Since today is a Saturday, plenty of big-name horses turned in morning workouts at racetracks across the country this morning! Here are some of the highlights:
American Pharoah: Six furlongs in 1:11 2/5 (bullet) at Del Mar
A. P. Indian: Five furlongs in 1:01.80 at Fair Hill
Honor Code: Five furlongs in 1:04.04 at Belmont Park
Hoppertunity: Six furlongs in 1:12.60 at Del Mar
Kobe’s Back: Four furlongs in :47.40 at Del Mar
Liam’s Map: Five furlongs in 1:00.66 (bullet) at Saratoga
Madefromlucky: Five furlongs in 1:02.88 at Saratoga
Materiality: Five furlongs in 1:03.00 at Saratoga
Mick’s Miracle: Five furlongs in 1:02.40 at Del Mar
Overcontrol: Five furlongs in :59.09 (turf) (bullet) at Belmont Park
Stephanie’s Kitten: Five furlongs in 1:01.90 (turf) at Belmont Park
Texas Red: Four furlongs in :51.45 at Saratoga
Top Billing: Four furlongs in :48.84 (turf) at Belmont Park
(Additional workout information can be found on Equibase.com.)
While most of these workouts are pretty standard, it’s interesting to see Top Billing turn in a workout on turf. His trainer, Shug McGaughey, has considered running the son of Curlin on turf in the past, and given that Top Billing has failed to live up to expectations on dirt this year, a start on turf could very well be in his future. His pedigree suggests that he might handle the surface very well, as Curlin ran second in the Man o’ War Stakes (gr. I) in his lone start on turf and has sired a pair graded stakes winners on the grass.
