Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
After missing Jerome Stakes, Weyburn might try Winkfield
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The 3-year-old Weyburn, a goodlooking maiden winner on the Dec. 5 Cigar Mile card at Aqueduct, returned to the work tab Thursday for the first time in three weeks, breezing a halfmile in 49.02 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.
It was Weyburn’s first work since Dec. 16. Shortly afterward he got sick, which knocked him out of consideration for a start in the $150,000 Jerome at Aqueduct on New Year’s Day. Now, Weyburn is a potential candidate for the $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes on Jan. 30, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said.
“We were kind of on the fence about the Jerome anyway, and then he got sick, so that ended that,” Jerkens said. “I guess the Jimmy Winkfield is a possibility. Seven furlongs ought to be good.”
Weyburn, a son of Pioneerof the Nile, won his maiden in his third start, sparring on the lead with longshot Kentucky Knight before edging clear of the field in the lane. He didn’t change to his correct lead in the stretch in a race run over a sloppy, sealed surface. He earned a 67 Beyer Speed Figure.
“Nothing flashy, but good,” Jerkens said of the victory. “The conditions were horrible; a lot of wind, a lot of mud. You always got to add on a few more points when that happens.”
Jerkens said he also looks forward to stretching Weyburn out in distance at some point.
Jerkens, who kept his entire stable in New York this winter, has an interesting 3-year-old prospect in Khafre, whom he hopes to start in the next two weeks. Khafre is a son of American Pharoah owned by Centennial Farms, which purchased him for $500,000 at auction.
Khafre worked a bullet five furlongs in 1:00 on Jan. 1 and then came back Thursday with a strong four-furlong work from the gate in 47.38 seconds.
“We had him going, then we backed off him just a little bit and then started going again,” Jerkens said. “We might run him on the 17th. It’s seven furlongs. He might like that better.”
On Sunday, Jerkens is poised to debut Mo Desserts, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Nyquist, in a six-furlong race.
“She has been training well,” Jerkens said.
Jerkens said that Rocketry, who won the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes at Keeneland on Nov. 6, is getting a freshening on a farm in Middleburg, Va. Jerkens anticipates getting Rocketry back in March to start planning for a 7-yearold campaign.
Am Impazible earns shot
Am Impazible, a 5-year-old New York-bred mare who has won four consecutive races, could make her stakes debut in the $100,000 Ladies Handicap here on Jan. 10, trainer Kelly Breen said.
Am Impazible came off a 10-month layoff on Dec. 18 to win an open-company firstlevel allowance race going a one-turn mile.
“It was a big performance,” Breen said. “I didn’t honestly think she was up to it, but she has a lot of heart. She came out of the race in good order. That’s why we’re thinking of trying a stakes.”
On Thursday, Breen worked a pair of recent winners in Full Impact and Malibu Star. Full Impact, who is 2 for 2, went five furlongs in 1:02 while Malibu Star went the same distance in 1:01.60. Both worked by themselves.
Breen said he has no specific plans for either 4-year-old colt.
Breen said that Firenze Fire, who was second in the Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream on Dec. 12, has remained in Florida while he and owner Ron Lombardi decide where to run the horse next. He is Floridabred, so he would be eligible for the Sunshine Millions Sprint on Jan. 16.
Maker, Pletcher trios clash
Trainer Mike Maker and trainer Todd Pletcher each entered three horses in Sunday’s $100,000 Rego Park Stakes for New Yorkbred 3-year-olds going 6 1/2 furlongs.
Maker entered Blue Gator, runner-up in the $100,000 Notebook Stakes here on Nov. 14; Lookin for Trouble, fifth in the Notebook; and Windy Nations, fourth in a division of the New York Stallion Series.
Pletcher entered debut winners Uno, Perfect Munnings, and Storm Shooter.
Halpert, a last-out winner in an off-the-turf maiden race on Nov. 14, and longshot New York One round out the field.
◗ Jaxon Traveler, who has won all three of his starts, including the Maryland Juvenile Futurity, worked five furlongs in 1:01.64 Thursday morning over the Belmont Park training track. Trainer Steve Asmussen said earlier this week that Jaxon Traveler, a Maryland-bred son of Munnings, will likely make his next start in the $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes at Laurel on Jan. 16.