Keen Ice works, points to Belmont Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Keen Ice, seventh in the Kentucky Derby, worked five furlongs in 1:01.80 on Friday at Churchill Downs in preparation for the Belmont Stakes on June 6.

Jerry Crawford, president of Donegal Racing, the group that owns Keen Ice, said he was encouraged by how he rallied in the Derby to finish 8 3/4 lengths behind the victorious American Pharoah after running into traffic problems on the final turn and into the stretch. With the Preakness going a shorter 1 3/16-mile distance and being a race historically won by up-close runners, he said it made the most sense to point for the Belmont with five weeks between starts.

Crawford is excited to run Keen Ice the 1 1/2 miles of the Belmont. “According to Trakus, he ran the fastest last mile of the Derby,” he said. Keen Ice, a deep closer by Curlin, who ran a close second in the 2007 Belmont, has just a single win in eight starts but ran third in the Grade 2 Remsen and Grade 2 Risen Star stakes.

If all goes well, Keen Ice won’t be the only Belmont Day starter for Donegal Racing. Woodford Reserve Turf Classic winner Finnegans Wake, whom Donegal owns with Rockingham Ranch, is being pointed for the Grade 1 Manhattan on the Belmont undercard, Crawford said. Peter Miler trains Finnegans Wake, and Dale Romans trains Keen Ice.