be too much too soon,” said Brown, who trains Social Inclusion for Ron Sanchez’s Rontos Racing. ‘’We’ll talk about the options. He’s so versatile, I truly believe this horse can be effective from seven-eighths to a mile and an eighth. That said, he got the race in him that he needed, but he did get beat. He needs to move forward off that race, and based on what I saw this morning he looks like he did.”

Zivo, unraced since finishing eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, worked three furlongs in 37 seconds, his first breeze of the year.

“He actually had a throat issue after the Breeders’ Cup Classic that needed to be addressed surgically,” Brown said. “Hopefully, we can get a race in him at Belmont before the meet ends.”

Last year, Zivo won the Grade 2 Suburban and was second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, both at Belmont.