The morning after running a distant second to MINE THAT BIRD (Birdstone),
trainer Bob Baffert was noncommittal about a run in the May 16 Preakness S. (G1)
for Kentucky Derby runner-up PIONEEROF THE NILE (Empire Maker).
“He looks good this morning, but I want to give him a couple of days and see
how he comes out of it,” Baffert said.
The Zayat Stables’ color bearer had his four-race win streak snapped Saturday
when he finished 6 3/4 lengths behind Mine That Bird.
“I saw (jockey) Garrett (Gomez) at the three-eighths pole and he was loaded
and at the quarter-pole he was still loaded,” Baffert said. “I didn’t see
anything coming and I thought ‘Mine!’ Then that horse (Mine That Bird) went by
me and I was like ‘What happened?’ My horse was battling with the others (MUSKET
MAN [Yonaguska] and PAPA CLEM [Smart Strike]) … it was a shocker.
“If he had won, I thought he had a shot at the Triple Crown. He can get the
distance and he runs his race every time, Maybe the ‘Bird’ is for real.”
Musket Man was scheduled to leave for Monmouth Park on Sunday.
“We will give it a few days,” trainer Derek Ryan said about making a decision
on the Preakness. “I am sure the owners are looking at it.”
Musket Man now has a career record of five wins and two thirds in seven
starts and Ryan was happy with the colt’s effort Saturday.
“I can’t complain. He had the two hole and I wish he could have stayed there,
but he got bumped out of there,” Ryan said. “The rail was golden.
“You need the right kind of horse for a race like this. He has great
temperament. He never schooled in the paddock and he might have been the best
one in there. He’s got class and (Oaks winner) Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d’Oro),
she never went to the paddock or gate.”
Trainer Gary Stute said Sunday morning that Papa Clem would remain on the
Triple Crown trail after his fourth-place finish Saturday behind Mine That Bird.
“With a little luck, I think he could have been second,” Stute said. “We will
probably stay here a few days but we will go to Baltimore when there is a
flight.
“He may go back to the track here, but I want to get him to Pimlico and have
a work over the track before the Preakness.”
Papa Clem was in a three-horse photo for second with Pioneerof the Nile and
Musket Man, finishing a head in back of Musket Man after being bumped near the
sixteenth pole by Pioneerof the Nile.
“I thought we might get put up,” said Stute, who noted Papa Clem came out of
the race with “one little scratch.”
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was on a plane Sunday morning jetting back to
California, but his right-hand man — Galen May — was keeping a watchful eye on
his Kentucky Derby runner CHOCOLATE CANDY (Candy Ride [Arg]), who had finished
fifth over the sloppy going on Saturday.
“He was trying to bite me this morning, so you know he’s fine,” May noted.
The Candy Ride colt had taken his share of flying mud racing on the inside
for most of the trip, a point both Hollendorfer and May said they thought
affected the good-sized bay.
“It’s too bad he couldn’t have gotten clear to do some running,” May said,
“but sometimes things work out that way.”
Chocolate Candy had gone off at odds of exactly 10-1 and had picked up a
check for $60,000 for running fifth, beaten 13 lengths.
May said the horse had come back without any nicks or cuts and had no problem
cleaning his feed tub Saturday night. He also noted that he was likely to head
back to California shortly and train up to the Belmont S. (G1) on June 6.
“His breeding and style say he should like that mile and a half,” May said.
SUMMER BIRD (Birdstone) was scheduled to ship Monday morning at 5 a.m. (EDT)
to Louisiana Downs, according to trainer Tim Ice.
“We have never thought about the Preakness; maybe the Belmont,” Ice said. “I
have no interest at all in the Preakness because that track doesn’t suit his
style of running.”
Ice said Summer Bird came out of the race in good order.
“He came back playing last night,” Ice said. “He galloped out second after
the wire; the only one ahead of him was the other Birdstone (Mine That Bird).
“I was happy with his race. It was only his fourth race and he can only
improve. He got lots of experience yesterday. He beat some nice horses and it
proved we were not totally out of our minds.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher reported some minor wounds, but no major damage, to his
heralded Kentucky Derby runner DUNKIRK (Unbridled’s Song), while stating at the
same time that his other two competitors — ADVICE (Chapel Royal) and JOIN IN
THE DANCE (Sky Mesa) — had come out of the eventful renewal none the worse for
wear.
“Dunkirk took the worst of it,” the five-time Eclipse Award winner said.
“He’s got his share of nicks and cuts and he also grabbed a quarter on his left
hind (leg). I think someone had to do it to him during the running. Where it is,
it isn’t likely he did it to himself.
“He stumbled coming away from there, then he stumbled for several jumps just
after they got running heading up the straight. Then he got caught in some of
the jostling you always get in this race going through the stretch the first
time. Add in the fact that that track was just what we didn’t want it to be —
drying out and heavy — and it never allowed him to get a real grip on it. He
just never got a chance to get in a rhythm.”
Dunkirk went off at 5-1 and finished 11th, beaten 19 lengths by Mine That
Bird.
Pletcher said Dunkirk and his stablemate Take the Points (Even the Score)
would ship to his barn in New York at Belmont Park. Dunkirk’s next start was up
in the air at the moment, but Take the Points, who was eligible to run in the
Kentucky Derby but took a pass, would be prepared for a go in the Preakness.
Both Advice and Join in the Dance returned to Barn 38 after their Derby
adventures in good shape and both “would be staying in Kentucky for right now,”
according to Pletcher.
Advice went off at 49-1and finished 13th, 21 lengths behind the winner. Join
in the Dance had performed the best of the barn’s runners, setting the pace in
the race into the stretch, then holding on to finish seventh, beaten just over
14 lengths, despite his 51-1 odds.
“Join in the Dance was still bouncing after the race,” the trainer said.
“He’s such a high-energy horse and we were proud of how well he did yesterday.
There’s a chance he could come back in the Preakness. I’ll have to talk to his
owners and see what they want to do.”
Join in the Dance is owned in a partnership that includes Orlando Magic star
Rashard Lewis.
Both of the Godolphin colts, DESERT PARTY (Street Cry [Ire]) and REGAL RANSOM
(Distorted Humor), were fine Sunday morning, said Henry Spiller, an assistant to
Rick Mettee, the assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor.
The colts are scheduled to be shipped back to Belmont Park on Tuesday. They
are not being pointed toward the Preakness.
Regal Ransom, winner of the U.A.E. Derby (UAE-G2) in his final start before
the Derby, attended the pace set by Join in the Dance in the opening mile of the
race. Sent off at odds of 22-1, Regal Ransom finished eighth, 14 3/4 lengths
behind the winner.
Desert Party, who was bumped at the start, was forwardly placed, about three
lengths behind the leaders, by jockey Ramon Dominguez for a mile. He dropped out
of contention in the second turn and finished 14th.
WEST SIDE BERNIE (Bernstein) and ATOMIC RAIN (Smart Strike) were scheduled to
return to Monmouth Park on Sunday after their Kentucky Derby efforts.
“They came out of the race fine,” trainer Kelly Breen said. “We are going to
regroup and see what happens, but we are not looking at anything in two weeks.”
Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy said that GENERAL QUARTERS (Sky Mesa) came out of
Derby 135 in good order, but with no plans to continue on to the Preakness.
“The only excuse I can find for him was that he was not getting over the
ground good,” McCarthy said. “I think we will go ahead and regroup and see what
direction to go in. The Northern Dancer ([G3] on June 13 at Churchill Downs) is
a possibility.”
The Blue Grass S. (G1) winner raced in midpack most of the way around in
splitting the field.
“He got bumped coming out of the gate and pushed to the inside, which is
where we didn’t want to be,” McCarthy said. “He just wasn’t striding out like he
usually does and one thing I learned yesterday is that I will keep him off wet
tracks.
“He is better than what he showed yesterday.”
Elliott Walden, vice president and racing manger for WinStar Farm, said
Sunday that HOLD ME BACK (Giant’s Causeway) was fine and would be given a break.
Walden wasn’t sure whether the colt would stay with trainer Bill Mott or be sent
to the farm during his hiatus.
“He’s good,” Walden said. “He scoped good and looks like he came out of it
OK. We’re going to regroup and go from there. He’s had a pretty solid six
weeks.”
Hold Me Back won the Lane’s End S. (G2) on March 21 and finished second to
General Quarters in the Blue Grass.
In the Derby, he was squeezed at the start and pinched back. Jockey Kent
Desormeaux quickly rode him into contention — they were two lengths off the
pace after a mile — but he could not sustain his run in the stretch and
finished 12th, beaten 20 1/2 lengths.
Things were quiet Sunday morning at Barn 41 where the 15th-place Derby
finisher MR. HOT STUFF (Tiznow) had spent an uneventful Saturday night following
his little-impact journey in the 135th Run for the Roses.
“He’s fine,” groom Martin Rodriguez said. “He was OK after the race; no cuts
or bruises. He ate all his food last night.”
Rodriguez also reported that the colt would be headed back to his Southern
California base “in the next day or two.”
Mr. Hot Stuff, who went off at 28-1, was steadied, bumped and squeezed back
at the start and never managed to make much headway on the sloppy racing strip.
He was beaten 23 lengths.
The Nick Zito-trained NOWHERE TO HIDE (Vindication) wasn’t feeling any
negative effects on the morning after his 17th-place Kentucky Derby finish.
“He came back perfect,” assistant trainer Stacy Prior said. “The jockey said
after the race that he was just spinning his wheels out there.”
Cindy Jones, the wife and assistant of trainer Larry Jones, reported that
their Louisiana Derby (G2) winner FRIESAN FIRE (A.P. Indy) was feeling
reasonably well Sunday morning, considering that the 7-2 beaten favorite had
suffered cuts in his left front foot while getting bumped shortly after the
start of the Kentucky Derby.
“He grabbed his quarter. He’s got a pretty good cut on his quarter,” Jones
said of Friesan Fire, who faded to 18th after his troubled start. “Mentally,
he’s fine. He’s got a few cuts and scrapes, but we’ll get him healed. He ate up.
He’s walking very well this morning. He’s not pulling, but he’s walking well. He
did clean up (his feed tub) this morning.”
Friesan Fire, who was squeezed on both sides after bumping with Papa Clem out
of the gate, got back into the race under Gabriel Saez but was hindered by
traffic.
“I couldn’t see it at all. Larry said he got hit hard at the start. You can’t
see anything. Larry said he couldn’t find racing room and everywhere he went
sort of closed up on him,” Jones said. “I think he and Gabe had enough before
the race was over with.”
Jones said the groom Corey York summed up the mood at Barn 45 perfectly.
“He said, ‘We’re very disappointed this morning, but we’re not heartbroken
like last year,'”” said Jones, whose stable was devastated by the death of Eight
Belles, who suffered a fatal breakdown while pulling up from a sensational
runner-up finish behind Big Brown in last year’s Derby.
The D. Wayne Lukas-trained FLYING PRIVATE (Fusaichi Pegasus) was reported to
have come out of his last-place finish in the Kentucky Derby in good order
Sunday morning.
“The horse came back fine,” assistant trainer Gary Neece said. “He’s no worse
for the wear.”