Belmont Stakes hero Sir Winston 'raring to go' in first work

Owner Tracy Farmer watched the video clip shared by trainer Mark Casse of Sir Winston, the Belmont Stakes winner, breezing through 3/8 of a mile Wednesday in 37.40 seconds at Casse’s Ocala, Fla., training center. And Farmer’s conclusion was simple.

“He’s raring to go,” Farmer said, with Sir Winston back on the work tab for the first time since his Triple Crown series victory last June.

Following the Belmont, Farmer said, Sir Winston had a small screw inserted due to an ankle injury that likely occurred during the June 8 race, which the Awesome Again colt won on the heels of runner-up performance in the Peter Pan Stakes (G3).

The setback forced connections to bypass other signature races for 3-year-olds, such as the Travers Stakes (G1), but Casse has spoken often of Sir Winston’s potential as an older horse.

“He was broken in September of his yearling year, and he’s raced pretty steadily and stayed in training until just after the Belmont,” the trainer said in August. “So he was in training for a long time. I don’t know that he ever got a real chance to grow up.

“Just in the time he’s been off, he’s probably put on 100 pounds. He looks tremendous. So I’m excited about getting him back.”

Farmer also owns 2-year-old Spinaway Stakes (G1) winner Perfect Alibi, another Casse trainee, and the two will have a chance to discuss plans when on hand for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“We don’t have a definitive plan,” Farmer said, “but we have great options. Next week during the Breeders’ Cup, we’ll come to some kind of resolution.”

Farmer said he’d like to see Sir Winston back in Grade 1 company over the winter. That could mean a try at the 2020 Pegasus World Cup (G1) in January, while he said the new, $20 million Saudi Cup in February is an interesting proposition about which he’ll have to learn more.

“It would be way out there, but you have to look at those things,” Farmer said. “It’s a hell of a deal to make a decision, really. We’ve talked about how well he’s doing. We just haven’t done anything other than that.”

Sir Winston is 3-1-1 in 10 starts with earnings of $961,773. Along with the Belmont, his other stakes victory came on synthetic in last December’s listed Display Stakes at Woodbine.