The Team Valor International homebred trained on the synthetic Tapeta surface
“It was not ideal, but it was fine,” Motion said.
Aside from the wet conditions, everything is going well with the chestnut
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A full field of 14 horses is expected to be entered Wednesday morning. While
the Preakness typically draws fields between 10 and 13 runners, it is rare for
the maximum number to go the gate. The last time 14 horses ran in the Preakness
was in 2005 after Giacomo won the Derby at odds of 50-1. Prior to 2005, the last
time the Preakness attracted 14 runners was in 1992 when the top three finishers
in the Derby were Lil E. Tee at 16-1, Casual Lies at 29-1 and Dance Floor at
33-1.
Although Animal Kingdom was a convincing winner of the Derby by 2 3/4
widening lengths, his victory at odds of 20-1 has not scared the competition,
including as many as five other Derby runners, from testing him again in the
Preakness.
“I kind of expected as much. Hopefully, we get a halfway decent post
position,” Motion said.
Maryland Jockey Club linemaker Frank Carulli said he plans to make Animal
Kingdom the morning-line favorite when post positions are drawn Wednesday, but
Motion said he wouldn’t be surprised if his colt did not go off as the betting
favorite.
At Hollywood Park in Southern California, MR. COMMONS (Artie Schiller) stood
in the gate Monday morning before jogging and galloping. The John Shirreffs
trainee will begin his journey to Baltimore and the Preakness at 2 a.m. (PDT)
Tuesday and fly to Louisville, Kentucky. He will take a second flight to
Baltimore on Wednesday.
“The timing for the races was a little messed up,” Shirreffs said. “I just
Shirreffs said the colt was following the program until the work on Friday.
“He was very good; he was just doing it really fast,” Shirreffs said. “A week
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Shirreffs said that he isn’t worried that Mr. Commons went too fast too close
to the Preakness.
“I don’t think it will affect him. It was eight days out,” Shirreffs said. “I
told Victor, ‘don’t worry, he’s a very fit horse, so we’re not working him for
any type of conditioning. We’re just working him because we want that stride and
rhythm thing going on.’
“I was very surprised last week when he worked seven eighths; he handled it
very well. This week when he went seven eighths it wasn’t any more than a
gallop. He cooled out so fast.
“As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse come out of a work
as well as he did,” concluded Shirreffs, who gained worldwide acclaim as the
trainer of supermare Zenyatta.
“He’s settled into his training schedule. He has a lot of energy. He loves
Considering that Mucho Macho Man is a June 15 foal, Ritvo was particularly
“I was so proud of him that he kept his energy for when he needed to use it,
KING CONGIE (Badge of Silver) walked the shedrow Monday morning after working
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The Tom Albertrani pupil is coming off a third-place finish in the Blue Grass
S. (G1) at Keeneland on April 16, when he encountered traffic but still came
within a head of his victorious stablemate Brilliant Speed (Dynaformer). King
Congie’s brief career has pretty much mirrored that of Brilliant Speed. Both
horses debuted on dirt before finding success on turf and synthetic surfaces.
“They’re almost the same the way they’ve developed,” said Albertrani, who is
pointing Brilliant Speed to the Belmont S. (G1) on June 11. “They both started
on the dirt and made a transition to the turf and ran very well. They’ve run
together on two different occasions, and in their last race in the Blue Grass,
they finished just a head apart. They both seem to be making a big step forward
in their careers at the same time.”
Robby Albarado will ride King Congie for the first time in the Preakness.
NORMAN ASBJORNSON (Real Quiet) galloped 1 1/2 miles at Bowie Training Center
Monday morning. The son of 1998 Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet only came
into his own when he was sent around two turns late last year after three
off-the-board finishes at sprint distances.
“He’s a Pennsylvania-bred colt so it’s important to run in state-bred races
up there, because you get the bonuses,” trainer Chris Grove said. “I couldn’t
get any of the two-year-old and or even early three-year-old races to go two
turns up there. The races just didn’t fill. Finally the late two-year-old races
and early three-year-old races began to fill and he was able to show what he can
do.
Norman Asbjornson broke his maiden in a mile maiden special weight race at
Penn National on December 8. He came back to win an entry-level allowance race
at Parx Racing on January 15 before heading to Aqueduct, where he finished
second in the Gotham (G3) and fourth in the Wood Memorial (G1).