Unbeaten Morello stretches his legs nine days after Gotham score
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Morello, the undefeated winner of the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes on March 5, returned to the work tab Monday morning at Belmont Park, cruising an easy half-mile in 52.55 seconds over the training track. Morello is preparing for a start in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 9 at Aqueduct.
Working nine days after a race is typical for horses trained by Steve Asmussen, and the slow time in that work also is par for the course. There is ample time to put in stronger moves, and given Morello has two stakes wins five weeks apart in February and March, he doesn’t figure to need much to be fit for the Wood.
“Our first work back, easy, maintenance, very happy with him,” Toby Sheets, Asmussen’s Belmont-based assistant, said Monday morning.
Morello, a good-looking chestnut son of Classic Empire, certainly doesn’t look like a horse who’s spent the winter in New York. In fact, he’s been in New York since he was purchased as a 2-year-old in training last May at Timonium. He’s made all three of his starts at Aqueduct.
Morello won his maiden going six furlongs Nov. 27 and the seven-furlong Jimmy Winkfield on Feb. 6 before his 4 1/2-length score in the one-mile Gotham on March 5.
“He’s progressing, getting better and better,” Sheets said. “Easy to be around, professional about everything.”
With the race still more than three weeks away, the preliminary Wood field is shaping up to include Early Voting, the Withers winner; Mo Donegal, the Remsen winner; Barese, an undefeated two-time New York-bred stakes winner; Golden Code, third in the Gotham; and South Street, a recent 1 1/8-mile maiden winner here Feb. 24. Also under consideration are High Oak, A. P.’s Secret, and Skippylongstocking.