Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Curlin galloped a mile at Churchill Downs on Wednesday for trainer Steve Asmussen, who said that the Smart Strike colt remains on target for the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 9 at Belmont Park.
Curlin, who edged Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Street Sense by a head in the Preakness, is expected to breeze on Monday at Churchill.
“Our responsibility is obviously his health. I think the one thing that everybody wants out of [the Preakness] is for the top three finishers to come out of it as they obviously did out of the Derby,” said Asmussen, referring to Curlin, Street Sense, and Hard Spun, the Derby runner-up and Preakness third-place finisher.
“It was so nice to see them all at the Preakness training the way they did with no chinks—no chinks in the armor. All of them were still tight together and [we] thought they were going to show up and you'd have to run really well to win, and I think that's what happened.”
Asmussen knows a rematch of the talented trio in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes would create quite a buzz, and he realizes how exceptionally the three horses performed in the first two legs of the Triple Crown.
“It wasn't anybody backing off—it was everybody going forward,” Asmussen said. “If they continue to do this in their careers, I think we can look back on that chart in amazement and say, 'Look who was in this race.' It's a situation with the top three horses that they are this good and worthy of classics. It's something everybody should be very proud of and very fortunate to be associated with.”
Street Sense walked the shedrow at Churchill on Wednesday and is slated to gallop on Thursday at Churchill.
Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Imawildandcrazyguy has been confirmed for the Belmont Stakes, a race that trainer Bill Kaplan said has long been on the agenda for the Wild Event gelding.
“I lived the first 31 years of my life in New York and I’ll have a lot of friends coming to the Belmont Stakes,” said Kaplan, a Brooklyn, New York, native who is based at Calder Race Course.
Kaplan, who trains Imawildandcrazyguy for Lewis Pell and Michael Eigner, said the added distance, as well as the location of the race, is appealing.
“He needs 2 1/2 miles but he’ll have to settle for 1 1/2 miles,” Kaplan joked. “All along, the Belmont has been our primary goal.”
Trainer Doug O’Neill is hoping for a much-improved performance from Grade 1 winner Great Hunter in the Belmont Stakes after the Aptitude colt washed out in the paddock before the Kentucky Derby and finished a non-threatening 13th of 20.
“We’ll be in good shape for the Belmont,” O’Neill said. “He needs to rebound. He came apart on us in the paddock before the Derby.”
Slew’s Tizzy will carry momentum into the final jewel of the Triple Crown after victories in the Lexington Stakes (G2) at Keeneland Race Course on April 21 and the Lone Star Derby (G3) on May 12 in his previous two starts. Greg Fox trains the Tiznow colt for owner-breeder Joseph Lacombe, also a Brooklyn native.
“Everything is falling into place,” Fox said. “Right now, the plan is to work Saturday.”
“My horses walk down a little hill and they are on the training track,” added Fox, who is based at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington. “It’s very quiet and peaceful. I believe the horses thrive in that kind of environment.”
Fox is seeking a new rider for Slew’s Tizzy, whose regular jockey, Robby Albarado, will ride Curlin in the Belmont.
“We’ve got a few guys in mind,” Fox said. “We hate to lose Robby, but there are a lot of talented riders out there. We’re working out the details.”