Trainer Chad Brown reported Sunday morning
that Street Life was drained but
healthy following his fourth-place finish in the Belmont Stakes.
“He came out of the race in good
shape,” he said. “He’s a little tired, but he looks sound.
We’re just going to regroup and think about our next spot with
him.”
Under jockey Jose Lezcano, Street Life
raced near the back of the 11-horse field through moderate fractions set by the
front-running Paynter, closing down the stretch on the far outside and was beaten
7 ¼ lengths.
“I was a little disappointed the
horse didn’t show a little more interest early and naturally lay
closer,” Brown said, “but he tends to be a lazy kind of horse. He
just didn’t have good position early, and then lacked the turn of foot to
really make a serious impact on the top three finishers. All things considered,
I thought the horse ran fairly well. He put his run in; it wasn’t good
enough.”
Brown was complimentary of Belmont winner Union Rags,
who rebounded from two tough-trip losses to rally along the rail and beat
Paynter by a neck.
“It was an outstanding day of racing
that Belmont Park put on, and I think the Belmont
Stakes in particular was an outstanding race,” he said. “Yeah, we
lost a major player in I’ll Have Another, and everyone was disappointed
with that; however, I think the best horse won the race. Union Rags showed at 2
that he was one of the best horses in the crop, if not the best horse. I think
he validated that again yesterday. I think he’s going to be a force to be
reckoned with the rest of the year. He’s not a horse that I’d be
looking to run against if I had the choice.”
Looking ahead, Brown said he would
consider the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course for Street Life,
who has two wins, a third and a fourth in six career races.
“I’m going to point him toward
the Jim Dandy and just see what’s happening,” he said. “I
want to back him up in distance and hopefully get more pace to run into.
He’s got something to prove. He’s been knocking on the door, but he
needs to be a little faster to beat these horses. I’m going to give him
the opportunity to continue to develop into the kind of horse that can make a
stronger impact in these races. I think he still has a lot of upside, and I
don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet.”