Berndt Sees Hogy as Sprinter

Alice Mettler’s Hogy, who suffered the first defeat in his four-race career when he finished fifth in last Saturday’s Grade III Arlington-Washington Futurity, had trainer Joel Berndt second-guessing himself earlier this week.

“(Hogy) came out of his race in the Futurity just super,” said Berndt.  “He had his head out of his stall the next morning looking just like he hadn’t even run.

“What I got out of the race was that I should have let the jockey take him back a little bit more,” Berndt said.  “If I could have a ‘redo’ of the instructions I gave, I would have told Frenchy (jockey Florent Geroux) to lay back about eighth and then make a late run.

“I’m not disappointed in the horse at all,” said Berndt.  “I especially liked the way he fought off the group that finished behind him.  I think now I’ll go back to sprinting with him and see where that takes us.”

GEROUX TAKES OFF ALL MOUNTS THURSDAY

French-born jockey Florent Geroux cancelled all of his riding engagements Thursday to be on hand for the birth of his first child.