by Jeff Lowe

Hard Spun, the runner-up in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), breezed three furlongs at Delaware Park on Tuesday in his first workout since the Belmont Stakes (G1).

The Danzig colt covered the distance in :38.80.

Hard Spun and Curlin were the only horses to race in all three legs of the Triple Crown. Hard Spun finished second in the Derby on May 5, third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 19, and fourth in the Belmont on June 9.

“We tried to give him as much time as we could after the Belmont, just to let him get his batteries re-charged,” trainer Larry Jones said. “We’re just starting him back easy and letting him stretch his legs a little bit. We’re really not letting him do anything, other than going out and starting back through the motions.”

Jones said he is preparing Hard Spun to race around August 1, although he and owner Rick Porter have not decided on a specific target.

Among the races that fall in that timeframe are the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) on July 29, the West Virginia Derby (G3) on August 4, and the Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) on August 5.

The other star in Jones’s barn is Grade 1 winner Wildcat Bettie B, who won the Dashing Beauty Stakes on May 30 at Delaware in her most recent start.

Jones said the filly’s long-term objective is the new Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on October 26 at Monmouth Park.

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer