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With the scratch of GISW and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Muth (Good Magic) from Saturday’s GI Preakness S. due to a temperature, Lance Gasaway, 4 G Racing, Daniel Hamby III, and Valley View Farm LLC’s Mystik Dan (Goldencents) is expected to be the favorite. The GI Kentucky Derby winner galloped 1 3/16 miles on a sloppy, sealed surface Wednesday morning under retired jockey Robby Albarado at Pimlico after the renovation break.
“I’m doing a rain dance all this week,” said Albarado. “I’m not saying he has to take a racetrack with him, but we know he gets over it well.”
He added: “He felt really good this morning. He was very responsive when I needed him at the sixteenth-pole. I squeezed him a little but just to see if he was there, and he was there. He feels good on all tracks, but there’s something about this that he just gets over it easy.”
With the withdrawal of Muth, Mystik Dan will now face seven rivals. The final Preakness horse arrived at Pimlico Wednesday morning at 4 a.m. when Mugatu (Blofeld) shipped in from Belterra Park. Expected to arrive around midnight, he endured some travel delays and walked Wednesday morning rather than jogging as scheduled.
Uncle Heavy (Social Inclusion) shipped from Parx Tuesday and had a routine gallop Wednesday; Tuscan Gold (Medaglia d’Oro) vanned from Belmont Park Tuesday and galloped about 1 3/8 miles Wednesday; and Imagination (Into Mischief) walked the shedrow Wednesday after shipping the day prior with Muth from California. Thursday will mark his first visit to the Pimlico oval.
Catching Freedom (Constitution), Seize the Grey (Arrogate), and Just Steel (Justify) all had routine gallops Wednesday.