Hard Spun, who has finished in the money in all but one of his last five efforts, breezed four furlongs in :47-flat for trainer Larry Jones. It was the 3-year-old colt’s first work since finishing second in the Aug. 5 Haskell.
Jones said that he wants to run the Pennsylvania-bred in the seven-furlong King’s Bishop and then try to stretch him out for the 1 ¼-mile $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic-Powered by Dodge (gr.I) at Monmouth Park Oct. 27. The sprint-to-route strategy worked well for Jones leading up to the 1 1/8-mile Lanes End Stakes (gr. II) in March, in which Hard Spun won in convincing fashion. He has not won since that effort.
A son of Danzig, out of Turkish Tryst, Hard Spun has earned over $1.2 million for owner Rick Porter. He will ship to Saratoga Aug. 20.
“Everything is a go for the King’s Bishop,” Jones said. “Usually, we work him longer before the race. Because he’s running shorter, we wanted to tune up his speed. He looked really sharp out there by himself.”