Astrology drills for potential Preakness tilt; The Factor
set to work
Iroquois S. (G3) winner ASTROLOGY (A.P. Indy) worked six furlongs in company
in 1:12 2/5 early Monday morning over a fast track at Churchill Downs. The Steve
Asmussen trainee is among the 13 new shooters under consideration for the May 21 Preakness
S. (G1), which has a maximum field size of 14.
With Carlos Rosas up and working in company with older Grade 3 winner Awesome
Act (Awesome Again), Astrology posted fractions of :13, :25, :37, :48 3/5 and
1:00 2/5, and he galloped out seven furlongs in 1:25 2/5 and a mile in 1:39 3/5.
“We liked the work,” said Barbara Banke of Stonestreet Stables. “We’ll see
how he comes out of the work (before making a decision on the Preakness). He
looks good.”
Co-owned by Stonestreet and George Bolton, Astrology has finished second in
both of his starts this season, the March 27 Sunland Derby (G3) and the April 23
Jerome (G2) at Aqueduct last time out.
Bolton has another potential Preakness candidate in multiple Grade 2 hero THE
FACTOR (War Front), whom he owns in partnership with Fog City Stable.
The Bob Baffert pupil is scheduled for a five-furlong work Tuesday morning,
with jockey Calvin Borel slated to be aboard, according to Peter Hutton,
Baffert’s Churchill Downs assistant.
Seventh as the favorite in his most recent start in the Arkansas Derby (G1),
The Factor skipped the Kentucky Derby after undergoing minor surgery to correct
a breathing problem. He worked a half-mile at Churchill last Thursday in :49.
On Monday at Belmont Park, Tropical Park Derby winner KING CONGIE (Badge of
Silver) traveled five furlongs in 1:01 on the fast track. The Tom Albertrani
charge is coming off a close third in the Blue Grass S. (G1).
“He worked very well this morning,” Albertrani said. “Hopefully, all goes
well from now until then.”
Albertrani said the colt will work again at Belmont before the Preakness and
is likely to ship from New York to Baltimore the day before the race.
In other Preakness news:
Multiple Grade 2-placed SWAY AWAY (Afleet Alex), who was excluded from the
Derby as the 21st horse on the graded earnings list, walked the shedrow at
Churchill’s Barn 42 for a second consecutive morning following a six-furlong
work in 1:11 3/5 under Keith Davis on Saturday.
Trained by Jeff Bonde, the fourth-place finisher in the Arkansas Derby is
scheduled to return to the track Tuesday morning and ship next week with the
rest of the Churchill Downs-housed Preakness hopefuls to Baltimore.
DANCE CITY (City Zip), third in the Arkansas Derby in his
most recent start, walked the shedrow at trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn a day
after working five furlongs in 1:01.
In Sunday’s work, accomplished in the fog over a sloppy track, Dance City
clicked off fractions of :13 1/5, :25 1/5, :36 4/5 and :48 4/5 and galloped out
six furlongs in 1:14 1/5 and seven-eighths in 1:28 2/5 while working in company
with Praetereo (Giant’s Causeway), the 11th-place finisher in last month’s Blue
Grass (G1).
“We felt like his Arkansas Derby was a very good race, and we wanted to watch
the (Kentucky) Derby to see how well the horses that beat us ran,” Pletcher
said.
“Obviously Nehro (Mineshaft) ran exceptionally well (in second).
Unfortunately Archarcharch was injured, but we saw what we wanted to see. His
effort in the Arkansas Derby was quite good and that the Preakness fits him
well.
“He has run well in every start of his life and is an improving colt. He has
a pedigree that suggests he’ll get better as he matures. We think he is a nice
horse.”
Pletcher said that Dance City will breeze again on Sunday at Churchill Downs
and will be on the flight of horses from Kentucky headed to Baltimore on May 18.
The Pletcher barn may be sending three or four other horses for other Preakness
Week stakes according to Mike McCarthy, Pletcher’s Churchill Downs assistant.
PRIME CUT (Bernstein), runner-up in the Lexington (G3) at Keeneland in his
most recent start, remains “under consideration” for the Preakness according to
trainer Neil Howard.
“We will wait until after his major work (toward the end of the week) and
see,” said Howard, who won the 1990 Preakness with Summer Squall.
Prime Cut galloped before the renovation break at Churchill on Monday.
Hutcheson S. (G2) winner FLASHPOINT (Pomeroy), most recently fourth in the
Florida Derby (G1), has been confirmed for the Preakness by Peachtree Stable’s
John Fort.
“He’s training up a storm — better than ever,” Fort said.
Transferred to Wesley Ward since his last start, Flashpoint has fired a pair
of five-furlong bullets at Keeneland of late.
Maryland-based trainer Chris Grove is hopeful of a Preakness bid for NORMAN
ASBJORNSON (Real Quiet).
The Gotham (G3) runner-up, whose last start was a fourth in the Wood Memorial
(G1) worked a mile in 1:40 at Pimlico Friday morning. Grove said he was pleased
with the work and the way Norman Asbjornson has reacted to it.
“I think we got to the bottom of him. That work took a lot out of him,” Grove
said. “When I started training for Mr. Harris (longtime client William Harris),
our wisdom was that while we did not have the most well-bred horses, we wanted
to have the fittest horses.”
Grove plans to work the colt again on Friday morning at Pimlico.
The respective top two finishers from Saturday’s Federico Tesio S. at Pimlico,
CONCEALED IDENTITY (Smarty Jones) and RULER ON ICE (Roman Ruler), are both being
considered for the Preakness.
Concealed Identity walked Monday for the veteran Maryland-based trainer Eddie
Gaudet, who has never saddled a starter in the Preakness.
“He came out of the Tesio very, very good,” Gaudet said. “If it isn’t too
crowded of a field and I get in, we might go. I don’t want to cave his head in.
I don’t mind if there are a few tough ones in the Preakness but I don’t want to
kill his confidence. I don’t know what he can’t handle but he just drew off on
them Saturday and every day he just gets better.”
Kelly Breen, the trainer of Ruler on Ice, was noncommittal.
“I would like to see how he came out of the Tesio and see him train before
deciding our interest in the Preakness and whether we are worthy,” Breen said of
the colt, who was previously third in the Sunland Derby (G3).
Rounding out the possible new shooters are MR. COMMONS (Artie Schiller), the
third-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), and two trained by the New
York-based Doodnauth Shivmangal, HARLAN’S HELLO (Harlan’s Holiday) and ISN’T HE
PERFECT (Pleasantly Perfect).
SARATOGA RED (Eddington), sixth in an optional claimer on the Derby undercard,
has been withdrawn from Preakness consideration by trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
“I am taking some over there for the undercard races, but not him,” Lukas
said.