Govenor Charlie showed that he has recovered from the minor problems that
kept him out of the Kentucky Derby with a sharp six-furlong work in 1:10 4/5
Monday morning at Churchill Downs.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was satisfied with the performance and said
a final decision on whether to run in the Preakness will be made Tuesday.
Govenor Charlie, winner of the Sunland Derby on March 24, is booked on a flight
from Louisville to Maryland on Wednesday.
“He worked good enough to run,” Baffert said. “I think today we’re caught up
for the little time that we lost.”
Govenor Charlie was found to have a bruise in a hind foot in April, was
examined at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital and subsequently missed two
workouts. Baffert then decided he was not ready for the Derby.
The work Monday was his third since returning from the break in training and
was the fastest of four at the distance. Working in company with Fed Biz, who
was ridden by Rosie Napravnik, Govenor Charlie turned in split times of :11 4/5,
:23 4/5, :35 and :58 1/5 under Ricardo Santana Jr. He galloped out seven
furlongs in 1:24 4/5.
“That’s him,” Baffert said. “When he starts working like that, it means he’s
doing really well.”
However, Baffert said he wouldn’t commit the son of Midnight Lute to the
Preakness until Tuesday.
“I have to see how he comes out of it,” Baffert said. “He went very, very
well. That’s a call that I have to make.”
Mylute, the fifth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, worked a half-mile in
:49 3/5 over a fast surface at Churchill Downs shortly after the track opened
for training at 6 a.m. (EDT).
Working on his own and with jockey Rosie Napravnik up, Mylute jogged once
around and then galloped once around with a pony before producing fractions of
:12 4/5, :24 4/5 and galloping out five furlongs in 1:04 2/5. The half-mile time
was the 20th fastest of 40 recorded at the distance for the morning.
“It was a good breeze and the track was in excellent shape,” trainer Tom
Amoss said. “This was similar to what he did before the Kentucky Derby but just
a bit faster, and I hope that is a product of him being ready to roll.”
Five-time Preakness-winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas sent Oxbow and Will Take
Charge, his sixth- and eighth-place Kentucky Derby finishers, respectively, to
the track for four-furlong workouts.
After the renovation break, Oxbow, ridden by jockey Gary Stevens, came out to
work a half-mile in :49 4/5, the 22nd fastest of 40 for the morning at the
distance. The son of Awesome Again posted fractions of :12 3/5, :24 3/5 and :37
3/5 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:03 3/5.
Earlier, Will Take Charge, who is scheduled to be ridden by Mike Smith,
worked a half-mile in :48 2/5 under exercise rider Rudy Quevedo. Will Take
Charge posted fractions of :12 3/5, :24 1/5 and :36 for the work that ranked
sixth fastest of 40 at the distance.
Titletown Five, who will be ridden in the Preakness by Julien Leparoux, was
the first Lukas horse on the track Monday and he open-galloped 1 1/4 miles with
a blowout down the stretch that was not recorded by clockers. Quevedo was
aboard.
“We varied them a bit, but it was pretty much what I wanted,” said Lukas of
Oxbow and Will Take Charge. “Coming off a tough race in the mud (in the Derby),
the tendency sometimes is to do too much.”
Stevens, a two-time Preakness winner, liked Oxbow’s work.
“Time was not a factor and this was more about his mind and keeping him
relaxed for the trip (to Maryland) tomorrow,” said Stevens, who tasted Preakness
success with Silver Charm (1997) and Point Given (2001). “The main thing is to
keep him happy. I think I am sitting on the right horse with the right style.”
Stevens envisions a different pace scenario from the Derby, in which Palace
Malice led the field through the mud in fractions of :22 2/5, :45 1/5 and 1:09
4/5.
“I do not think the pace will be the same,” Stevens said. “You may want to
forgive some of the horses for their races in the Derby. I thought Goldencents
would be with us on the lead and he was outside of us and getting all the
kickback. At the five-eighths pole, I could see that Kevin (Krigger on
Goldencents) was not comfortable and he could not go inside, because that is
where I was, and he had two horses on his outside.
“I think you can throw that race out and I respect all of the opposition.”
Lukas said his Pimlico contingent would start loading at the barn at 3 a.m.
Tuesday and expects to be at Old Hilltop around 4 p.m. The Hall of Fame
conditioner will be on the van with his horses.
“I go with them whether we fly or go by van,” Lukas said. “I just like to be
with them.”
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