Tracy Farmer's Sir Winston (Awesome Again), upset winner of last year's GI Belmont S., is expected to start in Aqueduct's Jazil S. at Aqueduct Jan. 25. The Mark Casse trainee was last seen finishing 12th in the Woodchopper S. over yielding Fair Grounds grass Dec. 28.
“The problem was I was trying to get him ready for the [GI] Pegasus [World Cup Invitational],” Casse said of Sir Winston's disappointing effort in New Orleans. “It's not easy to find a spot for a Belmont Stakes winner. No conditions. He's trained well over turf before. I breezed him over firm turf. They got a ton of rain for the race and he just did not handle it. I just wanted to get a useful race under his belt.”
Casse said he hopes that a productive performance in the Jazil could be used a springboard to the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 28.
“He'll probably breeze [in New York] either Thursday or Friday and depending on what he does, we'll run him. We're hoping if he goes and runs well we can send him for the Dubai World Cup,” Casse said.
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