Dual Listed winner Nerodio won’t chase the second leg of a feature race double after scoring in the Beaufine Stakes (1000m) at Belmont on Saturday.
Nerodio won last year’s Beaufine Stakes and ran sixth in the Bolton Sprint (1200m) two weeks later, but trainer Stephanie Bakranich said a decision had been made not to follow the same path.
“We’re not going to do that,” Bakranich told Tabradio.
“The 1000m suits him so much better, but there doesn’t seem to be anything for him.
“We are looking at the Belmont Newmarket (1200m), just put him out again for another week and then come back in six weeks.
“He’s just gone to the paddock and then we’ll decide on what to do.”
Nerodio bounced back after finishing unplaced in the Belmont Sprint in May, the gelding’s first attempt at 1400m.
Assisted by a soft track and back to 1000m where he has won six of his 10 races, Nerodio is just shy of half a million dollars in stake earnings after his second Beaufine Stakes.
Bakranich would love to set Nerodio for the revamped Pinnacles carnival later in the year, but after a couple of failed attempts previously it remains unclear.
“I would love to go that way,” Bakranich said.
“I’ve tried to get him ready twice, just for the Summer Scorcher (1000m), but it hasn’t worked for me because of the issues with his feet.
“I tried to do it last year and the year before and I just wasn’t happy with him.
“He has negative angles and soft soles; he’s super sound now and in the winter.
“It would be great if we could, but maybe the early ones at the end of October, I think there is the Crawford (1000m).
“We might look at some of those, he’s pulled up super sound and ate up everything.
“I’m very happy with where he’s at, it’s just where we go now.”
The Belmont Newmarket is run at Belmont on August 13, the Crawford Stakes at Ascot on October 15 and the Summer Scorcher at Ascot on New Year’s Day.
Julio Santarelli