Street Sense gets back to work
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Street Sense had his first workout since winning the Travers Stakes when he breezed five furlongs in 1:02.91 early Tuesday over a fast track at Churchill Downs.
With Tracey Wilkes aboard, Street Sense walked onto the track at about 7:15 a.m. before easing to the five-furlong pole. He proceeded through fractions of 27.20 seconds for the opening quarter-mile, 39.60 to the quarter pole, and 51.20 to the eighth pole before running his final furlong in less than 12 seconds. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:16.20.
Wilkes came off the track with a smile and quipped to Nafzger: "He might be all right one day."
Nafzger, who watched Street Sense work from the clocker's stand near the five-furlong gap as usual, called the move "perfect," adding, "It was exactly what we wanted. It's all we needed this morning."
Street Sense, the Kentucky Derby winner and perhaps the leading contender for Horse of the Year, will make his next start four weeks prior to his ultimate goal, the Oct. 27 Breeders' Cup Classic, although Nafzger still has not decided among three races - the Sept. 29 Hawthorne Gold Cup at Hawthorne, the Sept. 29 Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park, or the Sept. 30 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.
Nafzger said he probably will wait until Sept.o23 or 24 to announce his decision.
"I'm not in any big hurry," he said. "Wherever we go, we'll get there in time to do what we need to do."
He said the prospective opposition in any of the races will not be a factor in his decision. "Never has been, never will be," he said.
Nafzger said Street Sense probably will have a similarly light workout in "maybe another six or seven days."
Street Sense returned to Louisville from a successful summer at Saratoga on Sept. 3. He won the Jim Dandy on July 29 and the Travers by a half-length over Grasshopper on Aug. 25.
Wilkes has worked Street Sense on occasion. The colt's regular jockey, Calvin Borel, often has worked the horse between races, but he is on vacation through Sept. 18.