V. E. Day back from freshening

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- As Wicked Strong continues to prepare for his return to action next month, his similarly accomplished 4-year-old stablemate, V. E. Day, returned to the Jimmy Jerkens barn Saturday at the Palm Meadows training center.

Jerkens said V. E. Day looks good after having been freshened in Ocala, Fla., following an 11th-place finish in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, and that he has no particular race in mind for the English Channel colt. Meanwhile, Wicked Strong has been breezing regularly toward a scheduled comeback in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap, a one-mile race here March 7.

V. E. Day and Wicked Strong were separated by only a nose as the one-two finishers in the Travers Stakes last August for Jerkens, whose father was on hand here Saturday to present the winner’s trophy for the inaugural running of his namesake race, the Allen Jerkens Stakes.

Aside from enjoying seeing his father feted with heartfelt tributes to his greatness as a horseman and a man, it was a memorable day for Jimmy Jerkens: He won the second race with a promising first-time starter named Spark, a 3-year-old filly by Speightstown.