The final round of serious works for the 155th Belmont Stakes (G1) featured one of the headliners as Preakness Stakes (G1) winner National Treasure turned in a quick five-furlong breeze over Belmont Park's main track.
The June 5 move by the Bob Baffert-trained son of Quality Road was timed in :59.55 and was the fastest of five works at the distance. In comparison, included among those five works was a 1:02.55 move by the 4-year-old White Abarrio in preparation for the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on the June 10 undercard of the final jewel in the Triple Crown.
Grade 1 Preakness winner NATIONAL TREASURE out for his final breeze for the G1 Belmont Stakes. @thenyra clockers caught the son of Quality Road working five furlongs in 59 2/5 seconds; out six furlongs in 1:11 1/5 and seven in 1:25 1/5 pic.twitter.com/QNezSvooB6
— Ryan Martin (@rwm6893) June 5, 2023
The morning work tab also included an easy :50.20 four-furlong move by Belmont Stakes candidate Red Route One over Belmont's training track.
For National Treasure, Monday's spin around Belmont with exercise rider Erick Garcia was much quicker than his initial :50.62 four-furlong work May 30 around the 1 1/2-mile oval in his first timed move since a victory by a head on the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course.
"It was just how I expected him to work and how I was hoping he would work," said assistant trainer Jim Barnes. "He looks the same as he did in Baltimore. He hasn't lost anything. He was straight as could be (Monday) and worked through the wire around the turn. It was just what you what to see."
Owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan, The Saratoga Sale graduate galloped out six furlongs in 1:11 1/5 and seven in 1:25 1/5.
Bred by Peter Blum Thoroughbreds out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Treasure, National Treasure has won two of six starts with earnings of $1,335,000.
Red Route One, owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and trained by Steve Asmussen, turned in the sixth-fastest of 19 works at the distance. The homebred son of Gun Runner who was fourth in the Preakness worked May 30 over the main track in :50.85.
"It was very nice, very fluid. We're happy with him," assistant trainer Toby Sheets said. "He's been easy to work with; pleasant; a pretty good dude."
Trainer Todd Pletcher sent out his duo of 2-year-old champion Forte and Tapit Trice for a 1 1/4-mile gallop around the training track.
"Both horses galloped very well this morning," Pletcher said about his prospective starters in the $1.5 million Belmont. "I'm really happy with both of them."
With a field of 10 3-year-olds likely for the June 6 post position draw, half the field for The Test of the Champion was either en route to New York or had yet to ship by Monday morning.
The lineup for the 1 1/2-mile classic is also expected to include trainer Brad Cox's trio of Angel of Empire, the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Hit Show, and Tapit Shoes, as well as Raise Cain, Il Miracolo, and Peter Pan Stakes (G3) winner Arcangelo , who is based at Belmont.
