Wise Dan continues to work toward comeback at Keeneland

Wise Dan, the reigning two-time Horse of the Year, had his third breeze on the comeback trail when going a half-mile Sunday morning in 48 seconds over the Polytrack surface at his home base at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

The work came one week after Wise Dan had his second breeze. Trainer Charlie LoPresti said he would have preferred to wait another day or two, but the Keeneland surface was to be closed several days this week, starting Monday, for regularly scheduled maintenance work.

“I’m not an on-a-schedule kind of guy, but it’s just as well,” LoPresti said. “The horse went super good and galloped out in a minute and change. There was still plenty left.”

LoPretti reiterated he would like to have Wise Dan make his first start as a 7-year-old at Keeneland and that weather and track conditions will continue to determine his training schedule.

A winter break is standard for Wise Dan and the LoPresti stable. Wise Dan and other horses returned to his Rice Road stable around the first of February after more than two months of down time on LoPresti’s farm just east of Lexington.

Turf races in the one-mile range have been a specialty for Wise Dan in his two championship seasons (2012-13), but owner-breeder Morton Fink and LoPresti both have said they intend to try different types of races with the gelding as 2014 unfolds. LoPresti has not specified which race he will target, although the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile on April 11 is a logical starting point again. Wise Dan won the race last year as a 2-5 favorite.

Wise Dan, by Wiseman’s Ferry, has 19 wins from 27 starts and earnings of $6,293,610.