Sir Winston Takes Aim at Aqueduct's Jazil Stakes

Tracy Farmer's reigning Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner Sir Winston returned to Mark Casse's string at Belmont Park Jan. 11 and will make his 4-year-old debut in the Jan. 25 Jazil Stakes, the trainer said.

The chestnut son of Awesome Again is scheduled to breeze Thursday or Friday in preparation for a possible start in the $100,000 stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.

After spending some time at Casse's training center in Ocala, Fla., Sir Winston was shipped to Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, where he has posted three solid works on the dirt course but finished off the board in the Dec. 28 Woodchopper Stakes on the turf in his first start since the Belmont.

"The problem was I was trying to get him ready for the Pegasus (World Cup, G1)," Casse said. "It's not easy to find a spot for a Belmont Stakes winner. No conditions. He's trained well over turf before. I breezed him over firm turf. They got a ton of rain for the race, and he just did not handle it. I just wanted to get a useful race under his belt."

A solid performance in the 1 1/8-mile Jazil could mean a start in the March 28 Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1) at Meydan Racecourse. No Belmont Stakes winner has gone on to win the Dubai World Cup the following year.

"He'll probably breeze (at Belmont) either Thursday or Friday, and depending on what he does, we'll run him. We're hoping if he goes and runs well, we can send him for the Dubai World Cup," Casse said.

A Kentucky homebred, Sir Winston is the only foal to race out of the Afleet Alex broodmare La Gran Bailadora, a three-time stakes winner at Turfway Park who also placed third in the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.