Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher expressed satisfaction June 3 with 2022 champion 2-year-old male Forte and grade 1 winner Tapit Trice after their respective final workouts for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.
The duo worked Saturday at Belmont, with Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte breezing five furlongs in :59.67 under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. while in company with maiden winner Varatti, who had a slightly slower time of :59.72. New York Racing Association clockers caught Forte, a 3-year-old son of Violence , galloping out six furlongs in 1:12 2/5. Gallop-out times in New York are in fifths of a second.
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Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable's Tapit Trice went a half-mile in :49.89 in company with dual winner Classic Catch, who was clocked in :50.56. Tapit Trice galloped out five-eighths in 1:02.
Forte "came back and cooled out quickly. It was exactly what we were hoping he would go out there and do and I think based off the strength of his breezes, he's coming into it as well as we hope," Pletcher said.
After Forte had galloped out Saturday, as he was being slowed to a jog by Ortiz, he stumbled for a stride before continuing to jog. The colt had stumbled before continuing his gallop May 4 at Churchill Downs while training there.
Forte, out of the five-time stakes-winning Blame mare Queen Caroline, won the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park this season following his Eclipse Award-earning season last year.
Pursuant to HISA Rule 2241(a), Forte was placed on a mandatory 14-day veterinary list after being scratched from the May 6 Kentucky Derby (G1) due to a bruised right front foot. In order to be successfully removed from the list, Forte had to work in front of a regulatory veterinarian, which he completed successfully last week, and then produce a blood sample for review following the breeze.
Pletcher reported Saturday that Forte's blood sample came back negative.
"The bloodwork came back good. All is clear," Pletcher said.
Tapit Trice—a gray son of multiple champion-producing stallion Tapit , the sire of four winners of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes—was a non-threatening seventh in the Kentucky Derby four weeks after a hard-fought triumph in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) a start earlier at Keeneland. He also won the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) this spring in another stakes accomplishment.
"We were looking to do a little less with him than we were with Forte, since he ran in the Derby and has had two breezes since then," said Pletcher, a four-time Belmont Stakes winner. "It was more of a maintenance work for him and it seems like he continues to take to the main track here really well."
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Additional Belmont Stakes workers on the tab Saturday, though away from Belmont Park, included the Brad Cox-trained trio of graded stakes winners Angel of Empire and Hit Show and stakes-placed Tapit Shoes, all of whom went five furlongs at Churchill Downs.
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Albaugh Family Stables' Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Angel of Empire, third in the Kentucky Derby, posted the fastest work of the three, covering the distance in :59 4/5. Workouts in Kentucky are timed in fifths of a second.
Spendthrift Farm, Steve Landers Racing, Martin Schwartz, Michael Dubb, Ten Strike Racing, Jim Bakke, Titletown Racing, Kueber Racing, Big Easy Racing, Winners Win and Michael Caruso's Tapit Shoes, second to returning Belmont rival Red Route One in the Bath House Row on April 22 at Oaklawn Park, logged his exercise in 1:00 3/5.
Gary and Mary West's Withers Stakes (G3) winner Hit Show, fifth in the Kentucky Derby, stopped the clock in 1:01 3/5.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
