NEWS
Fly Down appears ready for Jim Dandy test
Posted: Monday, July 26, 2010 4:23 PM
FLY DOWN
Adam Coglianese/NYRA photo
by Phil Janack
Dwyer Stakes (G2) winner Fly Down showed his readiness for the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes on Saturday (G2) with a bullet half-mile work on Monday morning on the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course.
Working in company with three-year-old Tiznow colt Morning Line, Fly Down was clocked in :47.30 with jockey Jose Lezcano aboard, the fastest of 74 timed workouts at the distance. Morning Line was timed in :48.
“I thought he was very good, excellent, from what I saw,” Racing Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito said. “It was exactly what I wanted.”
It was the seventh workout at Saratoga for Fly Down, a son of Mineshaft owned by Richard C. Pell, and fifth following his runner-up finish to Drosselmeyer in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 5 (video), his most recent start.
“He’s coming off a mile-and-a-half race, and you have to do things like that,” Zito said. “Obviously, we know his fitness is there, so I’m not worried about that. He’ll definitely get the journey. You just hope he’s a little sharp for the race and things work out good for him. He’s a very good horse.”
The 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy is Saratoga’s local prep for the track's signature race, the $1 million Travers Stakes (G1) on August 28. Also probable for the Jim Dandy are A Little Warm, Afleet Express, Aikenite, Friend or Foe, Steinbeck, and Stormy’s Majesty, with Miner’s Reserve and Winslow Homer listed as possible.
The following day, Zito will send Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) runner-up Ice Box to the $1-million Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park. Ice Box breezed a half-mile Sunday morning at Saratoga in :48.85.
“He worked well, too,” Zito said. “I thought Ice Box would be better suited for Monmouth, and I thought Fly Down would be better suited for Saratoga. Hopefully, they can go on and go forward with their races.”
Phil Janack is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
