Went the Day Well going to the Spa for Jim Dandy and then the Travers
June 21, marked the first day of Animal Kingdom’s return to the races, as he took 60 days to recover from a hairline fracture in the ilium – which is a part of pelvis, and galloped at Fair Hill Training Center, showing his connections that he is itching to go and take the racing scene by storm once again.
The Kentucky Derby winner has been checking himself on the grass since late May, as Graham Motion has jogged him lightly throughout that time, before galloping and letting the injury heal properly, and for the first week he was accompanied by his stable mate, Went the Day Well.
Went the Day Well was the only shot at the Kentucky Derby for Team Valor International and Graham Motion this season – as they won it previously with Animal Kingdom.
The Proud Citizen colt took the same route to the Derby as Animal Kingdom did last year. Bred in New York by James Patrick Delaney, Went the Day Well broke his maiden at second asking at Gulfstream Park at about 1 1/16 miles, and opted to run in the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes.
Animal Kingdom on his way to the Run for the Roses, won the Spiral Stakes, and so did Went the Day Well at Turfway Park on 24 March, 2012, over the 1 1/8 mile venue’s synthetic surface.
Out of Tiznow mare Tiz Maies Day, Went the Day Well, turned in a strong performance for a lightly raced colt in the Kentucky Derby and finished fourth to winner, I’ll Have Another.
However, he couldn’t repeat the same run in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, where he finished 10th to the same winner at Pimlico, with a puzzling performance where nothing was amiss.
“He just didn’t bring his game,” Irwin said. “It’s certainly not like him to throw in the towel—look what he did in the Derby when he faced all kinds of trouble—so he must have just been knocked out more from that race than anyone could have known.
“We’ve given him some time to recover and will get him ready now for Saratoga.”
Went the Day Well will race in the Saratoga meet, and his next likely start will be in the Jim Dandy Stakes on 28 July, which he will use as a steppingstone toward the Grade 1 Travers Stakes on 25 August.
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