Frammento Has Final Drill at Saratoga

Mossarosa's Frammento put in his final timed workout May 30 at Saratoga Race Course for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes (gr. I).



Working in company with maiden 3-year-old Hard Scuffle, Frammento was clocked in :48.15 for a half-mile over the Oklahoma Training Track. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.37.



"He looked great," Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito said. "They got him in :12, :24, :48—you can't beat that. I even got him a little quicker, but that was OK. I'm happy. It was good."

 

Regular exercise rider and Zito assistant trainer Maxine Correa was aboard for the work, Frammento's third since an 11th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), all at Saratoga.

 

"He felt great. He started off real cool and relaxed, and he picked it up at the quarter pole and flew home. He galloped out beautiful and finished up strong," Correa said. "He started off just behind a horse and stayed a little wide. He was happy to stay behind the horse until the quarter pole, and as soon as I asked him to go, he kicked on. It was really good."



A son of multiple grade I winner and 2008 champion 2-year-old male Midshipman  , Frammento ran a half-mile in :49.30 May 23.



"Last Saturday when he worked, he just kept going," Zito said. "Max does a good job on him. He went pretty darn good last weekend and this is what we wanted him to do today, just sharpen him up a little bit. He's over-ready. Everything is good. He's developed nice, he's held his flesh, and he's held himself. He's doing everything right."

 

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Frammento in the Belmont for Zito, who won the race with Birdstone in 2004 and Da' Tara in 2008, both times spoiling a Triple Crown bid.

 

Prior to the Derby, Frammento was sixth in the Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II) and third in the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II), both at Gulfstream Park, and fourth in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland.



"In the times I've breezed him, sometimes with company and sometimes without, he seems to have matured a lot over the winter and sort of got his head together, realizing what he's supposed to do," Correa said. "He's coming around nicely."