In his final serious move for next Saturday’s Belmont,
Robert V. LaPenta’s Ice Box posted a bullet four-furlong workout in
46.65 this morning over Saratoga Race Course’s Oklahoma Training Track, the
fastest of 22 works at the distance.
Spotting 3-year-old stablemate Dark Cove five lengths at the
start of the workout, Ice Box went in 23.25 for the first quarter and galloped
out five furlongs in 1:01.02.
“I liked everything about the work,” said Hall of Fame
trainer Nick Zito of the Grade 1 Florida Derby winner, who finished second in
the Kentucky Derby in his most recent outing.
“I wanted to see what I saw [in his work]. He finished with
good energy and he looked good doing it. That’s the main thing. Sometimes, you
got to have a little zip in him, even though he’s going a mile-and-a-half. This
is the exact workout he had coming into the Kentucky Derby. Hopefully,
everything goes good.”
Ice Box, along with stablemate and fellow Belmont hopeful Fly Down, winner of the
Grade 2 Dwyer, is scheduled to arrive at Belmont Park
along with Zito on Wednesday, June 2.