Bodemeister gallops; Daddy Nose Best, Pretension confirmed
for Preakness
Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner Bodemeister galloped 1 1/2 miles after the
morning renovation break over a fast track Tuesday at Churchill Downs under
exercise rider George Alvarez.
Trainer Bob Baffert said that the Kentucky Derby runner-up would train
Wednesday morning before leaving the grounds for a flight to Baltimore. Baffert
also is leaving Wednesday morning and will be in Baltimore in time for the
post-position draw for the Preakness.
The post-position draw will take place at Pimlico at 6 p.m. (EDT) and will be
televised live by HRTV.
The Kentucky Derby was only the fifth start for Bodemeister, who did not make
his racing debut until January 16. After breaking his maiden in his second
start, Bodemeister finished second behind likely Preakness rival Creative Cause
in the Grade 2 San Felipe and then took the Arkansas Derby in his fourth start.
“Indian Charlie and Congaree were similar to Bodemeister in their careers,
but they were bigger horses,” Baffert said.
“Indian Charlie broke his maiden in his first start as a two-year-old but
chipped an ankle. He won two allowance races when he came back and then won the
(Grade 1) Santa Anita Derby in his fourth start. Congaree had a knee injury as a
two-year-old. He came back and won a maiden and an allowance and then won the
(Grade 2) Wood Memorial in his fourth start.”
Both colts ran third in the Kentucky Derby and while it was the final race of
Indian Charlie’s career, Congaree went on to run third in the Preakness.
Congaree ended his career with 10 graded stakes victories, five coming in Grade
1s, and earned more than $3.2 million.
Bodemeister, who will be ridden by Mike Smith, is one of four horses in the
barn that will be headed to Pimlico on Wednesday.
Also going to Old Hilltop are Mamma Kimbo, the 7-5 morning-line favorite for
the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan on Friday; Paynter, who is scheduled to run
Saturday on the Preakness Day undercard; and Awesomemundo for Saturday’s Grade 3
Allaire DuPont Distaff.
Owner Bob Zollars contacted Maryland Jockey Club stakes coordinator Coley
Blind Tuesday to confirm that multiple Grade 3 winner Daddy Nose Best will ship
from Churchill Downs to Pimlico to run in Saturday’s Preakness.
Daddy Nose Best, 10th in the Kentucky Derby in his most recent start, walked
the shedrow at trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn at Churchill Downs a day after
working a half-mile in :53 over a sloppy track.
The son of Scat Daddy has won four of 11 starts, including the Grade 3
Sunland Derby and Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby.
Garrett Gomez will be aboard Daddy Nose Best for the second consecutive race.
Trainer Chris Grove confirmed Tuesday morning that Pretension will run in
Saturday’s Preakness. The New York-bred colt’s 87-year-old owner, Irving
Kidwell, who had medical issues that required a brief stay in a Maryland
hospital earlier in the week, gave the go-ahead to Grove.
“I think the delay in the decision came down to that he didn’t want to run if
he wasn’t going to be there,” said Grove, whose client resides in Annapolis. “I
think he’ll come to the track around 4 or 5 o’clock and be there for the race.”
Pretension, who captured the Canonero II at Pimlico May 5, had some light
exercise at Bowie Training Center Tuesday.
Javier Santiago has the return mount aboard Pretension.
In other Preakness news:
Trainer Doodnauth Shivmangal opted for Belmont’s training track for Guyana
Star Dweej’s Tuesday exercise regimen after New York Racing Association
maintenance officials sealed the main track due to the threat of rain that
didn’t arrive during training hours.
“He jogged and galloped and had a little two-minute lick,” said Shivmangal,
who still hasn’t decided on a rider for the Preakness. Eddie Castro rode the
colt in his last start, a second-place finish in a one-mile allowance at Belmont
on April 27.
A bargain-basement $5,500 buy at the 2010 Keeneland September Sale, Guyana
Star Dweej is named for Shivmangal’s South American phenom of the 1980s. Guyana
Star won 52 races in his homeland of Guyana during Shivmangal’s first go-round
as a Thoroughbred trainer. He moved to the U.S. in 1984. Dweej is a Hindu word
meaning “twice born” or “reincarnated.”
Guyana Star Dweej has won one race from nine starts.
Shivmangal operated a trucking firm at JFK Airport in New York and got back
into racing from 1991-95 before leaving the sport again for 15 years. The son of
a trainer and himself a one-time rider in South America, the 59-year-old
horseman resumed training in 2010 after some prodding from his cousin,
Dejainauth Ramnarayn, who is a partner in the Preakness contender and who owned
Isn’t He Perfect, the ninth-place finisher in last year’s Preakness.
Optimizer, 11th in the Kentucky Derby, left Churchill Downs shortly after 4
a.m. Tuesday morning for a van ride to Pimlico for Saturday’s Preakness.
Trained by five-time Preakness winner D. Wayne Lukas, Optimizer had worked a
half-mile in :49 4/5 over a sloppy track in Louisville on Monday morning.
Lukas accompanied Optimizer on the van along with four other horses for the
weekend. The four were comprised of Colonial Empress, who is entered in Friday’s
Miss Preakness; Absinthe Minded for Saturday’s Allaire DuPont Distaff; Hamazing
Destiny for Saturday’s Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap; and Skyring.