Desormeaux: 'Fresh Approach' for Exaggerator

Initially concerned about rain forecast for the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., area over the weekend, trainer Keith Desormeaux decided to pass on the penultimate workout for Travers (gr. I) hopeful Exaggerator scheduled for Aug. 13.

"We're going to take the fresh approach," said Desormeaux, who arrived from Del Mar the evening of Aug. 11. "He's had plenty of racing, he's been running steadily since February. He had a tough Triple Crown campaign and he showed his ability to maintain fitness by the run in the Haskell (gr. I). For him to show that level of fitness off of seven weeks (after the grade I Belmont Stakes June 11), it tells me that he maintains fitness very well."

Desormeaux said the skipped work will not affect the 3-year-old Curlin   colt's training schedule ahead of the race that, weather permitting, currently includes a two-minute lick planned for Aug. 16 and his final breeze on Aug. 20, which will be his first and only work between his 1 1/2-length Haskell victory July 31 and the Aug. 27 Travers.

With Desormeaux returning to California later this weekend, Exaggerator will remain under the care of assistant trainer Julie Clark, who has been the principal overseer of the conditioner's New York string.

"It's going to be all on Ms. Clark to determine how he works," Desormeaux said. "The important thing is that he gallops out well next weekend."

Exaggerator had originally been pointed to the Jim Dandy (gr. II) July 30 but turned in a lackluster breeze over the main track on July 22, which Desormeaux cited as one of several reasons he ultimately chose to target the Haskell instead.

"He might work the same way over the track but, obviously, it doesn't affect his readiness to run," Desormeaux said. "I didn't like the work here but he ran great in the Haskell. We know here that the track is so busy in the morning, it becomes loose. It might be as simple as that, that's the kind of stuff you shouldn't complicate. That's probably what it is, it becomes loose from use in the mornings, but they run fast times in the afternoon. It's nice and tight (for the races) and that means that the track is fine.

"I had actually accepted that and was planning on running in the Jim Dandy but, as I looked at it more, there was no speed in the Jim Dandy," he continued. "Exaggerator is not about the track. His success is not dependent on a sloppy track but his success is dependent on a pace to run at."

Laoban, who shed his maiden status with his upset in Jim Dandy, has a found a way to beat the heat and humidity, courtesy of his trainer, Eric Guillot.

"It's been so sticky and hot, and he's not the best (eater) in the world for as big as a horse he is, so I try to train him early in the morning when it is cooler and have him done up and back in his stall before it gets too hot," Guillot said Saturday morning.

A day earlier, the son of Uncle Mo   had his first work since wiring the field to win the Jim Dandy. The colt, who is owned by Southern Equine Stable and McCormick Racing, will work once again before he tries to parlay his Jim Dandy victory into another in the Travers. 

Laoban, who was ridden in his work by Jose Ortiz, his pilot in the Jim Dandy, covered five furlongs in 1:01.45 on the main track. Guillot said it was an eventful work.

"I put him behind another horse, and he ended up picking up a couple of other horses who got in his way down the lane, and he had to go around them," the trainer said. "He got by everything, and worked in 1:01 2/5 and galloped out another (furlong) in :12 and went 1:13 2/5. He came back good."

Next Saturday, weather permitting, Guillot said he will again work Laoban five furlongs.

Asked if he has noticed any changes physically in Laoban, who stands 17.2 hands tall, after the Jim Dandy, Guillot said, "He bounced back a little quicker (after the Jim Dandy) than usual because he didn't have to travel and has stayed here. You can't train him aggressively when he travels because he will not take the stress well."

Laoban will be Guillot's second Travers starter; his Moreno finished second at odds of 31-1 in 2013, and was beaten just a nose by Will Take Charge. Laoban will look to follow in the footsteps of 10 Jim Dandy winners who doubled up in the  Travers. The Jim Dandy has been the Travers prep of choice on 18 occasions since 1960.

Twin Creeks Racing Stables and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners Destin visited the Saratoga main track Friday morning for his first breeze following a third-place effort in the Jim Dandy following his close second in the Belmont. The 3-year-old son of Giant's Causeway completed four furlongs in :48.87 in what trainer Todd Pletcher described as a key maintenance work. 

"He seemed to go well and looked particularly energetic this morning so I was happy with the way he came out of it," Pletcher said. "It was just a standard half-mile breeze, so we'll continue with preparations towards the Travers."

The Tom Amoss-trained Mo Tom, who remains under consideration for the Travers, breezed four furlongs on the Oklahoma track in :51.71 Friday.

Mo Tom skippted the Belmont to run in the Ohio Derby, which he won by three lengths under jockey Javier Castellano. The Uncle Mo colt's career record stands at four wins and three thirds from nine starts for owner Gayle Benson's GMB Racing.

 

"He's doing well," Amoss said. "Our plan is to work next Friday and give him something much more significant and at that point we will make a decision on what to do after that."