Eightyfiveinafifty turned in another swift work at
Aqueduct Sunday morning in preparation for an expected start in the Grade 2,
$250,000 Woody Stephens on the Belmont Stakes Day undercard. The 3-year-old son
of Forest Camp covered six furlongs in 1:11.84, the fastest of five moves at
the distance.
“He’s on track and it’s all good,” said Gary Contessa, who
trains the colt for Harold Lerner, John Moirano, and Team Stallion Racing. “We’re
taking it one day at a time and everything needs to go according to plan, but
if he comes out of the work well and continues to do well, we’ll run in the
Woody Stephens.”
Eightyfiveinafifty last started in a muddy edition of the
Grade 3 Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial at Churchill Downs on April 24, finishing
fourth. Contessa said that the colt seemed not to handle the track that day and
that the race seemed to take something out of him, but that he has bounced back
nicely in the five weeks since.
“He’s acting like his old self again and he certainly hasn’t
lost anything in the morning,” said Contessa. “He’ll work again next weekend
and it will be six weeks since the Derby Trial. I think the time has done him
good, and that the Woody Stephens is a good spot and he’s coming into it well.”