Derby top three all raring to go in Preakness

American Pharoah continues to make a grand impression on the track (Horsephotos.com) After watching Kentucky Derby (G1) winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and third-place finisher Dortmund (Big Brown) gallop over the track at Pimlico for the first time Thursday morning in preparation for Saturday’s 140th running of the Preakness S. (G1), trainer Bob Baffert said that he liked what he saw. It was a cool morning with temperatures around 50 degrees when the two colts went to the track. Baffert said it was a good sign that they were on their toes and seemed to be anxious to train. “Dortmund came by first. He was really moving well,” Baffert said. “You could see he was comfortable. American Pharoah, as always, he just floats over the track. He looked very eager. I was really happy with the way they went over it. They looked healthy and bright, in top condition. There is no regressing there. It looks like they are coming up to another big race. I felt really good about it today.” Early on in his meeting with the media after the horses returned to the barn, Baffert was asked to talk about the post-position draw in which American Pharoah landed on the rail with Dortmund directly to his right in post No. 2. At first, Baffert said he probably wouldn’t think about the posts until he met with his jockeys — Victor Espinoza on American Pharoah and Martin Garcia on Dortmund — until the day of the race. A little later, he returned to the subject. “We didn’t like the draw,” he said. “I just hate to see them next to each other like that. It’s something that you can’t change, so you just deal with it. I didn’t lose any sleep over it.”

Baffert agreed with comments made by trainer D. Wayne Lukas
that the Baffert colts performed well in the Derby but probably were not at
their very best.

“It’s hard to really gauge the Derby. A lot of horses were
struggling that day,” Baffert said. “I don’t really think Dortmund brought his
A-game and Pharoah probably didn’t bring his Super-A game, but they look really
good. It looked like they came out of the race really well. American Pharoah
hadn’t had a hard race. That was a good, stiff, hard race for him and it looks
like he handled it pretty well. He’s a very exciting horse to watch and the way
he moves over the track, he just floats.”

Firing Line (Line of David), ridden by veteran Gary Stevens, overtook
Dortmund in the stretch of the Derby and battled with American Pharoah before
finishing second by a length. In the eight-horse Preakness, Firing Line and
Stevens will start from the outside post, which could provide the savvy Stevens
with a tactical advantage.

Baffert praised Stevens: “He is focused and he is
tough. He will will them to get in and beat you. He’s dangerous because he’s
tough.”

Firing Line has the “desire to win and fight,” according to jockey Gary Stevens (Horsephotos.com) Baffert said Firing Line forced American Pharoah to deal with the first serious challenge in his career. “‘Pharoah’ had to really work to get by him,” Baffert said. “When (Espinoza) pushed the button he was stuck a little bit. It had me a little bit concerned coming to the quarter-pole. I thought maybe he wasn’t running, he was struggling a little bit, and still wasn’t really responding. He didn’t look like a tired horse. I don’t know if it was the crowd noise or what. A lot of it was that Firing Line was really running hard. Dortmund is a good horse and Firing Line was digging in and running hard and not giving up. It was just a great horse race the last quarter.” Baffert said it was possible that the Preakness could turn into Round 2 of the battle that began at Churchill Downs. “I think it’s going be very competitive. Those big three are going to be very tough again,” Baffert said. “Dortmund is going to be tough again. The way he came out of it, he could jump up. It’s going to be interesting. What happens going into the first turn will determine everything.”

Arnold Zetcher’s Firing Line, who arrived at
Pimlico from Louisville with American Pharoah, Dortmund and two other Preakness
entrants Wednesday afternoon, jogged Thursday morning in the company of a pony.

“We didn’t want to do too much with him today. He’s feeling well and has
really settled in well. He’ll gallop in the morning,” said trainer Simon
Callaghan, who is hopeful that Firing
Line will be able to make up the length that separated him and American Pharoah
in the Derby.

“I like the way our horse is training.
Everything’s gone perfectly. I think that the race being a sixteenth of a mile
shorter could potentially help us. We’ve got a good post and they have probably
a tougher post, so I think there are a few factors that can help us turn the
tables.”

Stevens was on hand to watch the morning activity and expressed confidence in
his Preakness mount.

“I’m very relaxed and confident. We got a great draw. I saw
him on the track this morning and getting off the van yesterday, and he’s very
relaxed and confident too,” the Hall of Fame jockey said. “It’s a good spot to
be in.”

Stevens also loved the spot he was in with Firing Line on
the turn into the Churchill Downs homestretch aboard Firing Line, who closely
stalked pacesetter Dortmund around the first turn and along the backstretch.

“At the three-eighths pole, five-sixteenths pole, I would
have bet all of my belongings that I was sitting on the winner,” said Stevens,
who has ridden three Preakness winners — Oxbow (2013), Point Given (2001) and
Silver Charm (1997).

Firing Line overtook Dortmund but was unable to hold off
the stretch-long drive of American Pharoah, who scored by a length over the
tenacious runner-up.

“It showed what a great horse American Pharoah
is. Firing Line took him to the well and he took us to the well. They were
giving it everything they had. It was a great horse race,” Stevens said.

The 52-year-old jockey obviously would have preferred Firing Line won the
Derby, but he was more than satisfied with his performance.

“I was confident going into the Derby. There
were so many skeptics going into the Derby about him getting a mile and a
quarter, but having ridden him twice previously and getting on him in the
morning, I didn’t have a doubt in my mind. I don’t think Simon had a doubt in
his mind,” he said. “Even though he didn’t win, it sort of vindicated him. He
put that to rest. There’s no doubt about his desire to win and fight. That’s one
of his greatest assets.”

Dortmund is taking another crack at stablemate American Pharoah, in a decision made by their trainer Bob Baffert (Horsephotos.com) During the last 35 years, there have been only 13 editions of the Preakness that were contested by the one-two-three finishers of the Kentucky Derby. American Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund will be the first Derby “Big Three” to run in the Preakness since 2009, when Mine That Bird, Pioneerof the Nile and Musket Man fell victim to Rachel Alexandra, who is the last horse to win the Preakness after skipping the first jewel of the Triple Crown. In 1997, Baffert-trained Silver Charm won both the Derby and Preakness, while Captain Bodgit and Free House, finished second and third in the Derby before trading placings in the Preakness. The last time the top three Derby finishers finished in the top three in the Preakness was in 2007, when third-place Derby finisher Curlin captured the Preakness with Derby winner Street Sense finishing second and Hard Spun finishing third, as he had done in the Derby. American Pharoah, rated as the 4-5 morning-line Preakness favorite, provided Baffert with his fourth success in the Kentucky Derby. Baffert’s first three winners of the Run for the Roses, Silver Charm, Real Quiet (1998) and War Emblem (2002) all continued on to win the Preakness Stakes, which may well bode well for this year’s Derby star on Saturday. Baffert also enjoyed Preakness success with Point Given (2001) and Lookin At Lucky (2010), who finished fifth and sixth in the Derby, respectively. “I always won (the Preakness) with the best horse,” Baffert said. “Usually those were the best horses of that crop.”

All five of Baffert’s Preakness winners went on to be honored with Eclipse
Awards as North America’s top three-year-olds. Point Given also won the Horse of
the Year title in 2001.

Baffert hasn’t made it easy on American Pharoah to win the Preakness by
entering Dortmund, who was undefeated going into the Derby and is rated second
in the morning line at 7-2.

“He deserves another chance. He ran his race,” Baffert said. “It’s a little
shorter; he might like that. In my barn, everyone gets an equal, fair shot.
Kaleem told me, ‘If you think he’s going to run well, run him.’ He left it up to
me, so it’s actually my call,” said Baffert, whose other three Derby winners
were not challenged by a stablemate.

Laz Barrera saddled Illinois Derby winner
Life’s Hope, as well as Derby winner Bold Forbes, for the 1976 Preakness, in
which Elocutionist pulled off an upset victory. Since then, only two other
trainers have saddled two starters that included a Kentucky Derby winner. Lukas won the 1995 Preakness with Timber Country while Derby winner
Thunder Gulch checked in third. The Hall of Fame trainer also entered Cat Thief
for a seventh-place finish behind Charismatic, who won both the Derby and
Preakness in 1999. Todd Pletcher saddled two starters in 2010, when Derby winner
Super Saver and Aikenite finished eighth and 10th, respectively.

Firing Line, who finished just a length behind
American Pharoah following a furious Derby stretch battle, is expected to be
second or third choice in Preakness wagering that gets underway on Friday. He will seek to become the first Derby runner-up to win the
Preakness since Prairie Bayou was victorious at Pimlico in 1993. Since 1960, only
Prairie Bayou, Bally Ache (1960) and Summer Squall (1990) were able to improve
on their Derby runner-up finishes in the Preakness.

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