Sky Mesa returned to the track on schedule Wednesday, five days after bruising a hoof while finishing last in the Travers (gr. I).
Trainer John Ward said that the Pulpit colt owned by John Oxley galloped on the Oklahoma training track after the renovation break."He might be a little bit tender still on the left front," Ward said.After winning the first three races of his career as a 2-year-old, Sky Mesa was scratched from the Breeders' Cup Juvenile when Ward discovered from filling in an ankle. Sky Mesa missed the Triple Crown series with a heel injury on his right foreleg.
Sky Mesa was anxious in the gate and broke slowly, but Ward said he thinks the injury to the inside quarter occurred during the Travers.
"It's from concussion, hitting on the racetrack," Ward said.
The possibility exists, Ward said, that the injury could develop into a quarter crack.
"I don't think we're dealing with anything that is joint-related," Ward said. "I think we're dealing with something that is strictly foot-related."
Smokey Glacken May Return in Astarita
Trainer Jimmy Jerkens said that impressive 2-year-old maiden winner Smokey Glacken, a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Smoke Glacken, may make her next start in the Astarita (gr. II) at Belmont Park on Oct. 12.
Smokey Glacken rolled to a five-length victory in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race in 1:05.06 on Monday.
Jayeff B Stables bred the Kentucky-bred daughter of Forestry. John and Susan Moore purchased her for $150,000 at the Keeneland September sale.
Jerkens said he had planned to run the filly earlier in the meet, but that she was coughing just before his stable shipped to Saratoga and he had to postpone her debut.
Smokey Glacken prepped for the race with what Jerkens called an "exceptional" gate work. She broke in the middle of the 10-horse field Monday, but quickly got to the lead under jockey Jose Santos through opening fractions of :21 3/5 and :45 3/5.
Jerkens said he expects Smokey Glacken to stretch out successfully as her career progresses.
"With the race she ran the other day, we'll have to even her races out a little more for her to get the distance, I think," he said. "She just grabbed the jockey and went the other day. It's nice to have that kind of speed. She never was rank acting in the morning at all when she was working. But the other day she came out of there, grabbed the bit and went."AROUND THE SPA
Sightseek, winner of three consecutive grade I stakes for trainer Bobby Frankel, worked five furlongs in 1:02 2/5 Wednesday morning. She is scheduled to make her next start in the Ruffian (gr. I) Sept. 13 at Belmont Park.Frankel's winless streak at Saratoga continued Wednesday when Thunder Blitz finished fifth in the eighth race as the 6-5 favorite. Medaglia d'Oro's win in the Whitney Handicap (gr. I) on Aug. 2 was Frankel's last victory at the track. He has since lost 18 races in a row.
Also working Wednesday was Proud Citizen, who covered three furlongs in :36 on the main track. Proud Citizen is scheduled to run in the Forego (gr. I), which could put him on course toward to the Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I).
Sword Dancer (gr. IT) winner Whitmore's Conn worked a half-mile in :49 over the Oklahoma turf course. Whitmore's Conn, owned by Michael and Lyn Shanley of the Albany, N.Y. suburb of Guilderland, is nominated to the Man o' War (gr. IT) at Belmont on Sept. 6.