Theory back in training after injury concern

ELMONT, N.Y. – Theory, one of the more impressive 2-year-old male debut winners at the Saratoga meet, may not be finished for the year as originally thought.

After being taken out of training for nearly two weeks due to an unspecified issue, Theory has resumed training and has recently rejoined trainer Todd Pletcher’s stable at Belmont Park for a possible fall campaign.

Pletcher had planned to breeze Theory on Monday, but rain prompted track maintenance crews to seal both the Belmont main and training tracks in midmorning, and Pletcher did not want to breeze him over a sealed surface. Theory could have a workout Tuesday, pending track condition.

Theory, a son of Gemologist owned by WinStar Farm and the China Horse Club, won his debut by 5 1/2 lengths on July 30. He ran six furlongs in 1:09.80 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 85. He was being pointed to the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 3, but following a breeze on Aug. 20, he was taken out of training and shipped to Kentucky for evaluation.

On Aug. 28, Elliott Walden, president and chief executive of WinStar, said that Theory would not race again in 2016. However, further tests done by veterinarian Larry Bramlage revealed only a bruised foot, Walden said.

Walden said that Theory missed only about 12 days of training. He galloped for a week or so at WinStar and has galloped for a week at Belmont.

Pletcher said that how Theory works in the next couple of weeks would determine whether he makes a race like the Grade 1 Champagne, a one-mile race at Belmont on Oct. 8, or the Grade 3, $200,000 Futurity, a six-furlong race Oct. 15. Either race could be used as a stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

“I would say the Champagne and the Futurity are both possibilities,” Pletcher said. “The Futurity gives us an additional week to get him ready.”

Should they decide to forgo the Breeders’ Cup, races like the Nashua and Remsen stakes at Aqueduct in November are possibilities.

Walden deferred speculation on possible spots until after Theory works.

“It depends how he works the next couple of times,” Walden said.

Pletcher did confirm that Syndergaard, an impressive New-York-bred stakes winner, would make his next start in the Champagne.