Seeking the Soul, Forever d’Oro under Belmont Stakes consideration

Edited Press Release

Trainer Dallas Stewart is considering the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 11 for recent maiden victors Seeking the Soul and Forever d’Oro, both owned by Charles Fipke.

“I don’t know where we’re at right now,” Stewart said. “It’s just something that we’re giving some thought. It’s the Belmont so it’s going to be a tough race but these are two really nice colts that we’ve thought highly of all spring and have had to take our time with, so we’re just kicking around the idea.”

A son of Perfect Soul, Seeking the Soul broke his maiden going a mile at Churchill Downs on May 29, while stablemate Forever d’Oro, a half-brother to Grade 1 winners Unbridled Forever and Forever Unbridled, secured his first trip to the winner’s circle going 1 1/16 miles at Belmont Park on the same day.

“Seeking the Soul ran so fast the other day and we think he’s a quality horse,” Stewart said. “The other horse (Forever d’Oro) broke his maiden at Belmont, looked great doing it and has a great pedigree. They’re both nice horses.”

Stewart that they’re “tossing it around” on running Forever d’Oro and are “50-50 on it right now."

"I've always like the horse," Stewart said of the Medaglia d’Oro colt. "He's a horse that got started a little late but I thought he ran pretty well the first time. He's a beautifully-bred horse. Then he ran (on the undercard) on Derby Day and just got in a lot of traffic in the race. Even though the race was a mile and an eighth, he never really got a chance to run."

Forever d'Oro's racing luck changed when Stewart sent the horse east for his third start against non-winners. The colt shook free of his maiden status with a fast-closing nose, despite breaking poorly and racing wide through much of the 1 1/16-mile contest.

"He broke kind of sideways and he was way, way back," Stewart said of the race. "He is a horse that can lay up closer, he's got a little bit of speed. He just didn't get off good, I think, because of the way he was standing in the gate. But he really finished great. He got out in the middle of the track and really ran well. I think if he would've broke with the rest of them, he would've been spectacular in that race."

The 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes will be the anchor of this year's three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, featuring 19 stakes races and nearly $10 million in purses.

Forever d’Oro screenshot following Belmont maiden win