Summer Bird drills five furlongs between races at Oak Tree

Summer Bird has been pleasing trainer Tim Ice (Benoit Photo) Belmont S. (G1), Travers S. (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) hero SUMMER BIRD (Birdstone) took to the track between Sunday's 2ND and 3RD races at Oak Tree and worked five Pro-Ride furlongs in 1:00.45. The Tim Ice pupil was posting his second work over the track in advance of the November 7 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), having negotiated the same distance in 1:02 on October 17. With jockey Kent Desormeaux aboard for Sunday's drill, the blinkered Summer Bird came onto the main track at the head of the quarter-mile chute, back-tracked to the half-mile pole and then jogged and galloped through the stretch and around the clubhouse turn.

Desormeaux set him down to breeze approaching the five-furlong pole. The

chestnut colt posted fractions of :24.42 and :48.56 and was caught

galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.03.

"The work was great," Ice said. "This was exactly what we wanted. He looked

super getting over the track and he's been getting over it very well ever since

we got here.

"Kent had a ton of horse under him and he just let him work on his own,

within himself. I'm super-happy with how he's trained here and how he's handled

everything. We'll walk tomorrow and he'll go back to the track Tuesday morning."

Desormeaux, who experienced a three-hour airport runway delay in New York,

flew in earlier in the day for the work.

With his son Jacob in tow, Desormeaux simply stated, "He enjoyed it and he

galloped out super."

Summer Bird, who has competed exclusively on dirt so far, will race on a

synthetic surface for the first time in the 1 1/4-mile Classic. He has

experience in training over the Pro-Ride, however. As a juvenile last fall,

Summer Bird recorded nine works at Santa Anita before being sent to Ice at

Oaklawn Park.

Summer Bird began the season as an unraced maiden, but now ranks as a leading

candidate for an Eclipse Award as champion three-year-old male. He has won three

of his last four races, all in Grade 1 company, and his lone loss during that

span was a second in the Haskell Invitational (G1) to Horse of the Year

contender Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro). Summer Bird has compiled a mark of

8-4-1-1, $2,023,040.

Ice said that Summer Bird would have one more breeze prior to the Breeders'

Cup.

"He'll work five-eighths next Saturday," the trainer said.