May 5 (UPI) — With an exciting Kentucky Derby in the books, attention shifts the second jewel of the U.S. Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, and the possibility of a series sweep.
No one was making any promises Sunday morning, but it sounded likely that, all being equal, Derby winner Sovereignty and runner-up Journalism will meet again in the Preakness.
Third-place Derby horse Baeza is headed back to California, and the other beaten contenders from Louisville were non-committal at best.
Trainer Bill Mott, soaking in the realization of his Derby dreams outside Sovereignty’s barn, said the Godolphin colt sustained “a small scrape — about 4 inches” on his right front leg during the Derby. With the caveat that anything amiss with a horse’s legs is cause for concern, he said the scrape was minor and surely didn’t affect Sovereignty’s appetite.
“When I got back to the barn last night after the race, he’d already eaten up,” Mott said. “His tub was empty. Probably did it in 20 minutes. That’s unusual for a horse that had to run a race as hard as he did.”
While that’s a good sign for a Preakness bid, Mott said that decision has yet to be made.
“We’ve got to consider all options with him. We certainly respect the Triple Crown and what it means, but we’re not dead set on it. We’ll have to let the horse tell us how he’s doing in the next little while and then we’ll go from there,” the veteran trainer said.
Ultimately, the creator and master of Godolphin, Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, will make the final call about plans for his long-sought after first Kentucky Derby winner.
Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism, who yielded grudgingly to Sovereignty to finish second by 1 1/2 lengths Saturday, was “in good order this morning and everything going forward is now in play,” trainer Michael McCarthy said Sunday.
Presumably, that could include the Preakness, although McCarthy did not say so specifically.
Baeza, the Santa Anita Derby runner-up who got into the Run for the Roses only thanks to a Thursday scratch, rallied along with Sovereignty and Journalism to finish third at Churchill Downs. Despite the good effort, trainer John Shirreffs nixed a swing at the Preakness.
“Too much for a West Coast horse to work with,” Shirreffs said Sunday. “We’ll go back west, then look at the Belmont.”
Jimmy Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, said last year’s 2-year-old champion, Citizen Bull, also is headed back West after leading through the first 6 furlongs of the Kentucky Derby before throwing in the towel to finish 15th. He indicated that Rodriguez, who was scratched from the Derby with a sore foot, will point to the Preakness.
The Belmont Stakes, third race in the Triple Crown series, will be run at Saratoga again this year to accommodate massive construction work at Belmont Park. The race also is trimmed back to 1 1/4 miles from its usual 1 1/2 miles to accommodate the track layout at the upstate New York oval.
Trainer Mark Casse said Sandman, seventh in Louisville, also might wait for the Belmont for his next start. Others took a wait-and-see approach or are already looking for easier pickings.
Any of the Derby runners reporting to Pimlio will find no shortage of “new shooters” waiting to join the Triple Crown fray. Some candidates have been in the wings for a while. Others emerged during the weekend.
Saturday’s $600,000 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs was jam-packed with 3-year-olds who didn’t quite measure up to Derby standards. None of them could measure up, either, to Macho Music, a Maclean’s Music colt whose last race was against fellow Florida-breds at Tampa Bay Downs.
Under Javier Castellano, Macho Music led all the way to a 3 1/4-length victory. A pair of Baffert trainees, Madaket Road and Gaming, both one-time Derby hopefuls, chased him home second and third.
Does it matter? Well, a year ago, Seize the Grey won the Pat Day Mile and turned around two weeks later to capture the Preakness, ending Mystik Dan’s hopes of a Triple Crown sweep.
Saturday’s third race at Churchill downs, “just” a 1 1/16-mile allowance race, has a history of boosting 3-year-olds not quite Derby-ready. Last year, for example, Mindframe won by 7 1/2 lengths in his second career start, and then finished second in both the Belmont Stakes and the Grade I Haskell at Monmouth Park.
This time around, Goal Oriented, another Baffert charge making just his second start, worked to the lead on the first turn and never gave it up, winning by 1 length in 1:42.83. The Not This Time colt now is an easy 2-for-2.
And by the way, Mindframe won an ultra-tough running of the Grade I Churchill Downs Stakes later on Saturday’s program.
Pay Billy earned a spot in the Preakness with a victory in the Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park last month. Steve Asmussen has Clever Again, a 4-lengths winner over Gaming in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
River Thames, second to Sovereignty in the Grade II Fountain of Youth, and Gosger, winner of the Grade II Lexington at Keeneland, both are in line to take “new shooter” spots in the Pimlico gate.
