Belmont Stakes trainers tightened screws recently as the equine craftsmen get serious for the June 10 extravaganza.
With only a few days left before the third leg of the Triple Crown, the hard work has already been done and the workouts at this point are specific in nature.
Dale Romans is one of the Belmont Stakes trainers that watched his potential star prep on Saturday June 3 at Churchill Downs. J Boys Echo was clocked five furlongs in 1:00 flat. The sophomore, who worked on the outside of Reedini, went :23 for the first quarter-mile and 47.20 for the half-mile, then galloped out three-quarters of a mile in 1:13 4/5.
The runner could be a legit factor in the Belmont Stakes and according to his trainer, he is coming to the race right, Romans: “I just wanted to see good energy, him finishing up. He did everything perfect. Today may be the best he’s worked – maybe ever. He’s not a big-time workhorse, for him to work in a minute, he’s fresh and feeling good. Reedini is coming off a layoff. He’s a good horse. He worked with him last week, and Reedini kind of kept up with him going head and head, and J Boy got away from him on the gallop-out. Today Reedini couldn’t keep up with him. J Boy opened up three on him around the turn [working to the seven-eighths pole] and galloped out 10 in front. So I was very impressed with J Boy today.”
J Boys Echo didn’t get the best of trips in the Kentucky Derby and he has a right to improve. In the Derby, he was mugged out of the gate and that just took the steam out of him. One thing he has going for him is the company he has been keeping. He beat Cloud Computing by over three lengths in the Gotham Stakes and we all know what that rival is capable of under the right circumstances.
Chad Brown is one of the Belmont Stakes trainers that has an expanded role as his trainee and Preakness hero Cloud Computing will not run in the Belmont Stakes. He will send out Twisted Tom at Belmont Park and this runner is no slouch. He has only run two poor races and was troubled in one of those. He is coming off a pair of stakes wins, the last in the Tesio at Laurel Park. Twisted Tom will be ridden by Javier Castellano, who won Preakness.
Twisted Tom is undefeated in three starts this year, all on dirt, taking a one-mile optional claimer on the inner track at Aqueduct and the restricted Private Terms at Laurel. He also has the pedigree to excel. He is a New York-bred grandson of 1995 Belmont Stakes and Kentucky Derby winner Thunder Gulch.
On June 3 Twisted Tom put in a five-furlong work of 1:01.13. It was the second best work of 24 workers. He galloped out in 1:13 4/5 and was working in company with a runner that should start in the Met Mile, Economic Model.
The trainer was happy, Brown: “He executed it perfectly. We wanted a nice, steady five-eighths. He’s trained really well since the Tesio. The Belmont has been our goal since then; we’ve been trying to figure out how to get him to the race. Obviously, it will be a big class test for him but I’ve been anxious to try him at 1 ½ miles.”
Another one of the Belmont Stakes trainers that was putting the finishing touches on his runner is Brian Lynch. He trains Meantime and the son of Shackleford went five furlongs in 1:01.66 with jockey Mike Luzzi aboard.
Perfect was not the word the trainer then used, Lynch: “It wasn’t the most orthodox work. We tried to work him with another horse and the other horse broke off too far in front of him, but he had a good target to chase. The work was comfortable enough. It was more of a comfort work today with a good gallop out, and inevitably he ended up catching the horse on the gallop out. When I look at the big picture, it probably was a pretty good work. Watching him come off the track, he had minimal blow and seemed to have a good recovery rate. I think he’s a pretty fit horse going into it, so I think we’ll roll the dice and move forward. I think he’s a horse that’ll be up in the first tier of horses and a lot of the times that’s where the Belmont is won. Whoever is one-two-three going into the first turn usually finishes one-two-three, so I think tactically, he’s the right horse to try and do it with it. I think fitness-wise, the mile and a half will be a test, but he’s as good as we can get him.”
Meantime’s tactical speed is a thing of beauty. He broke his maiden with a 7 ½-length victory at Keeneland in April and also posted a second-place finish to Timeline in the May 13 Peter Pan on a sloppy and sealed track.
Another thing that Belmont Stakes trainers must do is to put the right rider on the right horse and Lynch has done his part. Hall of Famer Mike Smith is confirmed for the mount on Meantime and that is not a bad thing.
Smith is probably the best ‘money’ rider around right now and he knows Belmont Park like the back of his hand. Knowing that venue can prove pivotal to success.
Lynch is far from a household name as far as Belmont Stakes trainers are concerned but this is not his first rodeo. He was born in Australia and resembles horseracing’s version of ‘Crocodile Dundee’. He came to America in the mid-1950s and rode bulls on the rodeo circuit. He broke his teeth training quarter horses and took out his training license in 1992. His real break came when he worked as an assistant under legendary trainer Bobby Frankel. That legend had enough confidence in him to have Lynch head Frankel’s Woodbine division. There he had experience with Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Ghostzapper. Lynch has trained multiple Grade 1 winners and he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last year with Oscar Performance.
Belmont Stakes trainers do not have a simple job. Not many horses these days want to go a mile and a half and in many circumstances, this will be the first time any of these runners go this far. The final furlong of the Belmont Stakes will separate the men from the boys.
