At The Track
May 31, 1998

BELMONT PARK

• Frisk Me Now didn't like the mud in the Metropolitan Mile (gr. I) on May 25. He will train at Monmouth under the care of Bob Durso, and eventually run in the August 30 Iselin Handicap (gr. I) there. Before that ultimate goal, Frisk Me Now could either face Skip Away in the Brooklyn Handicap (gr. II) or Silver Charm in the Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. II).

CHURCHILL DOWNS

• Currently leading the trainer standings at Churchill Downs, Elliott Walden took a break to play basketball and suffered a very bad broken ankle in a game on May 27. He will be attending the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) on crutches. His injury was so severe, that the comment had been made that if Walden were a horse, he would have been put down on the spot.
• Victory Gallop did not eat at first after the Preakness, but has recovered. He is fighting a skin rash that has left bumpy patches on his left side, but is expected to be in good shape by the time of the Belmont.
• Real Quiet looked tired, so trainer Bob Baffert walked him all but one of the first eight days following the Preakness. He then galloped 1 1/4 miles on May 21, and again on May 25. He galloped 1 1/2 miles on May 27, and worked five furlongs on May 28. He leaves for New York on June 3, the Wednesday before the big race.
• Touch Gold is still training with a bar shoe, although trainer Patrick Byrne has said he will not run in it. While looking for an allowance race for the 1997 Belmont Stakes winner, Byrne said that he would like to run at Churchill before the end of June, but realistically expects that colt will not be ready until July at Belmont. The colt's goal is the Whitney (gr. I) at Saratoga in August.

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