Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens
had thought highly of Irving Cowan’s Bold Warrior, and the regally bred
colt took his first step towards meeting those expectations when he broke his
maiden by three lengths yesterday at Belmont
Park in his second start.
“You always have hope when you
have one bred like this,” said Jerkens moments after the homebred son of
champions Bernardini and Hollywood Wildcat had earned is diploma.
Bold Warrior, a 3-year-old
half-brother to Breeders’ Cup Mile winner War Chant and Group 2 winner Ivan
Denisovich, had finished second by three-quarters of a length in his April 30
debut at Belmont.
In that seven-furlong race, the colt commenced rally on the far turn, led in
upper stretch, and relinquished the lead late to Global Power, who had finished
second at Gulfstream Park on April 3 in his lone previous effort.
“He ran very well last time,” said
Jerkens. “I think it was a good horse who beat him.”
Favored at 2-5 to go one better in
his second start, Bold Warrior showed improve early speed yesterday, dueling
with August Osage through fractions of 22.71 and 45.79, taking command at the
top of the lane, and drawing clear under a vigorous hand ride. The final time
for six furlongs was 1:09.25.
“He broke sharp today, which he
didn’t do last time,” noted Jerkens.
While Jerkens believed Bold
Warrior’s future lies in route races, he opted to enter the colt in yesterday’s
six furlong maiden race instead of a one-mile event scheduled for May 28.
“We hadn’t been able to train that
much,” said Jerkens. “We just let him gallop strongly yesterday morning. That
was the only work he had for this race. Eventually, we want him to go long. We
train sometimes in the mud, but if you have your druthers, you don’t if you can
help it.”
In the meantime, Jerkens has no
immediate plans for Bold Warrior.
“You just have to take little
steps at a time. You have to keep them sound and keep them feeling good. That’s
the main thing.”