Shaman Ghost ready for next assignment in Suburban

Stronach Stables' Shaman Ghost came out of his last breeze in good order leading up to the Grade 2, $750,000 Suburban on July 8, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said Monday morning.

Shaman Ghost, the Ontario-bred 5-year-old, worked five furlongs in 1:13.20 Sunday on the Belmont Park training track. Jerkens said the son of Ghostzapper usually works better in company, especially with stablemate Dolphus, but did fine under exercise rider Kelvin Pahal.

"If I had anything else I would have worked him in company yesterday because you have to urge him along pretty good to get him to work by himself, especially if the track is pulling a little deep like it was," Jerkens said. "But he [Pahal] got him off the bridle in the end and he's a horse that is willing enough to get a good workout."

Shaman Ghost, the 2015 Sovereign Award Champion 3-year-old, has enjoyed a terrific start to his 2017 campaign, following a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup with back-to-back victories in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and the Grade 3 Pimlico Special Handicap on May 19. 

Unified, Jerkens other entrant for the Stars & Stripes Racing Festival, is also ready to go as he looks to vie for supremacy in the Grade 2, $350,000 Belmont Sprint Championship. 

With an automatic spot in the Breeders' Cup Sprint on the line for the winner, Unified will bid for his second graded stakes win in three starts in going seven furlongs on Big Sandy. The 4-year-old, who last worked Thursday, will be competing against a talented field that includes Green Gratto and the Chad Summers-trained Mind Your Biscuits, who has won both the Grade 1 Malibu and the Group 1 Golden Shaheen this year.

"It's a tough spot, because Mind Your Biscuits is one of the best horses I've seen in a long time," Jerkens said. "You know he's going to be coming. But you have to run and see where you're at."

Dolphus, a 4-year-old half-brother to 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, will run in the Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap. Jerkens said he will fly to Louisville on Tuesday before vanning to Prairie Meadows.

Source: NYRA Communications