Spinoff, Intrepid Heart Log Final Belmont Stakes Works

Trainer Todd Pletcher said he was pleased with the final breezes from his $1.5 million Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) contenders, Spinoff and Intrepid Heart, the morning of June 1.

The two visited Belmont Park's main track shortly after the renovation break a week out from the June 8 classic. Wertheimer and Frere's homebred Spinoff worked in company with recent maiden winner Principled and completed five furlongs in 1:02.16. 

"I thought he went well," said Pletcher. "He seemed very relaxed and got into a good comfortable rhythm. He stayed steady all the way around and put in a nice seven-eighths gallop out. He had a really strong workout last week, so we didn't have to do quite as much today. He seemed happy and moving well."

The Hard Spun  colt, who ran second in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) March 23, will enter the Belmont Stakes following an 18th-place finish in the May 4 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) on a sloppy track. 

"It looked like he never really appreciated the off going in that race," said Pletcher. "Since then, he's seemed to continue to move forward and he's been training well, so we're expecting a better effort."

Robert and Lawana Low's Intrepid Heart worked in blinkers on the inside of graded stakes-placed stablemate Outshine, completing five furlongs in 1:00.92. 

"I thought he had another good work and strong gallop out," Pletcher said of Intrepid Heart. "I had him finish a mile in 1:38 and change. I think we got a solid work out of him. He seemed to be happy and moving well. He worked on the outside last time, so I just wanted to work him again with the blinkers on and have him on the inside this time and thought it went smoothly."

The Tapit  colt finished third in the Peter Pan Stakes (G3) May 11 at Belmont Park after winning his first two starts.

From trainer Danny Gargan's barn, R.A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Hugh Lynch, and Corms Racing Stable's Tax breezed Saturday morning on the Belmont Park main track. Gargan said afterward that a decision will be forthcoming on entering the Belmont Stakes.

The Arch gelding went four furlongs in :49.03 in his second breeze since finishing 14th in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. After breezing a half-mile in :49.87 on the Belmont training track May 25, Tax went in company with New York-bred Blurred Line Saturday.

Should Tax enter the "Test of the Champion," it will mark his first start on the famed "Big Sandy" track. Tax has never finished off the board in New York, running third in the Dec. 1 Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack to close his juvenile campaign. He returned to win the Feb. 2 Withers Stakes (G3) by a head over Not That Brady and ran second to fellow Belmont Stakes contender Tacitus in the April 6 Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2).

In four starts of at least 1 1/8 miles, Tax has one win, one runner-up effort, and a third-place finish.

Tax could potentially be Gargan's first Belmont Stakes trainee. He was bred in Kentucky by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider. Out of the Giant's Causeway mare Toll, the gelding comes from the same family as two-time grade 1-winning millionaire Elate.