Jerkens Duo to Run on Belmont Day

The Jimmy Jerkens-trained duo of Wicked Strong (Hard Spun) and Effinex (Mineshaft) are both eyeing stakes on the GI Belmont S. undercard June 6 for their next starts. The pair was last seen in Aqueduct’s GIII Excelsior S. Apr. 25, where Effinex upset his heavily favored stablemate, who checked in third, with a victory at odds of 6-1. 

Centennial Farms’s Wicked Strong is pointing for the GI Metropolitan H., where he is likely to face GI Belmont S. winners Tonalist (Tapit) and Palace Malice (Curlin), as well as MGSW Honor Code (A.P. Indy) and possibly GI Breeders’ Cup Classic victor Bayern (Offlee Wild). Last year’s GI TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial S. and GII Jim Dandy S. hero breezed five furlongs in 1:00.50 (2/22) over the Belmont main track Thursday morning. 

“He worked good [Thursday],” said Jerkens. “He’s going to work again next week. I felt he ran good enough in Florida, in that mile race [a close fourth to Honor Code in the GII Gulfstream Park H. Mar. 7] to think he belongs. [The Met Mile] is a mile around a big, sloping turn and he’s always run good [at Belmont]. It’s always nice to run in your backyard if you can. There really isn’t anything that’s super ideal at the moment, but it sets him up for the summer if he runs [at Saratoga] for the [GI] Whitney [H.] and [GI] Woodward [S.].” 

Wicked Strong’s sophomore season ended with the colt throwing rider Rajiv Maragh after clipping heels in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S. at Belmont Sept. 27. The rangy bay kicked off this term in the Gulfstream Park H. prior to his latest effort in the Excelsior. 

Tri-Bone Stables’s Effinex will aim for the GII Brooklyn Invitational H. run at the Belmont S. distance of 1 1/2 miles. The dark bay, who was eighth to his stablemate in last year’s Wood, is perfect so far this season with a Mar. 27 Aqueduct optional claimer victory to his credit in addition to the Excelsior. 

“He’s been improving slowly and surely, which is a great sign,” said Jerkens. “Even looking at him, the difference between now and when he was a 3-year-old, he almost looks like he’s twice the size, and that’s what you want. The more he does in open and graded company is best for him in the future to stand as a stallion. He won going 1 1/4 miles [in the Excelsior]; I can’t say that he was a fresh horse at the end, but he fights until the end. When you have a horse with that kind of determination you know anything can happen.”