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Big Brown doing well; Stevil preps for Preakness bid
"Louie and Ronnie are still talking about it," said Lara Van Deren, assistant to Roussel who also serves as Recapturetheglory's exercise rider. "They want to see how many horses are likely to be in there before they make a decision." The Roussel and Lamarque team captured the Preakness 20 years ago with Risen Star. Meanwhile Michelle Nevin, assistant to trainer Rick Dutrow, reported all was well Monday morning at Churchill Downs with the winner of Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Dutrow, who has been under the weather, took the morning off and is expected to be back at the track Tuesday morning. Owned by IEAH Stables (Michael Iavarone and Richard Schiavo) and Paul Pompa Jr., Big Brown is not scheduled to return to the track until Wednesday morning. A decision on when the Derby winner ships into Stall 40 of the Pimlico stakes barn will be made by the end of the week. "It is surreal and tough to digest," Iavarone said. "The reason anybody gets involved in horse racing is for something like this. It is like hitting the lottery five times. It is like borderline unbelievable. Now we are starting to focus on the Preakness. We have our blinkers back on. I am not trying to think Triple Crown. We just want to get through the Preakness just like he did at the Derby. We will take it one step at a time." It will be a homecoming of sorts for Big Brown's trainer and jockey. Dutrow was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, and attended Atholton High School in Howard County. His father, Dick Dutrow, battled King Leatherbury, Bud Delp and John Tammaro for training supremacy in Maryland in the 1970s. The elder Dutrow captured four training titles at Pimlico during that decade. Dutrow's older brother, Tony, was a top Maryland conditioner before moving his stable to Philadelphia Park four years ago. Kent Desormeaux won five riding titles at Pimlico from 1987 to 1989. The Hall of Famer has had 10 career Preakness mounts, including a victory aboard Real Quiet in 1998. The first Preakness horses to call Baltimore home will arrive Wednesday, when KENTUCKY BEAR (Mr. Greeley) and TRES BORRACHOS (Ecton Park) are vanned to Pimlico from Kentucky. Kentucky Bear, who finished a close third in the Blue Grass S. (G1) on April 12 at Keeneland, worked five furlongs in a bullet :59 at Keeneland on Saturday. One week earlier, the chestnut colt worked five furlongs in a bullet :59 3/5 on a muddy track at Churchill Downs. The Reade Baker trainee is expected to turn in a five-furlong drill at Pimlico on Saturday morning, immediately after the renovation break at 8:30 a.m. (EDT). "The last two works were great," said Baker, who arrives Friday to oversee the work. "We were very anxious to get into the Kentucky Derby. He is doing super. Since he arrived in Kentucky (on April 2), he has put on 75 pounds. It is hard to believe but he is eating that green grass like a lawn mower. The new fad is not to come into Baltimore early but we are going to." Tres Borrachos galloped 1 3/4 miles at Churchill Downs after the renovation break on Monday under Andy Durnin. Trainer Beau Greely is expected to arrive in Louisville, Kentucky, from his Southern California base on Tuesday to supervise a Wednesday work. Tyler Baze has the riding assignment for the Preakness. Durnin galloped the bay gelding a bit further than normal on Monday. "The track was closed Saturday morning (because of heavy overnight rains) and he had just jogged the day before, so he needed to do more yesterday (1 1/2-mile gallop) and today," Durnin said. Wednesday's work will be the third at Churchill Downs since Tres Borrachos finished third, beaten 4 3/4 lengths, in the April 12 Arkansas Derby (G2) at Oaklawn Park. Tres Borrachos will then to ship to Baltimore later on Wednesday. Also at Churchill Downs, STEVIL (Maria's Mon), who finished a closing fourth in the Blue Grass, worked four furlongs on a fast track in :48 3/5 under Megan Smillie. The move was the eighth fastest of 40 at the distance on a sun-splashed morning and drew a nod of approval from trainer Nick Zito, who saddled Louis Quatorze to victory in the 1996 Preakness. "He worked good and he has done well here since the Blue Grass," Zito said. "He will work here again next week and then we will ship to Baltimore." Stevil has compiled a record of 6-1-1-1 with earnings of $95,685. The lone win came at first asking and in all of his starts he has been competitive. "He's a very consistent horse and he has never run a bad race," Zito said. "In the Louisiana Derby (G2) when he ran fifth, he drew the one hole and then Pyro (Pulpit) beat him to a spot." Zito would tie Max Hirsch for second on the all-time starter list among trainers with 19 if he saddles Stevil in Maryland's signature race. D. Wayne Lukas leads all conditioners with 32 Preakness starters. Meanwhile in Southern California, trainer Patrick Gallagher confirmed that California Derby winner YANKEE BRAVO (Yankee Gentleman) is bound for the Preakness. Since his victory in the California Derby, Yankee Bravo ran third in the Louisiana Derby and fourth in the Santa Anita Derby (G1). Alex Solis, who won 1986 Preakness aboard Snow Chief, has the riding assignment. "He'll work mid-week, sometime on Wednesday or Thursday," Gallagher said. "He didn't have the earnings for the Derby so we decided to skip and take a close look at the Preakness." Yankee Bravo will arrive on May 14 on a plane that is also expected to bring San Rafael S. (G3) winner EL GATO MALO (El Corredor), who was fifth in the Santa Anita Derby, to Baltimore. That was the first time the son of El Corredor finished out of the money for trainer Craig Dollase. At Belmont Park, trainer Richard Schosberg announced GIANT MOON (Giant's Causeway) would be arriving at Pimlico on May 15. The bay colt, who won his first four starts, including three stakes races in New York, finished fourth most recently in the Wood Memorial (G1) at Aqueduct. "He went January until April between races," Schosberg said. "He needs time after a big effort and it was four weeks between the Gotham (S. [G3] on March 8) and the Wood (on April 5) and now it's another six weeks to the Preakness. We thought about running in the Withers (S. [G3] on April 26) in between, but a month between races is probably best. He really ran a big effort in the Wood after his race in the Gotham. The Gotham was run over some very bad conditions and he was in deep traffic and I think that race is a throw out. In the Wood he showed he belongs with horses at this level. "Big Brown actually opens things up," Schosberg continued. "He ran such a big race and was so impressive that he is going to scare off a lot of them and leave it to others to take a chance. I don't care if it is two weeks or two days between the Derby and the Preakness, that was some effort." Schosberg indicated Giant Moon will work Wednesday and possibly again next Tuesday before arriving in Baltimore. Trainer Todd Pletcher is expected to start a pair of Preakness runners for the second consecutive year. The Eclipse Award-winning conditioner will be represented by BEHINDATTHEBAR (Forest Wildcat), who won the Lexington S. (G2) on April 19 at Keeneland, and HARLEM ROCKER (Macho Uno), who captured the Withers one week later at Aqueduct. The post position draw for the Preakness will be held on May 14 at 5 p.m. (EDT) 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. Post time is 6:15 p.m.
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