Dual grade 1 winner Jackson Bend breezed a half-mile over the Oklahoma training track on the morning of Aug. 16 under exercise rider Maxine Correa, covering the distance in :49.33 as he preps for the $500,000 Forego Stakes (gr. I) Sept. 1 at Saratoga Race Course.
Jackson Bend is aiming for a repeat in the seven-furlong race in which he earned his first grade I victory.
“He’ll work again, major work, but he’s all set up anyway,” trainer Nick Zito said. “He keeps himself fit. He’s a horse you don’t have to do much with. I just want to keep him as happy as we can and hope it works out good for him again.”
Jackson Bend, a 5-year-old son of Hear No Evil out of the Tabasco Cat mare Sexy Stockings, finished fourth on opening day in the James Marvin Stakes (gr. III), a race he also won in 2011, for owners Robert LaPenta and Fred Brei.
“He never had a real chance,” Zito said of the James Marvin, in which Jackson Bend had a wide trip. “Obviously a grade I is always tougher, but seven-eighths, he always runs well. Just trying to do it again, that’s the main thing.”
Jackson Bend has won or placed in 19 of 27 starts and has earned $1,608,450.