Suddenbreakingnews Now 'Official Ridgling'

Samuel Henderson's Belmont Stakes (gr. I) hopeful Suddenbreakingnews was recently discovered to be a ridgling, but his new status did not curtail his preparations for the $1.5 million classic, as he breezed six furlongs May 29 at Churchill Downs. 

With Joe Rocco Jr. in the irons, the son of Mineshaft   was timed in 1:12 2/5. Churchill clockers caught him in splits of :24 2/5, :36 3/5, :48 3/5, and 1:00 1/5 before galloping out to seven furlongs in 1:25 1/5.

Henderson paid $72,000 for Suddenbreakingnews at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale, where he was cataloged as a colt, and he has been listed as a gelding throughout his racing career. Henderson ordered the colt be gelded, but when the farms where he was raised and got his early foundation corresponded as he became a classics candidate, it was discovered the operation never happened, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

Suddenbreakingnews was recently discovered through an ultrasound to have two undescended testicles in his abdomen. He will be listed as a ridgling when he runs in the Belmont Stakes June 11.

"He looks like a gelding, he acted like a gelding, and that's the way it was," trainer Donnie Von Hemel said. "The ultra sound revealed that he had two undescended testicles, so he looks like a gelding and we never had any other reason to think otherwise.

"He's now an official ridgling. I think on the ultrasound they were rather small, and with both of them being in his abdomen at this point I don't think they would descend. The part of the testicles descending is the temperature of the sperm that's alive, so they're too hot right now. A lot of time there's one up and one down and there's the question of if it's tugging on him and it doesn't seem to be a problem."

Von Hemel said he thought Suddenbreakingnews look good breezing.

"He went real smooth and picked up as he went—galloped out real smooth," Von Hemel said of Suddenbreakingnews, who finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). "Everything seems to be in order; it's just what we're looking for. I realize that the pace won't be :45 in the Belmont, but we also won't be 20 lengths back, either. I just think this horse can run a mile and a half—his pedigree says he can. I think it's our best chance to get a grade I is in that race."

Von Hemel had always been confident in Suddenbreakingnews ability to perform at a high level, but never thought he would reach the level that he has.

"I think last fall he ran some nice races and he would have a chance to be a graded stakes-type horse," Von Hemel said of his runner, who won the Southwest Stakes (gr. III) and finished second in the Arkansas Derby (gr. I), both at Oaklawn Park, before the Kentucky Derby. 

"But I think he's exceed that, and being a trainer is all about managing expectations for your clients and for yourself and for your horses, so you don't overmatch them. In his case I think he can handle them. I think with 99.9% of the horses that don't make it to the Derby, this is above anything you can hope for, because it's so difficult to get there. So any horse that makes it to that point with very few exceptions is exceeding what you could have hoped for."

Von Hemel said that Suddenbreakingnews would likely ship to Belmont Park June 7. Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, a two-time winner of the Belmont Stakes with Drosselmeyer   (2010) and Palace Malice   (2013), has the mount.

In other Belmont Stakes news, GMB Racing's Mo Tom will bypass the third jewel of the Triple Crown and will point toward the $500,000 Ohio Derby at ThistleDown June 25.