Kanthari is back in a daily training routine involving a mix of jogging and galloping at Monmouth Park. Trainer Kelly Breen reports your son of Kantharos remains sound, though still a little body sore/stiff, which isn’t unusual for him out of a race. Kelly wants to give it another week to assess him before considering returning to the work tab. Given we will need to get him off the vet’s list, which will require a breeze in front of the state vet and physical exam, the additional time will only benefit him.

Trainer Kelly Breen opted to not breeze Kanthari this past weekend following last week’s unusual breeze. Your 4-year-old son of Kantharos has been evaluated by Dr. Dowd (Breen’s veterinarian) on multiple occasions and has recommended we back off in his training. While he jogged sound following the work, Breen’s exercise riders still did not feel he was moving comfortably on the track. In addition, Kelly noticed your colt was not training with the same enthusiasm as when he first entered his barn.

Jockey Paco Lopez who was aboard him in his last work felt it was his hind end but upon Dr. Dowd’s evaluations, he believes it is more in his front end, specifically his ankles. While he is lightly raced, having only run four times, he has been in consistent training for nine months and likely has some normal wear and tear. We will have a set of X-rays completed of his ankles and knees to monitor any changes. Regardless of those results, Kanthari is giving us signs it’s time to stop and a break is needed.

Once we receive the X-ray results, we will follow up with an update and plan forward.

Kanthari exited Saturday’s allowance race in good order according to the Pletcher team. The son of Kantharos broke well from his outside post position and was able to place himself tactically while saving as much ground as he could. Jockey Luis Saez still found himself three to four wide while contesting the pace through an opening quarter of 21.40 seconds. Saez was forced to make an early move leading up to the turn in order to not get hooked wide. Turning for home, Kanthari was unable to quicken and was a bit flat late. As you may have noticed he was running with his head a bit cocked in the stretch which could explain why Saez reported he heard a noise. Given his trip, he certainly had some excuses but in the end, he did not produce an effort similar to what we have seen in his first two starts. The replay of the race can be found here. You will need to click the according date (Apr. 8) and race number (Race 3).

Following the race, Kanthari was scoped which returned clean of mucous or blood. The functionality of the throat returned the same as his previous races but given his history with the tie-back, it is something the barn will remain on top of as they have been.

Kanthari received a 74 Beyer Speed Figure for his eighth-place finish. By no surprise, this was a regression from his recent win (see updated past performances above). While the end result was a bit disappointing Saturday, there was a lot to overcome between shipping for the first time, his post position, and a different type of turf course which he never raced on.

Kanthari had his first work back this morning since arriving to Silver Springs. Working a quarter of a mile on the outside of an Always Dreaming colt, My Fast One ’20, the duo covered the ground in 25.20 seconds with a gallop out of 39.40 seconds. This was a big step in the right direction for the son of Kantharos and while it has been a long road to get here we were pleased with his performance this morning.