Saratoga: Vyjack set for Jim Dandy

Rather than give Vyjack one final work before Saturday's $600,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga, trainer Rudy Rodriguez decided to break from routine. Winner of the Jerome and the Gotham at Aqueduct over the winter, Vyjack has breezed three times since his eighth-place finish in the Belmont Stakes on June 8. Most recently, he went five furlongs in 1:00 at Saratoga on July 16, his second straight bullet work.

"He had a nice open gallop (Sunday), so I think we should be in good shape," Rodriguez said Monday morning. "I worked him a little bit before the (Kentucky) Derby, I worked him a little bit before the Belmont, now I'm cutting back a little bit. I just wanted to change things up a little bit, maybe give him another couple days rest, and maybe he'll give us a good race."

The 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy will be the first start since the Belmont for Vyjack, the gelded bay son of Into Mischief who ran 18th of 19 in the Kentucky Derby on May 4 after suffering his first career loss in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. In the Wood, he was third, beaten just a length by Verrazano.

Belmont winner Palace Malice, graded stakes winners Code West, Freedom Child, Looking Cool, Moreno and Will Take Charge, along with Mylute, fifth in the Derby and third in the Preakness, are also eyeing the Jim Dandy, Saratoga's local prep for the $1 million Travers on August 24.

"If he shows up, I think he can compete with these horses," Rodriguez said. "If he doesn't, then we've got to regroup and maybe back off, give him two or three months on the farm and bring him back fresh. He's a gelding, so we don't need to squeeze everything out of him."