Catholic Boy likely to stay on dirt after Suburban defeat

Trainer Jonathan Thomas said Catholic Boy was in good order Sunday morning. Robert V. LaPenta, Madaket Stables, Siena Farm, and Twin Creeks Racing Stables' runner earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure for his runner-up effort to Preservationist in Saturday's Suburban (G2) at Belmont Park. 

"Overall, he's pretty good. He's got a couple little bangs and scratches but nothing big," Thomas said. "Now that the dust has settled, I thought overall it was a really good effort.

“Preservationist ran a 108 Beyer and we ran a 102, which is his second lifetime best. We were giving the winner six pounds and it wasn't the ideal set up. I thought we ran well."

Thomas said Catholic Boy is likely to stay on dirt for his next outing, eyeing a cut back to nine furlongs in the Woodward (G1) on Aug. 31 at Saratoga – which is shaping up as a potential rematch with Preservationist, who also came out of the Suburban in good order.

"The Woodward will be our major target," Thomas said. "While we think he's a mile-and-a-quarter horse, I feel more confident cutting him back to a mile and an eighth now more than ever just off of the tactical speed he seems to have."

Catholic Boy was keen in the early stages of the Suburban under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, sitting in second position through the opening quarter-mile before taking a one-length lead through a half-mile in :48.09.

"I thought he was a little headstrong," Thomas said. "Javier said he was a little funny about the kickback and he jumped up on the bridle and worked his way out. I would have preferred to sit behind Preservationist and make one run, but it didn't work out that way for whatever reason. I don't think it helped, but I don't know that it cost us the race. Going a mile and a quarter you need to be able to conserve some energy and we gave up a bit of that yesterday.

"He's lightly-raced on the year," Thomas added. "It's his second time back and I think there's a lot of room for improvement. You're always going to learn through racing, and we learned a couple things about him yesterday that maybe we'll have to tweak."

The 4-year-old More Than Ready ridgling opened his campaign with a win on the grass in the Dixie (G2) at Pimlico. Last year, the dual-surface star won the turf Belmont Derby (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1) in a tremendous sophomore season.