Sole Volante To Train Up To Kentucky Derby; Ete Indien Suffers Setback

Trainer Patrick Biancone spoke to Horse Racing Nation about his two Kentucky Derby hopefuls on Tuesday, laying out his decision to train Sole Volante up to the Sept. 5 race and revealing that Ete Indien had suffered a setback in his training.

Ete Indien, the 3-year-old Summer Front colt whose record includes a win in the G2 Fountain of Youth, is now “50-50” to make the Run for the Roses. Biancone said he would not rush Ete Indien, and the next 10 days will be vital to determining whether the colt remains on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Meanwhile, plans for Sole Volante will take advantage of the 2 1/2 months between the Belmont Stakes and the Derby. The Karakontie colt won the G3 Sam Davis before finishing second in the G2 Tampa Bay Derby, then won a Gulfstream allowance race over the favored Ete Indien in early June. Ten days later, Biancone sent Sole Volante to New York to run in the Belmont Stakes, only to see him finish a disappointing sixth.

“I got stupid to run him,” Biancone told Horse Racing Nation. “I misjudged the energy level and the inside nervousness. He's usually a very cool horse. So we took a shot. I made a wrong decision. We spent $30,000 on the plane to fly the horse (from Florida to New York). But anyway, it's done. What can I do? Nobody's perfect. I got it wrong that time.”

Sole Volante will now train up to the Kentucky Derby, and Biancone hopes that his 30 points will be enough to secure the colt a spot in the starting gate. As it stands, Sole Volante is 20th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, while Ete Indien is eighth with 74 points. Biancone said he would not chase more points with Sole Volante, and intends to bring him to the Derby fresh.

Read more at Horse Racing Nation.

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Uncle Chuck Breezes Six Furlongs At Del Mar In 1:12.20; Draws Rail For Shared Belief

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert dispatched undefeated (2-for-2) Uncle Chuck, comebacking Eight Rings and several other stable standouts for exercises Sunday morning at Del Mar, north of San Diego, Calif.,  in preparation for major upcoming assignments.

Uncle Chuck, a 3-year-old son of Uncle Mo who produced a four-length victory in the Grade III Los Alamitos Derby last out, went six furlongs in 1:12:20. Del Mar clocker Toby Turrell caught interims of  :12.20, :47.80, and :59.80 with a gallop out to 1:26.00 for the solo work under Juan Ochoa. Uncle Chuck is entered and drew the rail for next Saturday's Shared Belief.

Eight Rings covered five furlongs in :59.20, tied with several others for fastest of  55 at the distance. The Empire Maker colt, who ducked in and hit the rail to unseat rider Drayden Van Dyke as the favorite in the 2019 Del Mar Futurity, is preparing for the second start of his 3-year-old campaign following a fifth-place of sixth as the favorite in the Batchelor at Oaklawn Park in April.

Three-year-old filly Gamine, winner of the Acorn Stakes in June who has been mentioned as a major candidate for the Kentucky Oaks or Kentucky Derby, went 6 furlongs in 1:12.60 for a possible start in the Test Stakes at Saratoga on August 8.

Four-year-old filly Fighting Mad, winner of the Grade II Santa Maria Stakes at Santa Anita on May 31, covered 5 furlongs in :59.40 preparing for the Grade I, $250,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes next Sunday.

“She likes this track and she's been working great,” Baffert said.

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Shirreffs Sends Honor A.P. Out For ‘Practice’ Before Shared Belief Stakes

Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A.P. led a group of talented 3-year-olds, several with Kentucky Derby potential, in workouts Saturday morning at Del Mar. Honor A.P. and two Bob Baffert trainees, Cezanne and Thousand Words, were undergoing their final major exercise for next Saturday's $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes, which has qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

The COVID-19 outbreak forced the Run for the Roses to be rescheduled from its traditional first Saturday in May spot to the first Saturday in September.

Honor A.P., trained by John Shirreffs for the C R K Stable of Lee and Susan Searing, went after the second track renovation break, arriving around 8 a.m. under exercise rider Francisco Alvarado. The son of Honor Code worked with 4-year-old winner Takeo, spotting his stablemate a four-length head start before drawing even at the head of the stretch and pulling away.

Del Mar clockers had Honor A.P. with interim fractions of :24.80, :36.60, and an official five-eighths in 1:01.20 while galloping out to six furlongs in 1:14.20.

“From my angle he went 11 (seconds) and change or 12 the last eighth,” Shirreffs commented via text. “The work was practice.”

Unbeaten (2-for-2) Cezanne and Thousand Words, winner of the Grade II Los Alamitos Futurity in December and Grade III Robert B. Lewis in February, worked side-by-side for six furlongs in 1:13.80.

Hollywood Gold Cup winner Improbable, being targeted for the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga a week away, was clocked in 1:25.80 in a work slightly compromised when another horse ran loose and alarm sirens were sounded.

“The track I think is a little slow today, but I'm pleased with all of them,” Baffert said. “The loose horse screwed up Improbable's work, but he'll be all right.”

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‘Nothing Fazes Him’: Tiz The Law Turns In Sharp Breeze At Saratoga

Sackatoga Stable's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes champ Tiz the Law breezed five-eighths in 1:00.48 Saturday morning on the Saratoga Race Course main track in preparation for the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers slated for August 8 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s, the son of second crop sire Constitution recorded splits of 24.20 and 36.00 before galloping out in 1:13.80 over a fast main track with exercise rider Heather Smullen aboard.

“He does exactly what you tell him to do,” Smullen said. “It was a little different this week just because there was some traffic right off the rail and last week there was no one around and nothing for him to look at. This week, there were a couple horses down the stretch and he just buzzed right by them. I never moved my hands or asked him to do anything. He just stays on his own course, does his job, and gallops out great. I just sat there, and he did it on his own. Everything today was just easy and comfortable on his part.”

A three-time Grade 1 winner, Tiz the Law won the Grade 1 Champagne in October at Belmont following a victory on debut against fellow New York-breds in his lone start at Saratoga. He rounded out his juvenile campaign with a close third in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs, which was his only defeat in six starts.

Trainer Barclay Tagg, who watched the work aboard his stable pony, was pleased but unsurprised with how well his horse trained.

“Nothing fazes him. I don't know that I've ever had a horse quite like him,” Tagg said. “His breathing was perfect. You could tell he just worked, but it was nothing like most horses. He's got three nice races under him. He's good and fit and he's trained perfectly.

“He seems willing to want to do more,” Tagg added. “Whenever we do more, he blazes off just as fast. He's a great horse to have. We try not to take anything away from him.”

Tiz the Law made his seasonal bow at Gulfstream Park with a three-length score in the Grade 3 Holy Bull in February en route to a dominating effort in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Florida Derby by 4 ¼ lengths on March 28. Last out, in the nine-furlong Belmont Stakes, Tiz the Law again proved dominant with a 3 ¾-length score in the first leg of the Triple Crown under regular pilot Manny Franco.

“He's been good everywhere we went,” Tagg said. “He was just like this in Florida and did everything we asked him to. You can follow the book so to speak, but if you miss a couple of days because of weather, he can just pick it right back up again.”

Sackatoga Stables operations manager Jack Knowlton was present for the breeze and said the Runhappy Travers' mile and a quarter distance should be no issue for Tiz the Law.

“It's just what we need,” Knowlton said. “He's fit and he just shows that. Time really doesn't matter. If you look at the way he gallops out, that to me is more meaningful. He works five-eighths then gallops out six, gallops out seven and gallops out a mile and still keeps going. There just seems to be no end to the energy he has, so I'm looking forward to a mile and a quarter race. I think he'll really relish the added distance.”

Bred in New York by Twin Creeks Farm, Tiz the Law is out of the graded stakes winning Tiznow broodmare Tizfiz. He has accumulated earnings of $1,480,300.

Tiz the Law, who leads all contenders with 272 Derby qualifying points, will contest a unique Triple Crown scenario that will continue with the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, rescheduled from Saturday, May 2 to Saturday, September 5, as the second leg of the Classic series. The Grade 1 Preakness, originally slated for May 16, will close out the Triple Crown on October 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

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