Grade 1 Carter winner Warrior’s Reward worked a
half-mile in 49.10 Thursday morning as trainer Ian Wilkes readies the
4-year-old colt for a start in the Grade 1 Forego on September 4.
The move was the second for the Medaglia d’Oro colt since
his sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Met Mile behind Quality Road.
“We gave him 30 days off after
the Met Mile,” said Wilkes of Warrior’s Reward, who finished second in last
year’s Grade 2 Jim Dandy and fifth in the Grade 1 Travers. “He’s a big horse,
and he’s getting more mature. He’s always been very professional.”
Warrior’s Reward began his 2010 campaign with an allowance
victory at Gulfstream Park,
and then rallied from last to nose out Musket Man in a thrilling edition of the
seven-furlong Carter. Second in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes, Warrior’s
Reward stayed closer to the pace in the Met Mile, challenging Quality Road
at the quarter-pole before giving way.
“That was my mistake – I put him too close to the pace,”
said Wilkes. “I tried to beat Quality Road
in the Met Mile, instead of just letting him run his race.”
Wilkes added that Bearpath, most recently fourth,
beaten less than two lengths, by Gio Ponti in the Grade 1 Man o’War at Belmont Park,
continues to do well as he prepares for a start in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer
Invitational on August 14.
“He’s really starting to mature into a nice horse,” said
Wilkes of Bearpath, who won the Grade 3 Pan American at Gulfstream Park
in March and finished second in the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap in May. “It’s
not just that I am hoping he runs well, I really think he belongs with this group.”