The last time Trinniberg ran at Saratoga Race Course he was the longest shot in the field, sent off at nearly 70-1 in last year's Three Chimneys Hopeful (gr. I). His return to the Spa in the Aug. 25 Foxwoods King's Bishop (gr. I) is likely to be quite different thanks to three graded stakes wins since then, including the Bay Shore (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack in April and the Woody Stephens (gr. II) at Belmont Park in June.
The son of Teuflesberg breezed three furlongs from the gate under regular rider Willie Martinez in :35.56 Aug. 17, the second-fastest at the distance over the main track. Trinniberg worked in company with Nick Rules.
"I didn't want him to go to the gate by himself," explained Shivananda Parbhoo, the colt's owner. Trinniberg is trained by Parbhoo's father, Bisnath Parboo.
Though Trinniberg has no history of gate problems, Parbhoo wanted him to get "a little sharper" for his upcoming start.
"He's a front-runner," he said. "They're going to have come catch him, and this is what I wanted, just to get him on edge a little more. He went really fast, which is good."
Trinniberg was bred in Kentucky by J M Stables and is out of the Goldminers Gold mare Bella Dorato. He is coming off a neck loss in the July 7 Carry Back (gr. III) at Calder Casino & Race Course, a race in which he dueled with eventual winner Fort Loudon to the wire. Despite the early speed in that race, Parbhoo said his horse came back fine.
"We were not totally ready for that race; I wasn't even supposed to run in it," he said. "But we're based in south Florida at Calder and we helped them out. Unfortunately, we got beat."