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Belmont Stakes Horses In Good Shape After The Belmont Stakes 2009
Belmont Stakes winnerSummer Bird and the next three finishers in the Belmont Stakes came out of the race in good shape and will be rested before coming back for the summer horse racing season.
Race horse trainer Tim Ice said Sunday that his colt Summer Bird could go to Saratoga Race Course to race in the Jim Dandy Stakes on August 1 followed by the Travers Stakes on August 29.
“If we go, like we did for the Belmont, we’ll go well ahead of time, ship up a month before the Jim Dandy,” Ice said of possible Saratoga plans. “People tell me you have to go to two places Del Mar and Saratoga. I’ve been to Del Mar. To take a horse like this and go to Saratoga would be amazing.”
Dunkirk was second in the Belmont Stakes followed by Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and Charitable Man.
Mine That Bird’s trainer Chip Woolley was not tipping his hand. The trainer from New Mexico said the goal is the Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 7 at Santa Anita, so “we’ll see what fits his schedule best. I’d rather keep him on dirt and against other 3-year-olds. It may be a couple of days before we make a hard decision, and we’ll definitely for sure give him eight weeks off now.”
Woolley said the gelding Mine That Bird handled the three races just fine. Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby by 6 3/4 lengths, finished second in the Preakness and ran third in the Belmont.
“He feels awful good this morning,” Woolley said. “Awful bright and bouncing. He’s ready to get out and go do something.”
Mine That Bird will be flown to Churchill Downs on Monday and train there while Woolley sorts out the future. Summer Bird will also be on the flight, the first leg of a trip to Louisiana Downs.
Ice, meanwhile, is still having a hard time believing he’s a Belmont winner.
“This whole thing is unbelievable,” Ice said. “Watching the horse come down the stretch was like an out-of-body experience.”
Dunkirk and Charitable Man are based at Belmont Park and will remain there until resuming their horse racing season.
Dunkirk bounced back nicely, said race horse trainer Todd Pletcher, even though the striking gray colt suffered muscle cramps after setting the pace in the Belmont.
“He put in a big effort and was tired after the race,” Pletcher said. “His energy levels seem to be up. He was bright and alert this morning. I was proud of his determination.”
“The question is how we are going to get there,” Pletcher said. “It’s going to be either the Jim Dandy or the Haskell.”
Race horse trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Charitable Man suffered some minor nicks in the race, but was fine otherwise. McLaughlin will point him toward the Jim Dandy or the Haskell.
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