Godolphin Racing’s promising sophomore Alpha will likely turn in a work for next
Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Withers Stakes Sunday or Monday at Belmont
Park. A comfortable winner of the Count Fleet at the Big A on January 7 despite
some gate trouble, Alpha has been schooling in the gate regularly since the
race and will continue that work this week in preparation for 1 1/16-mile
Withers, said Art Magnuson, assistant to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.
“We’re not going to breeze from the gate, but maybe
we’ll stand in there [Saturday], breeze Sunday or Monday and then one
more time probably in the gate before the race,” Magnuson said. “He
was great the other day, but you’ve got to keep doing it. You can’t
just go once.”
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Keeping Alpha in New York after the
Count Fleet was an attractive option given the revamped 3-year-old stakes
program, with the Withers moving up on the calendar to serve as a steppingstone
to the Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham on March 3 and
the Grade 1, $1 million Resorts World New York City Casino Wood Memorial on
April 7.
“It’s fantastic this year what they’ve done with the
Count Fleet, Withers, Gotham, and Wood,”
Magnuson said. “It’s a great progam, best in the country,
seriously. It’s a steady march, great purses, and there’s grading
in there. It’s ideal.”
Alpha, a son of Bernardini, debuted a six-length winner on closing
weekend at Saratoga Race Course and then finished second in the Grade 1
Champagne behind Union Rags. Never a factor in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
at Churchill Downs on November 5, Alpha was sent to Florida after the race and returned to the
worktab at Palm Meadows in December. After shipping to New York the week before the Count Fleet, he
breezed a bullet half-mile in 47.88.
According to NYRA stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes, Alpha is likely to
face Hakama, King Kid, Phil
Dancer, Speightscity, Swag Daddy and Tiger Walk in the Withers, with How Do I Win and Longview
Drive also under consideration for the race.