Hull, Big Drama confirmed for Preakness; other new shooters possible

Hull, Big Drama confirmed for Preakness; other new shooters

possible

The Preakness S. (G1) gained two new shooters on Monday when the undefeated

Derby Trial S. (G3) winner HULL (Holy Bull) and Delta Jackpot S. (G3) victor BIG

DRAMA (Montbrook) were confirmed for the May 16 classic

at Pimlico.

Owned by Heiligbrodt Racing Stables, Team Valor International and Gary

Barber, Hull has won all three of his starts by a combined 16 lengths. The Dale

Romans trainee, who rolled to a four-length score in the April 25 Derby Trial

going 7 1/2 furlongs, will tackle two turns for the first time in the Preakness.

His connections had considered a pair of one-turn events at Belmont Park for

his next outing, the Metropolitan Mile (G1) on May 25 or the Woody Stephens S.

(G2) on June 6. In the aftermath of MINE THAT BIRD's (Birdstone) 50-1 upset in

the Kentucky Derby (G1) on a sloppy, sealed track, Hull's owners decided to

change plans and aim for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

"The Kentucky Derby under normal circumstances takes a lot out of a horse,"

Barry Irwin, owner of Team Valor International, said. "I liken it to a

heavyweight boxing match. It can be brutal. So one can only imagine what the

strain has been on the horses that ran last Saturday given the underfoot

conditions. It seems logical to think the Derby will have taken at least some

toll on them."

Romans plans to breeze the colt on Saturday at Churchill Downs and have him

flown from Kentucky to Maryland on May 13.

"I won't do too much with him," the Louisville-based trainer said. "He's fit.

"He has always acted like the real deal to me," Romans noted. "He ran green

in the Derby Trial, won it by four lengths, and I really think there is a lot

more to this colt than he has shown us in the afternoon."

Miguel Mena, who has been aboard Hull for his last two

wins, has the Preakness riding assignment.

"Our biggest fear has been we have never run around two turns," Irwin

said,

"and it sure would be nice if we had done it once so the horse could get the

condition and experience, but sometimes life is not ideal, and you have to seize

the opportunity when it presents itself.

"I like the horse but it was the jockey who swayed me. The trainer is

confident in the horse but the jockey is over the moon about how good the horse

is. He says we have gotten nowhere near the bottom of him. That encouraged me to

want to try the Preakness."

Big Drama worked at Calder on Monday, traveling six furlongs in 1:14 on the

fast track. The David Fawkes pupil is coming off a terrific sophomore debut in

the Swale S. (G2), where he crossed the wire first in a track record-setting

performance, but was disqualified and placed second.

"We are ready to roll," Fawkes said. "I was real happy with the breeze. He

went home in :23 and two. He is the kind of horse where you can put him anywhere

you want. He can sit off the lead and he has a huge turn of foot. When you push

the gas pedal, he goes. He really should be undefeated. The only time we got

beat to the wire (in his debut last July) was rider error."

Big Drama is scheduled to leave South Florida Tuesday morning and arrive at

Pimlico the following morning. Fawkes expects to breeze the dark bay at Pimlico

next Monday.

"When you watch the Derby and see a 50-1 shot win, it can only help the

Preakness," Fawkes added. "There might be some trainers who may not have thought

their horses had Triple Crown abilities but now might take a chance."

Other possible new shooters in the Preakness include Withers S. (G3) victor MR.

FANTASY (E Dubai); Grade 3 runner-up TAKE THE POINTS (Even

the Score), who exits a fourth in the Santa Anita Derby (G1); Lexington S. (G2)

runner-up CONSERVATIVE (Unbridled's Song); and last-out

Federico Tesio S. winner MINER'S ESCAPE (Mineshaft).