General a Rod, fourth in the Preakness, will start in next Saturday's 146th Belmont Stakes. The 3-year-old worked five furlongs Saturday morning in 1:00 1/5 at Churchill Downs' Trackside training facility
Trained by Mike Maker, General a Rod will be ridden by Rosie Napravnik in the 1 1/2-mile "Test of the Champion" which will feature California Chrome, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
"I see no reason not to go," Maker said. "There was no reason to rush into a decision, in my opinion. We waited it out, and the horse told us to go. I felt good before the Preakness and I feel good before the Belmont. One of these times we're going to have a clean run and go from there."
General a Rod, co-owned by Skychai Racing and Starlight Racing, was 11th in the Run for the Roses after beginning 2014 impressively. He won the Gulfstream Park Derby on New Year's Day followed by a second in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and a third in the Florida Derby.
This year General a Rod has earned $330,000 in five starts.
Putting in a workout Saturday for the Belmont Stakes was trainer Dale Romans' Medal Count, Owned by Spendthrift Farm, Medal Count worked six furlongs at Churchill Downs in 1:10 3/5 with exercise rider Faustino Aguilar. The colt galloped out seven furlongs in 1:24 and a mile in 1:39.
"Coming out of the Derby, I didn't know what I was going to do with him that day," Romans said. "After a couple days, he got back to training and he was doing so well. I went back and watched the Derby two or three times and he obviously should have been right there. He wasn't going to beat the winner but I think he could have possibly been second and obviously been third."
Medal Count was eighth behind California Chrome in the Kentucky Derby, but did not run in the Preakness. He was fifth in the Fountain of Youth followed by a victory on Keeneland's main track in the Transylvania Stakes and second in the Blue Grass Stakes.
"He trains so well and is such a unique horse," Romans noted, "the more you do with him the better he gets. I think he could have run back in the Preakness. Then we looked at the schedule of turf races and thought if we were going to do that, we really needed to wait until the big race at Belmont, which isn't until July 7. That gives us time for one race in between and we can get him another chance at a classic."
Medal Count will ship to Belmont Park on Thursday.
[SportsNetwork.com]
