Still Having Fun (Old Fashioned), who took full advantage of a suicidal pace to record a 13-1 upset of the GII Woody Stephens S. on the Belmont S. undercard June 9, is being aimed towards an appearance at Saratoga in the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. Aug. 26, trainer Tim Keefe told the Laurel notes team Thursday.
Owned by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Terp Racing LLC, the Maryland-bred won a pair of stakes over the winter in Maryland and was runner-up to Mitole (Eskendereya) in a sloppy-track renewal of the Chick Lang S. May 19, but came from 10th in the Woody Stephens to post a 1 1/4-length victory over Engage (Into Mischief).
Still Having Fun was under consideration for the one-mile GIII Dywer S. July 7 and for the 6 1/2-furlong GII Amsterdam S. at the Spa July 28, but will resume in the Jerkens.
“He's doing great right now,” Keefe said. “He came out of the last race super. He still goes out six days a week, he just does a lot more jogging. It's a little bit more relaxing. I haven't breezed him since the race; I may do something maybe this weekend or next weekend with him. I'll kind of let him tell me.”
Explaining the rationale for training up to the Jerkens, Keefe added, “We decided to skip the Amsterdam and I didn't want to go as far as a mile in the Dwyer. The horse has been consistently running every month since he started last November, so we thought it would be a good time to just back off slightly and get him freshened and ready for the race at Saratoga.”
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