Jungle Runner breezes easy four furlongs in final Belmont work

Calumet Farm's Jungle Runner posted a half-mile breeze in 50.50 seconds Tuesday morning on the Belmont Park dirt training track in preparation for Saturday's 152nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, this morning's blowout was the third local breeze for Jungle Runner, who worked five-eighths in 1:01.44 last Tuesday on Big Sandy.

"It was a nice easy half in 50 and change," said assistant trainer Toby Sheets. "He galloped out in a minute. Not a big gallop out but we're very happy with it. He's doing well."

Jungle Runner will provide 23-year-old Reylu Gutierrez, a native of Rochester, New York, with his first Belmont Stakes mount. A finalist for the Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice in 2018, Gutierrez earned his first graded stakes win in 2019 and has become a regular on the NYRA circuit.

"He's excited and we're excited for him," said Sheets. "He worked our horses here over the winter and he's a good rider and very enthusiastic. Hopefully, we get a little piece of the action."

Jungle Runner, a 3-year-old Candy Ride colt, captured the seven-furlong Clever Trevor at Remington Park in November while making his stakes debut. He followed that effort with a distant fourth in the Springboard Mile in December also at Remington Park.

Following a trio of off-the-board efforts in stakes company, including a last-out eighth in the first division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in May at Oaklawn Park, Jungle Runner will look to make his New York debut a winning one.

Sheets said Jungle Runner is training well into the Belmont Stakes, which this year will be contested around one turn at 1 1/8-miles as the first leg of the Triple Crown for the first time in history.

"He's had some decent works on the main track and then just a nice, easy blowout here this morning" said Sheets. "He's done everything the way we wanted. It's a big step up, but we'll give it a try."

Asmussen, who saddled Creator to a 16-1 upset victory in the 2016 Belmont Stakes, will also be represented in this year's edition by Winchell Thoroughbreds' Pneumatic.

The dark bay Uncle Mo colt has won two-of-three starts including an April 11 score in an optional-claiming mile at Oaklawn Park when 2 ½-lengths the better of Captain Bombastic, who exited that effort to win Sunday's Mike Lee at Belmont.

Last out, Pneumatic was a prominent third in the Grade 3 Matt Winn on May 23 at Churchill Downs. Pneumatic is scheduled to arrive at Belmont Park on Tuesday night and will be piloted on Saturday by Ricardo Santana, Jr.

"He has good form and I think he has a good shot in there," said Sheets.

The probable field for the Belmont Stakes currently stands at eight horses, including Dr Post (Todd Pletcher, Irad Ortiz, Jr.), Farmington Road (Pletcher, Javier Castellano), Jungle Runner (Steve Asmussen, Reylu Gutierrez), Max Player (Linda Rice, Joel Rosario), Pneumatic (Asmussen, Ricardo Santana, Jr.), Sole Volante (Patrick Biancone, Luca Panici), Tap It to Win (Mark Casse, John Velazquez) and Tiz the Law (Barclay Tagg, Manny Franco).

Modernist, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, is also expected to enter with Junior Alvarado to ride.