Giant Moon Gets Bullet Work
First Quarter Run in Blitzing :22.80 at Belmont Park
Giant Moon's final Preakness Stakes workout Tuesday at Belmont Park went in :22.80 for the first quarter, and was a bullet time of :47.77 for the half mile.
Giant Moon, bay son of New York standing stallion Giant's Causeway, did a bullet work for the half mie in :47.77 at Belmont Park Tuesday. The Richard Schosberg-trained colt owned by Albert Fried, Jr. completed three furlongs in :35.80, covering the first quarter in :22.80.
Giant Moon, an early season winner, was scheduled to ship to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland for the 132nd Preakness Stakes. Schosberg indicated that the bullet work might have been a tad more than he wanted to see, but that the colt still had a travel day and three days between the work and the Preakness to settle in.
On Jan.5, Giant Moon won the Count Fleet Stakes at Acqueduct. He ran the 1 mile and 70 yards in 1:41.14, with Spanky Fischbein behind him, and Roman Emperor at show.
Stevil Also Records Fast Half Mile
Another competitor for the Preakness Stakes, Nick Zito-trained Stevil, is at the top of his game, having breezed in :47.80 for the half mile Tuesday at Churchill Downs. Zito sees Stevil as a very consistent runner whom he expects to run well in the Preakness.
Stevil's last effort was a fourth place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. Two Todd Pletcher-trained colts, Monba and Cowboy Cal raced first and second, respectively, in the Blue Grass, while Kentucky Bear, another Preakness entrant, finished third.
Monba ran the 1-1/8 miles on Keeneland Race Course's Polytrack in 1:49.71.
Zito has one win in the Preakness. His schoolee, Louis Quatorze, tied for the speed record in the race in 1996 with a time of 1:53.43. In 1985, Tank's Prospect ran in 1:53-2/5.
Tyler Baze Set to Ride Tres Borrachos
Tyler Baze will ride Tres Borrachos in the Preakness. Baze traveled from his home base in California to Churchill Downs to work Tres Borrachos. An Ecton Park gelding, Tres Borrachos battled another Preakness entrant, Gayego, in the Arkansas Derby Apr.12 at Oaklawn Park. Gayego won in time of 1:49.63, while Tres Borrachos finished third behind Z Fortune.
In his first five career starts, Tres Borrachos has raced on California's synthetic tracks. His first run on conventional dirt was in the graded 3 El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows, San Mateo, California. He finished third.
Baze took the gelding through a :50.40 half mile Tuesday and said he was impressed at Tres Borrachos easy flow in the workout.
Preakness Stakes on Conventional Dirt
The Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of the American Triple Crown, is scheduled for this Saturday afternoon, May 17. It is run at 1-3/16 miles on conventional dirt.
