STEPPENWOLFER'S ROUTE TO THE BELMONT
Steppenwolfer and Jazil, the third and
fourth-place finishers in the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum
Brands (gr. I), both worked over a fast main track at Belmont Park
Saturday morning in preparation for the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) on
June 10.
Owned by Robert and Lawana Low, Steppenwolfer has never been worse
than third in eight starts on dirt. After chasing Lawyer Ron in
Oaklawn Park's top 3-year-old races, the Aptitude colt rallied to
be third beaten 8 ½ lengths in the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Danny
Peitz elected to sit out the Preakness and wait for the 1 ½-mile
Belmont – the longest and oldest leg of racing's Triple Crown.
Steppenwolfer breezed six furlongs in 1:13 with jockey Jose Santos
up. He was timed in early fractions of :25 2/5 and :49 3/5 before
galloping out seven furlongs in 1:25 4/5. Although Santos worked
the gray colt, Robby Albarado has the mount in the Belmont.
"Jose was all smiles this morning," said Peitz. The trainer offered
Santos the mount on Steppenwolfer in the Southwest, but Santos was
committed to riding Bohemian Lady at Aqueduct that day for Todd
Pletcher.
Initially, Peitz thought Steppenwolfer could have made a crisper
rally in the Derby, but once he dissected the race, he was not too
disappointed.
"With all the speed on paper in the Derby, I thought we could have
been 20 out of it," Peitz said. "He was only 10 lengths back early.
When I broke down the race, I realized the horses up front ran a
slow fourth quarter-mile of :26 1/5 and that hurt his chances."
Peitz felt it made sense to give his colt a little rest and have
him fresh for the Belmont. "Giving him five weeks between starts
was one of the reasons we skipped the Preakness," said Petiz. "He
would have also been against it if the track at Pimlico came up
speed favoring." The distance of the Belmont Stakes should not be a
problem for Steppenwolfer, whose sire ran second in the 2000
edition.
"I don't know how the mile and a half is going to work to our
advantage," Peitz said. "I know that most horses don't want to run
a mile and a half. The whole field will probably be pretty tightly
bunched."
The Lows spent $375,000 on Steppenwolfer as a yearling in April of
2005. The colt is named after the 1960's rock band Steppenwolf,
whose popular hits included "Magic Carpet Ride," and "Born to Be
Wild."
"When the Lows were in their early to mid 20s, Steppenwolf was
really popular," Peitz said. "Steppenwolfer's dam is Wolfer. They
tried to name the colt Steppenwolf, but the Jockey Club rejected
that so they went with Steppenwolfer. The lead singer (John Kay)
actually called the Lows before the Derby and wished them good
luck."
Date:
31 May 2006