After winning the Preakness (gr. I) Saturday in Maryland, jockey Jose Santos was back to work at Belmont early Sunday morning, breezing Breeders' Cup Classic winner Volponi shortly after the track renovation break. The son of Cryptoclearance was credited with a four-furlong move in :48 3/5.Volponi made his 2003 debut in a May 9 allowance, finishing second by a neck behind Speightstown.
"I caught him galloping out five furlongs in 1:01 2/5," Hall of Fame trainer P.G. Johnson said. "I was happy with the work. I wanted him to go easy because it was his first work since running."Volponi's comeback race was at seven furlongs, a distance shorter than what he was accustomed to running in.
"I think he got a lot out of his return race," Johnson said. "I'll give him a stronger seven-eighths work on Saturday."
Johnson plans on running Volponi in the $250,000 Brooklyn Handicap (gr. II) at 1 1/8 mile on June 14th.