Trainer Chad Summers plans to bring multiple group/grade 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits back to the track Sept. 2 for the first time since running sixth to champion Drefong in the Aug. 26 Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
Summers said Sept. 1 the 4-year-old son of Posse exited the Forego without any issues and has done well and showed good energy since the race, the lowest finish in 17 lifetime starts that include four graded stakes triumphs and more than $2.2 million in purse earnings.
"He came out of it good. I can't find anything wrong with him," Summers said. "We pulled blood on him and the blood was perfect. The vet went over him and can't find anything wrong with him. He's run 16 times and never had an off day; he just didn't show up.
"I thought he was a little flat in the paddock and I didn't really love how he warmed up. He just didn't run," he added. "Hats off to Drefong; he's a champion and he showed up. We got beat eight lengths and we know what the target is in the Breeders' Cup."
Summers said Mind Your Biscuits is scheduled to leave for Belmont Park in the coming week and continue working toward a return trip to the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), having earned an all-fees-paid berth by virtue of his victory in the Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes (G2) July 8.
Mind Your Biscuits' only previous off-the-board finishes came when fifth in the grade 1 Ketel One King's Bishop Stakes last summer at Saratoga and a November 2015 maiden special weight at Aqueduct Racetrack, where he ran fourth.
"It happens; the one thing is to just figure out why it happened. That's the big thing," Summers said. "Fortunately, like we thought when he wasn't training well before, it's not a physical thing, and that's a good thing. Now it's just getting the horse back in the right mental state of mind, getting back down to Belmont and hopefully that'll do the trick.
"He looks great. He's acting good," he added. "He was on his hind legs this morning so he's getting back to himself. He'll leave this week and we'll get ready for the next spot."
Among several options being considered are the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) Sept. 16 at Laurel Park; Kelso Handicap (G2) Sept. 23 and Vosburgh Stakes (G1) Sept. 30, both at Belmont; the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (G2) Oct. 6 at Keeneland and Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G1) Oct. 7.
"We'll nominate to everything. It's one of those things where we'll let him tell us. We've kind of always been like that with him," Summers said. "Maybe in hindsight we shouldn't have run (in the Forego) but he showed enough signs over those last 10 days (before the race) that he was on the right track and it was just one of those things.
"He never picked up the bridle. He never picked up his feet. Even when he was fourth he never looked happy, never looked comfortable," he added. "There's no reason for us right now to stop on him or anything like that. It's just a matter of figuring him out. He had his week off, he'll go back to the track tomorrow and start jogging and we'll go from there."
