Contender Status
Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) winner Tale of Ekati parlayed that victory to a fourth place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1). While he did not win that race, trainer Barclay Tagg was pleased with the way the Tale of the Cat colt kept making up ground in the late stages.
Tagg's mood turned to displeasure on May 26 when Tale of Ekati, with jockey Eibar Coa in the irons, worked six furlongs in a dawdling 1:18.97.
"Two works before a Classic race," Tagg said after the workout, "and this is not what I wanted. It's no wonder I'm always in a bad mood."
Tagg's bad mood turned to a smile on June 1 when Tale of Ekati redeemed himself with a six furlong workout in 1:11.99 over a muddy Belmont Park main track.
"This was the move I was hoping for last week," Tagg said. "Now, you can only hope that it wasn't too much for him. Everything seems to be going well now, and we're back on schedule."
June 1 - Six furlongs breezing in 1:11.99 at Belmont Park, track muddy. Only workout at the distance.
May 26 - Six furlongs breezing in 1:18.97 at Belmont Park, track fast. Best of three workouts at the distance.
May 20 - Four furlongs handily in :46.84 at Belmont Park, track fast. Best of 37 workouts at the distance.
Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 7 at Belmont Park
Trainer Barclay Tagg, after Tale of Ekati won the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1):
"Last time, we took him to the Louisiana Derby. He got a little tangled up in the gate there and ran a disappointing race. We still felt good about him, and we worked out some of those issues in the gate. He showed up today big time. I thought War Pass was the horse to beat. It was nice to see Inner Light go after War Pass. We were laying a little closer than I wanted him to be, but [jockey Edgar Prado] has an intuitiveness that has served him pretty well for the last 30 years."