Belmont Stakes contenders Summer Bird, sixth in the Kentucky Derby, and Charitable Man, winner of the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes, are both scheduled to breeze Saturday morning on the main track at Belmont Park in preparation for the 1½-mile “Test of the Champion” on June 6.
Summer Bird, owned by Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman, will breeze seven furlongs after the break under Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado, said trainer Tim Ice. Charitable Man, owned by William K. Warren, will also work after the break, going a half-mile with exercise rider Renzo Morales aboard.
“We have Joe Talamo to ride Summer Bird in the Belmont, but Edgar said he didn’t mind working him,” said Ice Friday morning. “I’ve known Joe since he was 14 years old, hot-walking in Louisiana. I think the rider change (from C.R. Rosier) will help him.”
Ice also said Summer Bird will be equipped with blinkers for the first time in the Belmont.
“I think it will help him be more focused down the lane,” he said. “Maybe he won’t drop so far back.”
Summer Bird, a chestnut son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone who was third in the Grade 2 Arkansas Derby, has been doing “very well” since arriving at Belmont Park Tuesday from Louisiana, Ice said.
“He came out of the Derby really good,” said the trainer. “He’s put on weight and he’s blossoming at the right time. What I really liked about the Derby was the way he galloped out. I think the distance will suit him.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher will send Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor’s Belmont hopeful Dunkirk out Monday morning as he continues preparations for the Belmont.
The gray Unbridled’s Song colt breezed a half-mile in a bullet 47.24 last Monday in his first move since finishing 11th behind Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby.
“I haven’t decided how far he will go,” said Pletcher. “But he will go after the break.”
Belmont Stakes weekend is shaping up to be a busy one for Pletcher. In addition to Dunkirk, he is also pointing Cowboy Cal to the Grade 1, $400,000 Woodford Reserve Manhattan, Captain’s Lover to the Grade 1, $400,000 Just A Game, Affirmatif to the Grade 3, $100,000 Hill Prince, Munnings to the Grade 2, $250,000 Woody Stephens, and Yesshesalady toward the Grade 1, $300,000 Acorn.
“It looks like it will be a busy weekend,” he said. “Whether it will be a good weekend we won’t know until the races are over.”