Horse Racing News is the source of thoroughbred racing information with horse racing odds, betting tips, racing picks, race results, and handicapping. Latest news and articles on top horse racing contenders, jockeys, trainers, three-year-olds, race tracks, and major stakes races such as the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes as well as the Breeders' Cup horse races.7 Confirmed Preakness Horses Including Kentucky Derby Winner Big Brown
Posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
With the $1 million Preakness Stakes 11 days away, the field set to test Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown continues to change as the connections of some of the top three-year-olds weigh a start in the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course on May 17.
As of Tuesday afternoon there were seven confirmed starters for Maryland’s signature event: Big Brown; Behindatthebar; Giant Moon; Kentucky Bear; Stevil; Tres Borrachos and Yankee Bravo along with four other potential Preakness entries.
Horse trainer Rick Dutrow, still fighting a heavy cough, was back at the track Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs supervising his 12-horse string in Louisville headlined by 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown.
“I’m doing all right; it’s just all that dirt that Big Brown kicked up in my lungs,” Dutrow said with a laugh.
Big Brown, owned by IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr., is scheduled to return to the track in the morning to jog and resume galloping on Thursday.
“That’s the plan right now,” Dutrow said. “Looks like he came out of the race real good.”
Jockey Kent Desormeaux, who won five riding titles at Pimlico from 1987 to 1989, has the mount. The Hall of Fame jockey has had 10 career Preakness mounts, including a victory aboard 1998 Preakness winner Real Quiet.
Big Brown will be arriving in Baltimore a week from tomorrow on a flight that is scheduled to land at 5:45 p.m. The son of Boundary will be stabled in Stall 40 of the Pimlico stakes barn, reserved for the Kentucky Derby winner.
Big Brown will be joined on that flight by Tres Borrachos, the third-place finisher in the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) on April 12. The gelding galloped a mile and five-eighths after the renovation break at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning with Andy Durnin up. Trainer Beau Greely, who owns the Ecton Park colt in partnership with John Greely IV and Phil Houchens, is scheduled to be in Louisville later Tuesday with Tres Borrachos scheduled to work Wednesday morning. Beau Greely trained Borrego, who ran seventh in the 2004 Preakness behind Smarty Jones.
Tomorrow afternoon Kentucky Bear will be the first Preakness hopeful to arrive at the stakes barn for the Preakness. Trainer Reade Baker confirmed today that the son of Mr. Greeley, who finished third in the Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) at Keeneland on April 12, will leave Lexington at 6:00 a.m. for the 539 mile drive. Kentucky Bear, who has had two consecutive bullet works in Kentucky the last two Saturday’s, is scheduled to drill at Pimlico Saturday morning, immediately after the renovation break (8:30 a.m.). Baker said this morning he is still undecided about a jockey, but leaning towards jockey Jamie Theriot, who rode the colt in the Blue Grass.
Horse trainer Todd Pletcher could start a pair of Preakness horses for the second consecutive year. The Eclipse Award winning conditioner will be represented by Behindatthebar, who won the Lexington Stakes (Grade II) at Keeneland on April 19. The son of Forest Wildcat had a bullet five-furlong drill at Keeneland Saturday before shipping up to Pletcher’s Belmont Park, home of the 2008 Belmont Stakes, barn where he will train. Jockey David Flores, who has been aboard the colt in four of his five previous starts, has the riding assignment.”He came out of the work in good shape,” Pletcher said. “We decided to wait for the Preakness because he had run in California 16 days before the Lexington. We just felt like three races in a 30-day period were squeezing his races a little too closely together.”
Pletcher said a decision on Harlem Rocker, who captured the Withers (Grade III) on April 26 at Aqueduct, will be made after the horse breezes over the weekend. The Ontario-bred, who is unbeaten in three starts, is owned by Magna Entertainment Corp. chairman Frank Stronach, who owns Pimlico. Stronach Stables won the 2000 Preakness with Red Bullet.
“I am very pleased with what he has done up to this point,” added Pletcher. “We’ll just have to see if we feel like he is ready to take as big a step as it would be to go from the Withers to the Preakness.”
Stevil walked the shedrow at trainer Nick Zito’s barn at Churchill Downs, a day after working a half-mile in :48.60. Heather Stark, assistant to Zito, reported the Maria’s Mon colt came out of the work in good order. Zito plans to work Stevil at Churchill Downs again next week before shipping to Pimlico Tuesday, May 13.
Two days later, Thursday, May 15, Giant Moon will be arriving at Pimlico. Today trainer Richard Schosberg said jockey Ramon Dominguez, who won a pair of riding titles at Pimlico in 2001, has the call on the son of Giant’s Causeway. The colt won the first four races of his career including two stakes races with Dominguez aboard. Giant Moon, who finished fourth in the Wood Memorial (Grade I) on April 5, will work five-furlongs at Belmont Park tomorrow morning.
“The horse has matured enough and has enough natural and tactical speed that he would be comfortable making the lead or racing off the pace if he had to,” Schosberg said. “He showed speed in the Wood and had no problems while he was covered up in fifth and he was able to make a run up and finish strong.”
Meanwhile in Southern California, trainer Patrick Gallagher said that California Derby winner Yankee Bravo would drill for the Preakness either tomorrow or Thursday. Since the victory, the son of Yankee Gentleman finished third, behind Pyro in the Louisiana Derby (Grade II) and fourth behind Colonel John in the Santa Anita Derby (Grade I). Jockey Alex Solis, who won Preakness in 1986 aboard Snow Chief, has the riding assignment.
“He’s doing fine. He galloped today,” Gallagher said. “He raced in Europe as a two-year-old and one of the owners, Richard Duggan, showed me a video of him. I liked what I saw and that is how we came to own him.”
Yankee Bravo will arrive next Wednesday, May 14.
El Gato Malo was expected to be on that flight but Terry Finley, founder and President of West Point Thoroughbreds, announced this morning that the son of El Corredor will not run in the Preakness but instead will opt for Saturday’s Lone Star Derby (Grade III).
“The decision certainly had to do with Big Brown’s performance,” Finley said. “We are probably going to be 8-5 in Texas and 15-1 at Pimlico. He is a gelding and we are really focused on earning with this horse so that worked into the decision. If he were a colt and eventually a stallion we probably would be headed to the Preakness.”
Finley did say that Macho Again is now possible for the Preakness, depending on field size. The winner of the April 26 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs, galloped at the Louisville oval Tuesday morning. The other option for the son of Macho Uno is the Ohio Derby (Grade II) on May 31 at Thistledown.
“We’ll see how he trains but he seems to have come out of the Derby Trial in fine fashion,” added Finley. “It is not out of the question. We’ll keep track of the Preakness field.”
A potential new shooter for the Preakness is Riley Tucker, who finished third to Behindatthebar in the Lexington. The Bill Mott trainee has finished in the money six times from seven starts. Jockey Edgar Prado, who was scheduled to ride El Gato Malo, would have the mount on Riley Tucker.
There was nothing new on Recapturetheglory, who finished fifth in the Derby, and appears to be the only runner from Saturday’s “Run For The Roses” under consideration for the Preakness. Co-owner Ronnie Lamarque said from New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon that he and trainer and co-owner Louie Roussel were “still thinking about the Preakness.”
Lamarque’s main concern is the potential size of the field and had Pimlico stakes coordinator Coleman Blind fax him past performances of all the Preakness contenders.
Lara Van Deren, assistant trainer and exercise rider for Recapturetheglory, said the Cherokee Run colt is doing well and would return to the track in the morning to jog. Plans call for Recapturetheglory to remain at Churchill Downs until a decision is made on the colt’s next start.
The Roussel and Lamarque team captured the Preakness 20 years ago with Risen Star.
Sixty years ago, Citation was the last Kentucky Derby winner to not face any Kentucky Derby starters in the Preakness. There have been as few as two Derby starters race in the Preakness five times since 1923 according to Allan Carter, historian at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Those years were 1930 (Gallant Fox and Crack Brigade); 1939 (Challedon and Johnstown); 1943 (Count Fleet and Blue Swords); 1960 (Venetian Way and Victoria Park) and 1980 (Genuine Risk and Jaklin Klugman).
The post position draw for the Preakness is Wednesday, May 14 at 5 p.m. at the ESPN Zone in downtown Baltimore. The event will be televised live on ESPN. The Preakness is limited to 14 starters. Thirteen of the last 16 years have produced double-digit starters.
The 133rd running of the Preakness on May 17 will be televised by NBC. Preakness post time is 6:15 p.m.
Edited from www.preakness.com.
"7 Confirmed Preakness Horses Including Kentucky Derby Winner Big Brown" was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 10:34 pm and is filed under Horse Racing Industry, Horses, Pimlico Track, Preakness Stakes, Race Tracks News, Stakes Races, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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