SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. _ Preakness winner Exaggerator's status for next Saturday's Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga is questionable after an unimpressive workout.
Trainer Keith Desormeaux's colt breezed 6 furlongs for jockey Junior Alvarado in a sluggish 1:13.80 Saturday morning on Saratoga's main track. "Off of that work, it doesn't seem he's tight enough or is struggling with the track," Desormeaux said. "It is making me leery of running in the Jim Dandy."
Desormeaux rated the workout a "C or a C-plus."
"He slowed down pretty good," he said. "He went the last quarter in 25 and change. I would have liked to see him finish with more vigor."
So did Alvarado. "I asked him a little bit," he said, "but he didn't really gallop out much."
Exaggerator has not raced since finishing 11th as the favorite June 11 in the Belmont Stakes. Desormeaux said he might train him up to the 1\-mile Travers if he skips the 1[-mile Jim Dandy, which is expected to draw Belmont winner Creator, Destin and Mohaymen.
Creator schooled in the paddock before Saturday's third race. So did Gun Runner, who will challenge Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist next Sunday in the Grade I Haskell at Monmouth Park.
