Monday brought significant developments regarding the Preakness
field. While trainer Bob Baffert confirmed Bodemeister for Saturday’s middle
jewel of the Triple Crown, he ruled out Liaison. Hansen, Hierro and Isn’t He Clever all
likewise passed on a trip to Pimlico. But Daddy Nose Best entered Preakness
calculations for Steve Asmussen.
Baffert got his first look at Kentucky Derby runner-up
Bodemeister since the morning after the “Run for the Roses” Monday at Churchill
Downs and liked what he saw from the colt’s 1 1/2-mile gallop around a muddy
oval.
“He looks good, his coat is good and he is eating well,” Baffert said after
the colt completed his activity under exercise rider George Alvarez. “I see no
reason not to take him (to Baltimore).”
Owned by Zayat Stables, LLC and Michel and Tiffany Moreno, Bodemeister ran
some of the fastest fractions in the 138-year history of the Kentucky Derby and
did not surrender the lead to I’ll Have Another until just before the
sixteenth-pole.
“He ran an amazing race,” Baffert said. “At the eighth-pole when (jockey)
Mike (Smith) went to the left-handed stick, the yellow caution light came on. He
tried to fight back and he hung on for second. He was glorious in defeat.”
Baffert liked how Bodemeister bounced out of the race.
“He cooled out quickly and started to eat right after the race,” Baffert
said. “I was worried that he might be wiped out and just stay in the back of his
stall for three days and sulk, but he never did.”
Baffert said that Bodemeister would not have a work before the Preakness.
“I didn’t work (2010 Preakness winner) Lookin at Lucky after the Derby,”
Baffert said. “If a horse didn’t really run or didn’t show up in the Derby, I
might breeze them to see if I was missing something.”
Bodemeister entered the Kentucky Derby off a 9 1/2-length victory in the
Grade 1 Arkansas Derby when he was ridden for the first time by Smith.
“He deserves it (a shot at the Preakness),” Baffert said of Bodemeister. “He
won the Arkansas Derby and then came back in three weeks and ran a great race.
He looks good and I don’t see why he can’t run another one.”
Also observing the morning activity was co-owner Ahmed Zayat, who has now had
horses finish second in three of the past four runnings of the Kentucky Derby.
“I keep waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning dreaming about the race,” said
Zayat, whose Nehro finished second in 2011 and Pioneerof the Nile was second in
2009.
Does Bodemeister win the Derby in the dream?
“No, he does not,” Zayat said.
On the track earlier in the morning was Baffert’s sixth-place Kentucky Derby
finisher Liaison, who galloped 1 1/2 miles under Alvarez.
Baffert later told Maryland Jockey Club stakes coordinator Coley Blind that
Liaison would not run in the Preakness Stakes. The trainer added that Arnold
Zetcher’s colt could try the Belmont Stakes on June 9, or return to California for the Grade 2
Californian at 1 1/8 miles at Hollywood Park June 2.
“Liaison ran a big race in the Derby and is doing well,” Baffert
said.
Trainer Mike Maker said Monday that 2011 Eclipse Award winner Hansen would
not be running in the Preakness.
“He is not going,” Maker said of the ninth-place finisher in the Kentucky
Derby. “That would be coming back a little quick.”
Maker indicated that Hansen likely would shorten up to seven furlongs for the
Grade 2 Woody Stephens to be run on Belmont Stakes Day.
Hansen, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs last fall to
cement his championship status, is owned by his breeder, Dr. Kendall Hansen, and
Skychai Racing.
Stonestreet Stables LLC’s Hierro, winner of the Grade 3 Derby Trial on the
opening night of the Churchill Downs Spring Meet, worked five furlongs in 1:01
1/5 over a Churchill track labeled as muddy at the time.
But the work did not earn Hierro a spot in the Preakness starting gate. A
representative of Stonestreet Stables said later in the morning that
Stonestreet’s Barbara Banke had decided against a Preakness run by the son of
Hard Spun and “other options” would be considered for the colt.
Coming out after the morning renovation break with exercise rider Carlos
Rosas up, Hierro worked on his own and posted fractions of :12 4/5, :25 2/5, :37
2/5, :49 and out six furlongs in 1:14 4/5. The move was the third fastest of 10
at the distance.
“Obviously he likes the wet track as we saw the other day,” trainer Steve
Asmussen said referring to Hierro’s victory on a sloppy track in the Derby
Trial. “He went really nice this morning.”
Asmussen also said that J. Kirk and Judy Robison’s Isn’t He Clever would not
be running in the Preakness.
“We are going to wait for something after the Preakness,” Kirk Robison said
from El Paso, Texas. “The horse could not be doing any better and Steve said he
worked well this morning (a half-mile in :51 3/5 over a track rated as sloppy).
“We are going to wait for the right spot with him and I’ll let Steve tell me
what that spot is.”
Although Hierro and Isn’t He Clever were withdrawn from Preakness
consideration, Asmussen may still be represented in the middle jewel of the
Triple Crown.
Cathy and Bob Zollars’ Daddy Nose Best was added to the list of Preakness
candidates after working a half-mile in :53 over a sloppy track at Churchill
Downs Monday morning. The Grade 3 Sunland Park Derby winner finished a troubled
10th in the Kentucky Derby.
“The decision will be made on Tuesday after we see how he comes out of his
work,” said Zollars by phone from Texas. “He came out of the (Kentucky) Derby
fine. We had him all checked over. Steve and I will talk it over on Tuesday.”
Kidwells Petite Stable’s Pretension, who had a scheduled walking day at Bowie
Race Course Monday morning, is another on the fence. Trainer Chris Grove will
meet with owner Irving Kidwell after training hours Tuesday morning to discuss
Pretension’s status for the Preakness Stakes.
Brimstone Island, runner-up to Pretension in the May 5 Canonero II Stakes,
was officially removed from Preakness consideration. He will run in a race on
Saturday’s undercard instead, according to owner/trainer Billy Campbell.
“These are some of the best horses in the country,” Campbell said. “I’m not
sure he’s up to that kind of task.”
A four-time winner with three seconds from 10 starts, Brimstone Island will
be entered in the fourth race, a $50,000 allowance at 1 1/16 miles that will
likely include trainer Bob Baffert-trained Paynter, runner-up in the Derby
Trial.
Monday’s defections will enable Guyana Star Dweej to make the field for
Preakness 137. Trainer Doodnauth Shivmangal sent the son of Eddington onto a
track labeled fast at Belmont Park Monday morning for a leisurely gallop before
learning the news. Showing only a maiden victory on his resume, Guyana Star
Dweej will likely be one of the longest shots in the prospective field.
“After his maiden win (April 7 at Aqueduct) we knew he had run a better Beyer
(Speed) Figure in every race and he beat older horses,” said Shivmangal, who
saddled Isn’t He Perfect for a ninth-place finish in last year’s Preakness. “He
ran against some good horses. One of the horses that beat him at Aqueduct,
Morgan’s Guerrilla, that’s the horse they took to the (Grade 3) Illinois Derby.”
Shivmangal said he probably should have given the colt more recovery time
after the maiden score, but instead ran him back in 20 days and finished second
in an optional claimer the first time facing winners.
“I should have given him the whole month off,” said the 59-year-old Guyana
native. “I was really heading to the Peter Pan (Grade 2 last Saturday at
Belmont). Since we didn’t get to the Peter Pan, I decided to give him a shot in
the Preakness. He’s a horse, I think, that can go the mile and
three-sixteenths.”