Just Steel (Justify), runner-up in last year's GI Arkansas Derby, continues to train towards his 4-year-old debut at Oaklawn Park, with the Mar. 29 GIII Oaklawn Mile his first major target of the season, according to trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Just Steel has been sidelined since suffering a condylar fracture during a fifth-place effort in the GI Preakness Stakes last May.
“He's pretty versatile,” Lukas said. “He could go long or short, so I've got some options. In a perfect world, if everything would fall into place, I'd like to run him in the Oaklawn Mile. That would be a great spot.
“I would say I'd probably try to find a conditioned race and then go in the Oaklawn Mile. That would be my guess. I'm going to run him. I really think he's doing good.”
Just Steel has seven published works at Oaklawn since December. He most recently worked six furlongs from the gate in 1:14.00 Feb. 10.
“Super,” Lukas said when asked how Just Steel had progressed. “Any adjective you want to use, superlative you want to use, would fit. He's coming back, he's had that time off, he's filled out, he's matured. If you've looked at his work tab, it's pretty solid.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
