Prime
Cut, who has finished no worse than third in six starts since December,
including a third in the Grade 2 Peter Pan, galloped 1 3/8 miles on the main
track this morning.
“He
was the sales-topper in the second book at the Keeneland September yearling
sales, so we always had high expectations of him,” said Neil Howard’s
assistant, Ricky Giannini, of the Bernstein colt, who fetched $475,000. “He was
big, even at 2, and because of that we thought he’d be a late-developing colt.”
After
a fourth-place finish going 5 ½ furlongs in his debut a year ago at Churchill
Downs, Prime Cut developed a lung infection that kept him out of training for
several months. He returned to training in October, and after breaking his
maiden at the Fair Grounds on December 12, finished third, second and first in a
trio of optional claimers and second by a nose to Derby Kitten in his stakes
debut, the Grade 3 Lexington.
“The
expectation was that he would be better at age 3 than at 2, and he might be
even better at 4 or 5,” said Giannini. “But he’s ready for tomorrow.”