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All of the Preakness horses and some of the Black-Eyed Susan fillies galloped over the fast Pimlico main track on a cloudy Thursday morning, including Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit. Conditions were typical for mid May with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60’s during training but warming up to the low 70’s as the morning progressed.
Preakness
Concert Tour galloped 1 1/2 miles after stablemate Medina Spirit. Assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes said, “We have seen what we expected to see. He was a little on the light side after the Arkansas Derby and Bob and Gary West opted to pass on the Derby and run a fresh horse in the Preakness. We’ve basically seen everything you’d want to see. No hiccups at all. His coat is beautiful. He’s eating well. He should be ready for Saturday. “I know which direction he’s heading and it’s the one we want to see him. He’ll show up on Saturday.”
Crowded Trade galloped 1 1/4 miles. Assistant trainer Jose Hernandez said of the two Chad Brown entrants, “They looked pretty good. (Wednesday) they were a little in the bridle because they had walked two days in a row. They were more relaxed today and they galloped beautifully. They have a shot.”
France Go de Ina (photo from Wednesday) walked around the barn for an hour. Japan Racing Association representative Kate Hunter said, “The only casualty from the fall (yesterday) was a pair of Oakley sunglasses. (Exercise rider Masaki Takano’s) pride was the only thing that was broken. When he passed the finish, (Takano) was switching his weight to do the gallop out and he lost his balance. He tried to regain it, which is why the horse looked a bit wobbly and he just fell.”
Keepmeinmind jogged 1 mile and galloped 1 mile. Trainer Robertino Diodoro said, “Yesterday, he seemed happy and relaxed. Today, he was very sharp, a lot sharper but still very happy. I think he likes the track. I’m really impressed with the surface. Even the [exercise rider] says it seems like a very kind track.”
Medina Spirit galloped 1 1/2 miles before stablemate Concert Tour. Assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes said, “He had no wear and tear. He came out in excellent shape and moved right ahead, forwardly. We only walked him three days and went right back to the track and jogged. That’s usually a sign, how soon we get back to the track, of how happy we are with the recovery from the race.”
Midnight Bourbon schooled in the starting gate, galloped 1 mile, and then schooled in the paddock later. Owner Ron Winchell said, “It’s hard not to be overly optimistic. He’s doing great. The Derby didn’t seem to take a lot out of him. Winning the Derby has always been a focus. However, when my dad was around, we focused a little more on probably the speed element than the Derby distance. It’s kind of two different horses: the ones who are going to win as 2-year-olds at Saratoga and Del Mar. That’s a different set-up traditionally than the guy who is going to win the Derby. I’ve changed that focus to a certain degree in probably the last five to 10 years,” he added. “It’s reflective in the amount of starts we’ve had in the Derby.”
Ram galloped 1 3/8 miles. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said, “We’re done. Now we’re just trying to get an energy level and keep him happy.”
Risk Taking galloped 1 1/4 miles. Trainer Chad Brown said, “Medaglia d’Oro (sire) was quicker, faster than this horse. But there are some similarities. The way he looks … you can definitely tell he is an offspring of him. He certainly looks like a son of his. I think (Risk Taking) has gotten a lot of endurance from his sire,”
Rombauer galloped 1 1/8 miles. Trainer Mike McCarthy said, “Anytime you can compete in any big race it feels pretty good, but to be able to participate in something like the Triple Crown, always makes it special. It’s a wide-open race; anything can happen. These are the kind of races you want to participate in. It’s pretty neat. He’s lightly raced this year. He travels well. He doesn’t need to take his racetrack with him. He seems to me to be doing as well as he could be. The horse is himself here and that’s a good thing. He seems to get over every surface. It’s a feather in his cap that he can adapt the way he does. He’s got wonderful mechanics. He is just light on his feet, very athletic.”
Unbridled Honor galloped once around and schooled in the indoor paddock. Trainer Todd Pletcher said, “I feel like he’s moving forward, but he needs to make that jump to get it done in this race. I think he fits the profile well of a horse who has good spacing between his last prep and this. It seems like he’s improving gradually. But historically, the horses coming out of the Derby are the ones you have to beat. It appears to be kind of a wide-open group. Until someone steps up and wins a couple of these in a row, it seems like it’s the kind of year that you could see three different winners [in the Triple Crown series].”
Black-Eyed Susan
Adventuring comes here off a win in the Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway. Trainer Brad Cox said, “Obviously, she’s very well bred and we’re hopeful that she’ll be able to handle the 1 1/8. She certainly appears that she can. She broke her maiden in an off the turf race on the dirt and performed extremely well. She was able to get the job done on the synthetic and she works well enough on the dirt to give us the confidence to try a graded stake on the dirt. We’re looking forward getting her up there. She had enough points to go in the Kentucky Oaks, but we thought the Black-Eyed Susan made more sense. Plus, she wasn’t nominated to we’d have had an extra large fee to run. I really like her. She’s already a stakes winner, but we need to hopefully get some graded wins.”
Army Wife went winless in her first three starts last year, all on turf, before graduating in her first try on dirt. She hasn’t been worse than third since, winning an optional claimer March 13 at Gulfstream and running third behind Search Results and Maracuja in a 1 1/8-mile Gazelle (G3) April 3 at Aqueduct. “She’s a filly we’ve always been high on. She makes a fabulous impression,” trainer Mike Maker said. “She had a couple of months off and got a little behind, but she’s doing well and we’re looking forward to it.” Joel Rosario rides the 8-1 shot from the rail.
Beautiful Gift galloped 1 1/2 miles like her Preakness stablemates Medina Spirit and Concert Tour. Regular rider John Velazquez gets the call for trainer Bob Baffert aboard the 9-5 favorite from the outside post 10.
Forever Boss was sixth in the Bourbonette Oaks but bounced back impressively with a 4 1/4-length score in an 1 1/8-mile off-the-turf allowance April 21 at Keeneland. Her trainer, Ken McPeek, upset last year’s Preakness with filly Swiss Skydiver. Jose Ortiz rides the 15-1 shot from Post 4.
Iced Latte galloped once around. Trainer Todd Pletcher said, “It seemed like she handled (her last start, 2nd in a Belmont allowance April 25) OK. I don’t think it is indicative of her quality. We were impressed by her maiden win. She’s always trained very forward and I liked the way she breezed [the other] morning.” Luis Saez rides from post 6 aboard the 8-1 shot.
Lady Traveler is well-tested against graded company, having run second in the Jan. 30 Forward Gal (G3) at Gulfstream and fourth last out in the April 2 Beaumont (G3) at Keeneland. Tom Bellhouse, COO of owner West Point Thoroughbreds said, “Last time, even though she didn’t hit the board, she ran a nice number and really showed improvement. In the middle of the race she started making a big move and, unfortunately, the horse that was in front of her when she started to make the move kind of drifted out and got in her way a little and kind of broke her momentum.” Javier Castellano will be in the irons Friday for trainer Dale Romans aboard the 15-1 shot from post 5.
Miss Leslie earned an automatic berth in the Black-Eyed Susan by virtue of her 1 1/2-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Weber City Miss April 24 at Pimlico. Trainer Claudio Gonzalez said, “When she ran the first time long, she proved right away that she loved the distance. And, she did it again the last time, too. She loves it. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be different fillies coming from outside, not only local fillies. They are coming from everywhere. It’s a big race. I believe she has to show how she can handle the tough fillies.” Regular rider J.D. Acosta gets the call aboard the 15-1 longshot from post 7.
Spritz comes here off a 2nd place finish in the Bourbonette Oaks. “Our filly is doing really good,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. “She’s definitely a two-turn horse and she’s tactical out of the gate. She’s shown us that the more we’ve run her, and we know that on the dirt it’s a pretty good weapon. Based on the way she’s breezing on the dirt, it’s time to take a shot at it and see what she wants to do.” Flavien Prat will be in the irons aboard the 20-1 longshot from post 3.
This article was originally published by Horse-races.net. Read the original article here.