The Big Beast Drills King's Bishop Bullet

Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's The Big Beast fired a bullet work over the main track on Saturday, going five furlongs in 58.92 seconds after the break, the fastest time of 34 horses at the distance.

No one was more impressed with the breeze than Tony Dutrow, trainer of the Maryland-bred colt, who is scheduled to make his stakes debut in the Grade 1, $500,000 Ketel One King's Bishop on August 23.

"That may have been the most impressive workout that I have ever seen in my whole life," Dutrow said. "I really don't think I've ever seen a horse go so fast, so easily. And, we didn't get paid for that out there today so I'm not trying to impress.

"He's seven or eight months into his 3-year-old year now. You see what a big horse he is. He's such a big horse, so maybe he's just maturing and coming around and now's his time. It certainly looks like now's his time. He's figured it out and he looks like he's looking to build on it."

Following two unsuccessful attempts at breaking his maiden earlier this year, one at Oaklawn Park in March and the other at Belmont Park in May, The Big Beast broke from the rail and led all the way in a 4 ¼-length triumph at Belmont on June 8, going six furlongs in 1:09.59.

The Big Beast beat older horses in his first try against winners in an allowance on July 26 at Saratoga, hitting the wire 6 ¼ lengths in front after six furlongs in 1:09.00, one race before 3-year-olds ran three-quarters of a mile in 1:08.93 in the Grade 2, 6 ½-furlong Amsterdam. Coup de Grace won the Amsterdam in 1:15.32.

"We were really happy with his maiden win," Dutrow said. "We wrestled with the possibility of running him in the Amsterdam instead of the allowance race, but we thought maybe a little more experience would get us to the King's Bishop better. That's what we chose to do. I hope we made the right decision. It looks like we're coming into the King's Bishop as good as we could possibly dream it."

The King's Bishop will be The Big Beast's first time going seven furlongs. His sire, Yes It's True, was a multiple graded stakes-winning sprinter who was third in the Grade 3 A Phenomenon, now known as the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, and last in the King's Bishop in 1999.

"He's had inside post positions where he's fast and he had to get away from there and get a position. He was in front setting fast fractions," Dutrow said. "If the horse draws an outside post and there's speed in the race, we feel that he could sit and not have to be the pace-maker.

"There's things we don't know because we haven't seen them, but there's things that we believe from working with the horse. We don't believe that seven furlongs is an issue and we do not believe that we need to be the pace-setter or on the pace. We'll have to see the scenario of it all as it unfolds, but right now we're looking forward to what the Beast has to offer."

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Unbeaten 3-year-old colt Fast Anna, being pointed to the Grade 1 Ketel One King's Bishop on August 23, had his first work at Saratoga since arriving from south Florida last week.

Under exercise rider Nick Petro, the sophomore son of 2002 Travers and 2003 Whitney winner Medaglia d'Oro was clocked in 1:28.56 for seven furlongs on the main track.

"He had a good work," said Kathy Ritvo, who trains Fast Anna for owner Frank Calabrese. "It was his first work over the surface, so we just took it easy and had a nice, easy work. He was very professional. He just does his business; not too much bothers him at all. Now that he got that underneath him, he'll have one more work and be set for the race."

Unraced at 2, Fast Anna has won both his starts this year at Gulfstream Park in front-running fashion. He broke his maiden by 2 ¼ lengths going six furlongs in 1:09.92 on April 12, then rolled to a 13-length victory under a hand ride in 1:16.75 for 6 ½ furlongs on July 6.

"This horse just seems to get better all the time," Ritvo said. "We're going to take a big swing, but he's doing so good there's no reason not to run him. I don't think it's going to make a big difference, the traffic or the people or anything that happens. He's professional. He's smart. He couldn't be doing any better."

Ritvo had to cancel a planned work for Little Daddy when a horse got loose as he was about to breeze on the main track. Prepping for a start in the $150,000 West Point for New York-breds on August 24, Little Daddy will work Sunday morning.