JC / Railbird - Afleet Alex Works

Afleet Alex Works

Afleet Alex worked five furlongs handily in :59.8 at Belmont this morning, the fastest of eight works at that distance. It was his first workout since undergoing surgery for a hairline fracture in July. Trainer Tim Ritchey wasn’t surprised by Afleet Alex’s performance (Blood-Horse):

“It didn’t amaze me how fast he worked, because he did it easy, and he always works like that,” Ritchey said. “What really amazed me was when he pulled up on the backside, and I walked and jogged back with him on the pony, and he wasn’t even blowing. When you breeze them, you need to put air into them, but he wasn’t even taking a deep breath. It was astounding.”

Ritchey said Alex would work again next week and may return to the races in mid-October. “I don’t want a tough race for him, just kind of a building race. The Classic is more on my mind now after watching him work the way he did.”
Cash Is King stable manager Chuck Zacney commented after the workout that, “Obviously, we need a prep race…. Right now, it looks like he has a 75 percent chance of making the Breeders’ Cup” (Daily News). I don’t want to get my hopes up, but, wow — wouldn’t that be amazing?

Posted by JC in Horses on 09/30/2005 @ 10:30 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter