Alicia Wincze Hughes on horse racing

Courtesy of NYRA and Churchill Downs publicity departments:

Kentucky Derby winner Orb returned to the Belmont Park main track Thursday morning for the first time since his fourth-place finish in the Preakness, galloping a mile and leaving Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey happy with what he saw.

“I was pleased,” McGaughey said. “We’re taking it as it comes and not looking too far ahead. But if everything goes well, we’d like to run in the Belmont.”

Orb’s fourth place finish behind Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow halted his five-race win streak and was his first loss since breaking his maiden at Aqueduct last November.

The 145th running of the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown, is expected to attract a large field including  Oxbow, currently at Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ barn at Churchill Downs. Lukas, who has won four editions of the “Test of the Champion,” also is expected to saddle Will Take Charge, seventh in the Preakness, in the 1 ½-miles Belmont.

Trainer Charlie LoPresti says he’s in a bad spot. But really, it’s among the most enviable positions one could ask for as a horseman.

He’s got his two top runners both ready to jump out of their skin and race. But since they share common bloodlines and ownership, he doesn’t want the half brothers to have to clash unless circumstances deem it necessary.

Since reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan already has a mantle full of Grade I trophies, LoPresti is trying to perfect a juggling act that would allow the 6-year-old gelding’s older sibling to build up a resume as strong as his form suggests he is.

In an effort to keep Wise Dan and his 7-year-old half brother Successful Dan from facing one another, LoPresti said from his Keeneland base Thursday he is considering pointing the three-time Eclipse Award winner to the Grade II Firecracker Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 29 while keeping Successful Dan aimed at the Grade I Stephen Foster over the main track on June 15.

The  $150,000-added Firecracker marked the first career turf start for Wise Dan when he won the one-mile test back in 2011. Morton Fink’s homebred Wiseman’s Ferry gelding has famously gone on to become one of the great grass runners in the world, having won five straight Grade I contests on the turf including his recent 4 3/4-length waltz in the 1 1/8-miles Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard May 4.

Form wise, the Firecracker wouldn’t  figure to be anything but a paid workout for Wise Dan before he heads to Saratoga for the summer.  Though Fink – who also owns Successful Dan – suggested they get Wise Dan ready for the Foster in case his injury-prone half brother has a setback, LoPresti doesn’t want to get his champion set to run only to have him sit in the barn for another month.

“Mr. Fink is like ‘Why don’t we start thinking about Wise Dan for the Foster in case something happens with Successful Dan’ and I said ‘That is all well and good but that’s not fair to crank that horse up and have him ready to run and have him sit the barn and do nothing and we risk getting him hurt as insurance just in case Successful Dan doesn’t go’,” LoPresti said. “But (Fink) brought up a good point in that…you’ve got 2 ½ months in between races. So he brought up running in a race at Woodbine and he brought up the Firecracker and I said I would rather go in the Firecracker. So that’s probably what we’re looking at is Wise Dan in Firecracker and Successful Dan in the Foster.

“It puts me in a bad spot because what happens if Successful  Dan gets hurt…I can’t just pull Wise Dan out of the barn,” LoPresti continued. “We either have to train him for that race and if he doesn’t run, he doesn’t run. That’s not fair for him to just sit there. And I don’t want to run them against each other because what if I deny one of them? I’d rather someone else beat them than me beat them with my own horse.”

There is unfinished business in the Stephen Foster where Wise Dan is concerned as he was beat a head in that race by Ron the Greek last year, his lone loss in six starts in 2012. Successful Dan, however, has been plagued by suspensory issues throughout his career and has yet to notch a Grade I victory from his 12 career starts.

The winner of the Grade III Ben Ali Stakes in his seasonal bow at Keeneland this April, Successful Dan has crossed the wire first in all four career starts at Churchill Downs but was disqualified to third in the 2010 edition of the Grade I Clark Handicap. The Successful Appeal gelding also holds the track record for 1 1/16-miles over the main track at Churchill having covered the distance in 1:41.04 when he captured the Grade II Alysheba Stakes last May.

“Successful Dan, I think he deserves a chance. He’s never had a chance to run in any of those good races like that other than the Alysheba last year,” LoPresti said. “He never got a chance to run in the  (Grade I) Whitney (last summer), he never got a chance to run in any Breeders’ Cup races because it’s always been not his time. And right now he’s good.”

Following his potential run in the Firecracker, LoPresti is planning to point Wise Dan toward the Grade II Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga in August – a contest he won last year to launch his current six-race winning streak. From there, LoPresti said he would “toy with” the idea of putting the reigning champion back on the dirt in the Grade I Woodward Stakes, though that would also be dependent on Successful Dan’s progress.

“It all hinges on what Successful Dan does too,” LoPresti said. “I would love to have the chance to go with one in the (Breeders’ Cup) Classic and one in the Mile. That would be a good thing to have, two horses in the Breeders’ Cup.”

NBC press release:

NBC Sports’ coverage of Saturday’s Preakness Stakes drew 9.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched Preakness since 2009, and the fourth most-watched dating back to 1990. The viewership for the race is up 20 percent from last year’s Preakness (8.1 million), according to official national data provided today by The Nielsen Company.

Saturday’s race (5:50-6:39 p.m. ET), won by Oxbow, with jockey Gary Stevens, is the most-watched Preakness Stakes since 2009 when super-filly Rachel Alexandra captivated the country by defeating Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird (10.9 million). It is the fourth most-watched Preakness dating back to 1990, surpassed only by the aforementioned 2009 race, the 2006 Preakness, which featured Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro (10.1 million), and the 2004 Preakness, won by Smarty Jones (11.6 million).

• The household rating of 5.9/14 is up 13 percent from last year’s race (5.2/13), the highest since 2009 (6.8/16), and the second best since 2006 (6.6/16).

• NBC Sports Network’s two-hour pre-race show (2:30-4:40 p.m. ET) drew 466,000 viewers, a gain of 99 percent from last year (234,000).

The Preakness viewership gains follow the Kentucky Derby, which drew 16.2 million viewers on NBC, making it the second most-watched Kentucky Derby since 1989. The viewership was up nine percent from last year’s Derby (14.8 million) and up 12 percent from the Derby in 2011 (14.5 million).

Since NBC began broadcasting the Preakness in 2001, every Preakness telecast on NBC over that period has attracted more viewers than any Preakness telecast on ABC in the previous eight years.  Viewership for the Preakness is up an average of 61% in the 13 years on NBC compared to the previous eight years on ABC.

PREAKNESS ON NBC (2001-2013)                     

PREAKNESS ON ABC (1993-2000)

TOP METERED MARKETS FOR 2013 PREAKNESS STAKES (Race Portion)

BALTIMORE – Hours after saddling his record 14th winner in a Triple Crown race, D. Wayne Lukas’ reward to himself was doubling up on the scoops of ice cream that went with his celebratory hot apple pie.

Gregarious celebrations never have been part of the Hall of Fame trainer’s routine. For Lukas, the real treat came at around 4:40 a.m. Sunday morning when he walked into the shedrow and saw the horse who notched his latest milestone looking as almost as fresh as his ageless conditioner.

At 77 years of age, Lukas is still seeking out those who can keep up with the pace he has set over the decades. Having sent Calumet Farm’s Oxbow out to an upset win in the 138th Preakness Stakes Saturday, Lukas discussed the possibility of adding to his record total of classic wins when the Belmont Stakes rolls around on June 8.

Like the man in charge of his care, Oxbow possesses an energy that rarely dulls. After being close to a pace that cooked everyone else around it, the son of Awesome Again fought on to finish a respectable sixth in the Kentucky Derby.

When he crossed the wire 1 3/4 lengths in front in the Preakness, stunning the likes of Kentucky Derby winner Orb with his gate-to-wire exploits, Oxbow continued to tout himself with his post-race enthusiasm.

“You know what impressed me the most was the gallop out. That rascal was opening up 6-7 lengths on the gallop out,” said Lukas, who notched his sixth Preakness win, one behind Robert Walden all-time record. “There were a couple of them struggling a bit but he wasn’t. I was amazed how fresh he was after the race, no stress at all. He never even broke a sweat.”

The 1 3/16-miles Preakness was the third career victory and sixth start already this year for Oxbow. Coming back in three weeks for the 1 1/2-miles Belmont Stakes – where he will likely face Orb again – should be right in the wheelhouse of the colt known for wearing out his exercise riders.

“Every day we take him out there I tell the gallop boy, you can’t keep letting him roll around there like that, you have to get a hold of him and he says ‘Boss, I’m trying,” Lukas said. “I say ‘Tomorrow we’ll just do less’ and then we do the same damn thing. He is some kind of tough.”

“Anybody that wants to come and tangle with him early on, bring it on,” said Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, who masterfully got Oxbow to relax through an opening half mile in :48.60 Saturday. “You’re going to get in trouble if you tangle with him.”

Unlike his sweeping outside move in the Kentucky Derby, Orb was never able to free himself from being stuck inside after breaking from post position No. 1, finishing a shockingly well-beaten fourth Saturday.

True to his classy nature, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey digested the disappointment of having Orb’s Triple Crown hopes dashed with great perspective. In stating that he “sure would like to” go on to the Belmont Stakes, McGaughey wants to give the colt who had won five straight and trained brilliantly a shot at labeling his Preakness outing a fluke.

“Obviously we’re disappoint but he came back fine. I do think he’s better than the race he ran yesterday,” McGaughey said. “I’m not sure I’ve figured out why we didn’t run quite as well as we needed to but…my hat’s off to Wayne. He’s a remarkable guy.”

Lukas said that in addition to Oxbow, he would consider running Will Take Charge, seventh in the Preakness, back in the Belmont. Preakness runner-up Itsmyluckyday is considered “50-50” at best for the Belmont, according to trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. while third place finisher Mylute and Grade I winner Goldencents, who ran fifth, are likely to get some time off.

“It doesn’t make sense to go on to the Belmont,” said Doug O’Neill, trainer of Goldencents. “We had talked prior (to the Preakness) that if we didn’t run huge and came out of it great, we wouldn’t come back in three weeks.”

Among the other possible runners for the Belmont are Golden Soul and Revolutionary – the second and third place finishers, respectively, in the Kentucky Derby – Peter Pan Stakes winner Freedom Child, Grade I winner Overanalyze and Power Broker. Trainer Todd Pletcher also previously indicated he would consider starting fillies Unlimited Budget and Dreaming of Julia in the final leg of the Triple Crown.

“I’m sure there will be horses coming out of the woodwork now to try and win the Belmont. If he comes out of it good, I would like the chance,” McGaughey said. “It would have sure been fun to go on (with a Triple Crown on the line) but we’ll go on in another respect. I’ll be disappointed but we won a Kentucky Derby and that’s what we started out to try and do. We just didn’t get the whole thing done.”

BALTIMORE – Pretty much the last post position trainer Shug McGaughey would have wished on his charge Orb heading into Saturday’s Preakness Stakes was the inside rail in the nine-horse field.

 
In what may be the first bit of non-exceptional news the bay colt has been associated with in weeks, the No. 1 slot is exactly where the Kentucky Derby winner landed for the start of his quest to secure the second leg of the Triple Crown.

 
True to his collected nature, McGaughey barely so much as flinched even as a smattering of audible groans cropped up around him.

 
If what the Hall of Fame trainer has seen continues to hold true, it’s going to take more than a minor bump in the road to bring Orb back to the field.
Even with a less than ideal inside post, Phipps Stables and Stuart Janney III’s homebred classic winner Orb was made the overwhelming even-money favorite over eight others for the 138th running of the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course.

 
Though no horse has won the Preakness from post No. 1 since Tabasco Cat in 1994, overmatched longshots have typically been fated to that slot in recent times. Since 1994, the only Preakness starters who landed in the No. 1 post and went off at single-digit odds were Cherokee’s Boy (8th in 2003) and Lion Heart (4th in 2004).

 
Where the No. 1 post is considered the kiss of death in the Kentucky Derby – a imposition that forces that unfortunate soul to have to angle away from the rail and then deal with up to 19 rivals closing in on them – there is not such automatic doom associated with the same spot in the smaller Preakness field.

 
Given Orb’s preference to take back off the pace anyhow, his connections were mildly subdued by the news, but in no way deterred.

 
“If I had come out the ‘1’ in the Derby, you’d almost have felt like you needed to go home,” McGaughey said. “But I don’t feel that way here. It’s not nearly (as bad) as it would be for the Derby. In the Derby…you have to kind of shove your way out of there or your going to get shut off and I don’t think that will be the case here.
“It’s a pretty straight start, there are only nine horses. I think we’ll just hold our position and see how the race spreads out.”

 
Where jockey Joel Rosario ultimately settles Orb in the 1 3/16-miles test will be determined in part by how the race’s expected speedsters respond after the break.
Santa Anita Derby winner Goldencents and his forwardly-placed ways will be right alongside Orb in post No. 2 with Titletown Five, another who has shown early speed, in post No. 3.

 
“We’re completely comfortable with No. 2. If all goes well, (Orb) is going to be behind us – at least early,” said Goldencents’s trainer Doug O’Neill, who won last year’s Preakness with I’ll Have Another. “That’s where having a cool-headed guy like (jockey) Kevin (Krigger) will come into play. We have a horse who has gate speed and we’ll just have to see how it works out.”

 
Mylute, fifth in the Kentucky Derby, was made the 5-to-1 second choice out of post No. 5 with Illinois Derby winner Departing the 6-to-1 choice breaking from post No. 4.

 
“Orb isn’t going to go on with it so he’s going to have to go around,” said Al Stall Jr., trainer of Departing. “Out of the nine number, the ‘1’ is  probably the one you want the least.”

 
The last time McGaughey saddled a Preakness starter was 1989 when his champion Easy Goer ended up the beaten favorite after a memorable stretch duel with Kentucky Derby hero Sunday Silence.

 
Where McGaughey came into that year’s Preakness unsure what Easy Goer would have for his rival, Orb would need to show some regression off his 2 1/2 length Kentucky Derby triumph to really level the playing field Saturday.

 
There was no such evidence during Orb’s four-furlong move at Belmont Park on Monday when the son of Malibu Moon covered the distance in :47.18 while looking as if he was in a high gallop.

 
“That’s as pretty a work as a Derby horse going into the Preakness can do in my opinion,” said Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who has three Preakness starters in Will Take Charge, Oxbow and Titletown Five. “I have great respect for the way that horse is going to show up.”

 
Since he is the unabashed top target for the rest of the 3-year-old division currently, the No. 1 slot might just prove that much more fitting for Orb come Saturday evening.

 
“It’s a different feeling being here as the Derby winner but I’m relishing that too,” McGaughey said. “I think there is more there with him. I can’t wait to run him Saturday afternoon and I hope we’ll see something special.”

Showcasing the same ease as he did leading up to his Kentucky Derby triumph, Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable’s Orb sparked slack-jawed reactions Monday when he worked four furlongs in 47.18 at Belmont Park in preparation for his start in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.

 
With regular exercise rider Jennifer Patterson aboard, Orb stepped onto the main track shortly after 6 a.m.  Breaking off at the half-mile pole, Orb was caught by The New York Racing Association, Inc. clockers going the first quarter in 24.47 and galloping out five furlongs in 59.54.

 
Afterward, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey said the move gave him “cold chills” and said he thought it was even more impressive than Orb’s final work at Churchill Downs.

 
“I thought it was nothing short of magnificent,” McGaughey said. “He broke off very relaxed and finished up unbelievably, just on his own. I was shocked when I looked down at my watch and saw he worked from the eighth-pole to the wire in 11-and-change.

 
“He was covering the ground as good as a horse could cover it.”

 
McGaughey added he was not concerned about the quick fractions.

 
“No, not at all, because of the way that he did it,” he said. “If he’d been struggling or she’d been asking, (maybe). I think it’s a tribute to the way he came out of the Derby.”

 
After cooling out, Orb was loaded on a van shortly after 10 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive at Pimlico in mid-afternoon.

 
The list of possible contenders Orb is likely to face shrunk again Monday when trainer Rudy Rodriguez informed Maryland Jockey Club officials Monday that Vyjack, the 18th-place Derby finisher, will not be entered in the Preakness Stakes.

 
Vyjack’s defection leaves a probable field of nine currently for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

 
Trainer Bob Baffert said a final decision on whether to run Sunland Derby winner Govenor Charlie in the Preakness will likely be made Tuesday. Govenor Charlie showed that he has recovered from a foot bruise that kept him out of the Kentucky Derby with a sharp six-furlong work in 1:10.80 Monday at Churchill Downs.

 
“He worked good enough to run,” Baffert said. “I think today we’re caught up for the little time that we lost. He went very, very well. That’s a call that I have to make.”

 
Mylute, the fifth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, was also among the handful of Preakness candidates working at Churchill Downs Monday. The Tom Amoss-trainee drilled a half-mile in :49.60  on his own with jockey Rosie Napravnik up.

 
Hall of Fame 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 Monday at Churchill.

 
Oxbow, with jockey Gary Stevens, came out to work a half-mile in :49.80 while Will Take Charge covered the same distance in :48.20.

 
“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.”

 
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 ¼ miles with a blowout down the stretch that was not recorded by clockers.

 
“I think it’s formidable,” said McGaughey of the prospective field. “I know that Oxbow made a good run in the Derby. I never really kind of sat down and watched it and pinned it down. The other horse (Will Take Charge) got in some trouble. My main concern is just trying to get Orb over there the best way we possibly can, and if he runs his race I think they’ll know he’s in there.”

For video of Orb’s breeze, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mSvz50gfbw

For a post-breeze interview with Shug McGaughey, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWtfJ4uRejI

Courtesy of Maryland Jockey Club:

Trainer Chad Brown reported Sunday afternoon that Rick Porter’s Normandy Invasion will not run in the Preakness Stakes.

 “Mr. Porter and I decided to pass on the Preakness with Normandy Invasion and focus on the summer campaign with him,” Brown said.

 Normandy Invasion turned in a strong performance in the Kentucky Derby, taking the lead in the stretch before finishing fourth, 3 1/2 lengths behind Orb. Brown had initially ruled out the Preakness on the morning after the Derby but decided on Monday to consider the middle jewel of the Triple Crown for a few days.

The declaration of Normandy Invasion leaves the potential Preakness field with ten probables, including Kentucky Derby winner Orb and Holy Bull Stakes winner Itsmyluckyday. Trainer Rudy Rodriguez said a decision on whether to run Gotham Stakes winner Vyjack, who finished 18th in the Kentucky Derby, may not be made until Wednesday when entries are taken.

With trainer Al Stall Jr. and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. watching from the grandstand, Illinois Derby winner Departing – one of the new shooters expected for the Preakness – worked a half-mile in 50 2/5 seconds over a fast track at Churchill Downs on Sunday morning in preparation for the 1 3/16-miles classic.

With former jockey Larry Melancon up, Departing worked on his own while producing fractions of :13 1/5, :25 2/5, :38 1/5 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:03 4/5.

“I wanted him to go a little slower the first part than the second part and he hit right on what we were looking for,” Stall said. “He did enough to get the day off tomorrow. He is a gelding and doesn’t carry a lot of weight. He had galloped two miles on Thursday and a spirited mile and half Friday.”

Owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, Departing is scheduled to walk Monday and then train Tuesday and Wednesday morning before shipping to Pimlico Race Course on Wednesday afternoon. Stall said he has a 2 p.m. flight Wednesday and would be in Baltimore in time for the Preakness draw that afternoon.

Departing will be the second Preakness starter for Stall, whose Terrain finished seventh in 2009 behind eventual Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. Like Terrain, Departing did not run in the Kentucky Derby prior to the Preakness.

“After the Louisiana Derby, the Kentucky Derby was off the table with the point system,” Stall said. “It worked out well for us. The Illinois Derby billed itself as a prep for the Preakness and hopefully we can make it successful for the Illinois Derby.”

As many as eight horses that ran in the Derby remain under consideration for the Preakness, headed by Orb.

Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable’s Orb visited the Belmont Park paddock before galloping 1 ½ miles over a sloppy track Sunday morning.

Trainer Shug McGaughey also continued to stay busy with a flood of media requests that come with saddling the winner of the Kentucky Derby.

“I think it’s a big responsibility to accommodate what’s out there and try to portray what the win means to all of us – myself and my family, the Janneys and Phippses and their families and all the people at the barn,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “I’d like to get it out there to people that racing can be a fun and rewarding sport.”

Orb, who captured the Derby by 2 ½ lengths, is scheduled to breeze at Belmont Park Monday morning, as long as the track at Belmont dries out.

“I think it will be fine. The sun’s out, there’s no humidity and the wind’s picking up. I think it’ll be fine,” said McGaughey, who is planning to ship Orb to Pimlico Monday following the scheduled breeze.

Trainer Doug O’Neill has decided not to work the Santa Anita Derby winner between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Assistant trainer Jack Sisterson, who has been overseeing the care of O’Neill’s 14 horses at Pimlico, said that a plan for a breeze Monday morning had been scrapped and the colt will gallop up to the Preakness.

“It was never certain that he was going to work. It was kind of tentative,” Sisterson said. “We never worked I’ll Have Another, so we’re going to stay on that schedule.”

O’Neill sent 2012 Derby winner I’ll Have Another to Pimlico two days after his victory at Churchill Downs. The colt flourished in the low-key atmosphere at Pimlico, turned in vigorous gallops and won the Preakness. Goldencents disappointed as the third choice in the Derby wagering, finishing 17th on the sloppy, sealed racetrack. O’Neill followed suit, though, and shipped Goldencents to Pimlico, where he resumed his morning-gallop schedule last Friday under his regular jockey, Kevin Krigger.

”He’s getting enough out of his training where he doesn’t need to work,” Sisterson said. “He’s doing very well.”

Krigger put Goldencents through the same routine Sunday, jogging down the stretch and around the first turn before sending him off to gallop a lap of the track.

“The one thing we’re starting to notice is he’s getting better each day,” Sisterson said. “He hasn’t put a foot wrong since we got here. He seems to be really getting over the track well and striding out. We’re very happy with him.”

O’Neill is scheduled to travel from California to Baltimore on Sunday and be at the barn at Pimlico Monday morning.

Itsmyluckyday worked a half mile in 47.20 between races at Monmouth Park Sunday afternoon in preparation for a start in the Preakness. Elvis Trujillo was aboard for the move.

Itsmyluckyday was ridden by Trujillo in the Kentucky Derby, in which he finished 15^th, but Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez has the mount for the Preakness. Trujillo had previously ridden the Florida-bred colt to victory in the Gulfstream Park Derby and Holy Bull before a second-place finish behind Orb in the Florida Derby.

Mike Pegram’s Govenor Charlie had an easy two-mile gallop under exercise rider Jorge Alvarez at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. The Bob Baffert trainee, who schooled in the Churchill paddock during Sunday’s first race, is scheduled to work Monday as is Tom Amoss trainee Mylute and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained trio of Oxbow, Will Take Charge and Titletown Five.

“Oxbow and Will Take Charge will work in the morning and Titletown Five will breeze through the stretch,” Lukas said.

“It will be an easy half, nothing fancy,” Amoss said of Mylute’s planned move.

Mylute, fifth in the Kentucky Derby last Saturday, will ship to Baltimore this coming Wednesday for a start in the Preakness Stakes, trainer Tom Amoss confirmed Saturday morning.

Owned by GoldMark Farm and Whisper Hill Farm, Mylute has bounced out of his Derby run in good order according to Amoss and is slated to become the second Preakness starter for his conditioner who saddled Hot Wells for a fourth-place finish behind Real Quiet in 1998.

“The whole decision was based on the owners being satisfied that the horse had recovered from the race,” Amoss said outside his Churchill Downs barn Saturday morning. “He’s doing the things that we have seen him do after other races that tells he’s himself, and I told them that this morning. And they made the decision to run.”

As was the case in the Kentucky Derby, Mylute will be ridden by Rosie Napravnik in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

“I will tell you that Rosie told me yesterday ‘The Kentucky Derby is the race I’d most like to win but the Preakness is the second most important race to me’,” Amoss said. “I know she would really like to win this race and that makes me feel good.”

Mylute was second by a neck to Revolutionary in the Grade II Louisiana Derby before making a late run to get up for fifth in the Kentucky Derby, about four lengths behind race winner Orb. The son of Midnight Lute will likely breeze Monday at Churchill.

“We have to improve, whether we will or not we’ll see,” Amoss said. “And Orb has to regress a little bit. I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not.”

Courtesy of Maryland Jockey Club:

Kentucky Derby winner Orb galloped 1 ¼ miles under exercise rider Jenn Patterson at Belmont Park Friday morning, looking the picture of a happy, healthy horse ready to take on the challenge of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 18.

“I was pleased with everything I’ve been seeing,” trainer Shug McGaughey said.

The Hall of Fame trainer has had trouble taking his eyes off the 3-year-old colt that provided him with his first Kentucky Derby success at Churchill Downs on May 4.

“He’s filled out so much physically. I look at him and I can’t believe what I’m seeing from last November to now,” McGaughey said. “Mentally, everything’s come together. He was a bit difficult at the gate all of his 2-year-old year and that’s all behind him. I couldn’t be more pleased with his development.”

Orb, who closed from 17^th to post a dominating 2 ½-length victory in the Derby, has won five races in a row, starting with his maiden victory at Aqueduct last November. In his two most recent starts in the Kentucky Derby and the Florida Derby, in particular, Orb was well in command as he crossed the finish line, leading observers to conclude that in each instance he had reserved some energy for his next race.

“I think it’s because he’s getting it done quicker than we think he is. In the Florida Derby, Johnny (Velazquez) said he got there quicker than he thought he would and he had to throttle him down. I think it was the same in the Kentucky Derby. He got to those horses quicker than he (Joel Rosario) thought he would.”

Orb is regarded as a closer, but his running style doesn’t leave him at the mercy of the early pace.

“He comes from back, but they don’t take him back. It depends on the color of the race. If it’s a fast pace, he’ll be off of it, but if it’s slow, I think he’ll actually be laying up close like he was in the Florida Derby – within four, five, six lengths,” McGaughey said. “And he’s got enough of a punch that you don’t take him out of the game plan when you do lay up close.”

Itsmyluckyday, who finished second to Orb in the Florida Derby before faltering to 15^th in the Kentucky Derby, galloped at Monmouth Park Friday morning. Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr., who arrived from his South Florida home base to Monmouth Thursday afternoon, supervised the morning exercise.

“He looked as good to me as he did in Kentucky (before the Derby),” Plesa said. “His gallop today was very, very well into the bit. He’s just feeling very good.”

Forecasts for weekend rains in New Jersey caused Plesa to call an audible while mapping out Itsmyluckyday’s work schedule.

“I’m hoping to work him the next couple days. We’re expecting rain up here. I was initially going to work him Sunday, but I’ve moved it up to Saturday,” Plesa said. “We’ll see what it looks like tomorrow. I can work him as late as Monday. If something happens and it’s still raining on Monday, which it could be, I don’t have to work him, but my preference would be to work him.”

Plesa said Itsmyluckyday is tentatively scheduled to ship to Pimlico on Tuesday.

Goldencents also turned in an enthusiastic gallop Friday morning at Pimlico Race Course under his jockey, Kevin Krigger. It was the first piece of serious exercise for the colt since he finished 17th in the Kentucky Derby last Saturday. He returned to the track Thursday and jogged.

Krigger is spending the two weeks between the Derby and the Preakness with trainer Doug O’Neill’s outfit at Pimlico. He is the exercise rider for all 14 of the O’Neill horses stabled at the Baltimore track and has picked up a pair of mounts on the Saturday racing program at Pimlico, but his priority is Goldencents, the Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner.

Goldencents jogged for a half-mile and appeared to be very alert and interested when Krigger asked him to pick up the pace and gallop about six furlongs.

“This is the first time I’ve ever been able to gallop him and I got what I was looking for out of him – a pretty good relaxed gallop,” Krigger said. “He stayed relaxed and that’s basically what I’m focusing on, letting him achieve the workouts that he needs, not be rank doing it and be comfortable and relaxed. I got that out of him this morning.”

Assistant trainer Jack Sisterson liked what he saw from the Into Mischief colt during the 20 minutes he was on the track Friday.

“He’s one horse that gets a lot out of his training,” Sisterson said. “We wanted to see how he would come out of the Kentucky Derby and he’s bounced out of it with high energy. He moved over the track well and Kevin was really happy with him this morning.”

Goldencents trained well at Churchill Downs but turned in a disappointing performance in the Derby, which was run over a sloppy, sealed surface. He was near the pace early, but on the run up the backstretch Krigger realized that Goldencents would not be a contender in the final quarter mile and didn’t ride him hard to the wire.

“It’s not the first race that he’s not run to expectations, but it was the Derby and a race that we all wanted to win,” Krigger said. “At the same time it was a race that we enjoyed participating in. We didn’t get the turnout that we were looking for but he came out of the Derby happy and he came out of the Derby sound and his energy level is up. It’s like he didn’t even run last week. We’re just keeping our focus. I don’t think any of us has lost any confidence. We looked back at the race and if he had gotten beaten in the stretch we would probably feel more disappointed than we do. It’s as simple as he didn’t run his race at all. We’re just drawing a line through that race and staying focused and keeping our confidence. As you can see, he’s doing the same thing. We’re all on the same page.”

Goldencents is scheduled to gallop again on Saturday and Sunday. O’Neill is flying in from California on Sunday to watch the colt breeze on Monday morning.

Krigger is looking to become the third African-American rider to win the Preakness and the first since 1898 when Willie Simms won aboard Sly Fox. George “Spider” Anderson captured the 1889 Preakness with Buddhist. Six African-American riders have previously ridden in the Preakness. The last was Wayne Barrett, who finished eighth in 1985 with Sparrowvon.

Illinois Derby winner Departing galloped “a spirited” 1 ½ miles in the words of trainer Al Stall Jr. on Friday morning at Churchill Downs.  Owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, Departing is scheduled to work Sunday morning at 8:30, walk Monday and then train the next two mornings before shipping to Pimlico on Wednesday.

GoldMark Farm and Whisper Hill Farm’s Mylute galloped 1 ½ miles at Churchill Friday morning. A decision on the Preakness status of the fifth-place Kentucky Derby finisher will be made in the morning.

“He trained well this morning and showed good energy. I was satisfied with what I saw and passed that on to the owners,” trainer Tom Amoss said. “After he trains in the morning, I’ll call the owners at 7 and we will make a decision on the race.”

All three of trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ Preakness hopefuls, Oxbow, Will Take Charge and Titletown Five, galloped early Friday morning at Churchill. Lukas plans to van nine horses to Pimlico on Tuesday with a 3 a.m. departure from Churchill Downs.

The Hall of Fame trainer saddled Oxbow and Will Take Charge for sixth- and eighth-place finishes, respectively, in the Kentucky Derby. Lukas was particularly impressed with Will Take Charge’s effort during a troubled journey.

“You look at the aerial view of the race, and Will Take Charge may have been running the best of all,” Lukas said. “He was moving with Orb and then he got checked twice when Verrazano ducked in and out in front of him.”

Normandy Invasion galloped at Belmont Park Friday morning for trainer Chad Brown. The Tapit colt owned by Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farms, remains a candidate for the Preakness. Brown said on Sunday morning that the fourth-place finisher in the Derby – who led in the stretch – would not run back in two weeks in the Preakness. However, Brown reconsidered that stance on Monday and decided to wait until this weekend before deciding whether Normandy Invasion would be entered in the Preakness.

Govenor Charlie, Vyjack and Street Spice remained Preakness candidates Friday.

Edited Team Valor release:

Graham Motion, the trainer of Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom, decided after walking the course at Ascot this week that the Queen Anne Stakes, Royal meeting’s opening race over a mile, will be the Kentucky-bred’s target in his career finale on June 18.

“We had discussed the possibility of either the Queen Anne Stakes or the Prince of Wales’s Stakes,” said Motion. “But after walking the course, I feel the mile in the Queen Anne will afford our horse plenty of ground. We had only considered the other race because it is run over the same mile-and-a-quarter distance as the Kentucky Derby and World Cup.

“The owners (Arrowfield Stud, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum and Team Valor International) prefer a credential for the horse at a mile and I think the uphill nature of the Ascot course will be a stiff enough test to allow his stamina to come into play.

“The mile at Ascot is closer to a mile-and-an-eighth race in America because of the layout and if Animal Kingdom were racing in America at this time, we probably would be running him over that distance. The Queen Anne also fits nicely into my training schedule for Animal Kingdom since we freshened him up after his trip to Dubai.

Animal Kingdom finished second to eventual Horse of the Year Wise Dan in the Breeders’ Cup Mile last November in his first start in eight months.  After finishing second to multiple Grade I winner Point of Entry in the Grade I Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap, Animal Kingdom earned his first graded stakes victory since winning the 2011 Kentucky Derby when he became the first North American-based runner since 2009 to capture the $10 million Dubai World Cup in March.