Wolfson taking it one race at a time with unbeaten Atreides

Marty Wolfson said he hasn’t decided what to do next with Atreides in the aftermath of the colt earning a third straight 100-plus Beyer Speed Figure in a spectacular 17 1/2-length victory Saturday in the Monarchos Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

“I’m not really sure,” Wolfson said Tuesday by phone from the south Florida track. Asked whether the colt is a candidate for a Breeders’ Cup race such as the Dirt Mile, he said: “I can’t get that far ahead of myself.”

Wolfson, like many fans and fellow horsemen, continues to be awed by the potential of Atreides (pronounced uh-TRAY-uh-dees), a 3-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro. The Stonestreet Stables homebred has not been seriously challenged in his three races: a July maiden race at six furlongs (105 Beyer), an August optional claimer at 6 1/2 furlongs (102 Beyer), and the Monarchos, a one-turn mile in which he earned a 105 Beyer.

“Have you ever seen a horse get 100 Beyers in its first three career starts?” Wolfson asked rhetorically. “I haven’t.”

Wolfson said he will discuss the next race for Atreides with John Moynihan and Ian Brennan, both of whom work as advisers to Stonestreet owner Barbara Banke. Wolfson dismissed the possibility of sending him to Parx for the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, a 1 1/8-mile race on Sept. 20, and also said he does not want to go back to sprinting.

“I thought about the Gallant Bob,” Wolfson said, referring to a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up on the Pennsylvania Derby undercard, “but that’s too short, and I’d prefer to stay with 3-year-olds if I can. Right about a mile is going to be just right for him.”

Wolfson said that leading up to the only Breeders’ Cup race he’s ever won, the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Mile with Miesque’s Approval, “I just went race by race, and that worked out for us. I’m just going to do the same thing with this colt.”