Barbaro Updates: 282
updates are now here.
Update 1907: Preakness draw and morning line:
1. Mint Slewlep 30/1
2. Xchanger 15/1
3. Circular Quay 8/1
4. Curlin 7/2
5. King of the Roxy 12/1
6. Flying First Class 20/1
7. Hard Spun 5/2
8. Street Sense 7/5
9. CP West 20/1
Update 1906: My NPR piece I recorded this morning that was broadcast this afternoon: Fans of Barbaro Unite Against Slaughter .
Update 1905: USA Today ran this story today which also included responses from Fans: Assessing Barbaro's impact a year down the road, excerpt:
Assistant trainer Peter Brette, who rode Barbaro every day, is content knowing he will be treasured as much as any horse. "People will forget my name," he says. "They won't forget Barbaro, which is really nice."
Update 1904: Wednesday's Pimlico Preakness update:
Trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed on Wednesday that Garret Gomez will have the mount on King of the Roxy and first-call rider John Velazquez will stay aboard Circular Quay for Saturday's 132nd Preakness Stakes.
"Both horses galloped a mile and a half," Pletcher said from Belmont Park, where the duo will remain until Thursday. "They'll train Thursday morning and then get on a van to Pimlico."
The 40-year-old trainer elected to stay with his colts and skip Wednesday's Preakness draw for post positions at the ESPN Zone at the Inner Harbor.
The three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer said the decision to run Circular Quay off his sixth-place finish behind Street Sense in the Kentucky Derby was based on his light prep schedule and the fact that he had been doing well since returning to New York.
"After the Derby I didn't really plan to run him back in two weeks, but it's been 10 days now and he's been training well," Pletcher said of the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner who first drew attention as a juvenile with a pair of stakes wins last year. "I think this race sets up for him. There's a lot of speed."
Pletcher is confident Circular Quay wasn't overused in the Derby, and he’s hoping for a different outcome this time. This will be the fourth meeting between Street Sense and Circular Quay. Street Sense defeated him handily in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but Circular Quay finished a nose in front of him in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity about a month earlier at Keeneland.
"Clearly, (Street Sense) is the horse to beat," said Pletcher, who has saddled only one previous Preakness runner (Impeachment, third in 2000). "I think what we all have to hope for, those of us who are running against him, is that he's not as good away from Churchill as he is at Churchill Downs."
King of the Roxy has won three of his seven starts for Team Valor, his most recent effort being a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. This will be the first time Gomez has been aboard the son of Littleexpectations, who will have his sixth different jockey when he goes to the gate in the Preakness. Velazquez rode him to victory in the Grade 2 Futurity at Belmont last fall.
C P WEST -- Assistant trainer Tim Poole said that the Withers runner-up completed his conditioning at Belmont Park Wednesday morning and was on his way to Pimlico.
"He galloped this morning, then we put him on the van," Poole said. "He'll gallop Thursday."
Poole said that the Nick Zito-trained C P West was one of four horses traveling south to Baltimore on the van scheduled to arrive Wednesday afternoon.
The son of Came Home, who had his final Preakness work on Monday (four furlongs in 47 1/5 seconds), will be making his first start on the one-mile Preakness oval. His only previous two-turn experience came in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last fall, a distant sixth behind eventual Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.
Edgar Prado, a perennial riding champion at Pimlico before moving to New York, has the mount on C P West.
CURLIN -- Assistant trainer Scott Blasi said he did not have any problems shipping the colt from Churchill Downs to Pimlico Wednesday morning.
Curlin, the third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby on May 5, was on the first of two flights from Kentucky to Maryland Wednesday. Blasi walked the colt off the van at Pimlico at 10:40 a.m. and led him to his stall in the Preakness Stakes Barn.
Though he has made only four career starts, Curlin is an experienced shipper.
"He's taken it well," Blasi said. "After he broke his maiden, he flew from Gulfstream to New Orleans. Then he vanned to Hot Springs (Arkansas) for the Rebel and won it. Then we flew him back to Keeneland. From Keeneland he flew back to Oaklawn for the Arkansas Derby. He's done quite a bit of traveling."
Blasi said the colt will gallop on the track at Pimlico at 6:30 a.m. Thursday. Curlin is scheduled to visit the starting gate for a schooling session Friday morning.
Curlin's trainer Steve Asmussen will attend his grandmother's funeral Thursday and arrive in Baltimore on Friday.
FLYING FIRST CLASS -- After his Preakness entrant, Flying First Class, was safely in his stall at Pimlico following the flight from Kentucky Wednesday morning, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas assessed the chances of Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense in Saturday's Second Jewel of the Triple Crown.
"He's the horse to beat," Lukas said. "He's deservedly the favorite. You'd be foolish to leave him out of your exacta, in my opinion. But he has to go out there and do it."
Lukas nodded at the next question and acknowledged that he was not saying Street Sense and jockey Calvin Borel were a lock in the Preakness.
"I think he's beatable because it's a different race, a different surface, but I don't think I would bet against him either," Lukas said. "They're all beatable. This is a very humbling sport. It really will bring you to your knees just about the time you've got it figured out."
Lukas has won the Preakness five times and is tied with "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons for the most Triple Crown race victories, 13. He said Street Sense's talent trumps his looks.
"It's not a horse show or a beauty contest, and he's probably not the most attractive horse, but he's the best horse," Lukas said. "That's what we're after.
"He is a very, very gifted horse. The thing that makes him so effective is the fact that he's got that extreme acceleration. He gets from going at a cruising speed into wide-open (speed) in about two strides. When Calvin sees a hole, like he did in the Derby and like he did in the Breeders' Cup, this little horse really accelerates.
"I saw him on the track (Tuesday). I worked a half-mile and he came right behind me and I watched him work. He gets over the ground beautifully. You're impressed with him under saddle, without a doubt. I like his acceleration. It's kind of like, I guess, driving an Indy car or a NASCAR, when you can just sit and draft and then all of a sudden you tromp on it and they shoot into that hole. He takes advantage of it. Calvin is excellent at doing it."
Mark Guidry has the mount aboard Flying First Class.
HARD SPUN -- Trainer Larry Jones didn't schedule an official workout for Hard Spun between the Kentucky Derby and Saturday's Preakness Stakes, but he did give his Derby runner-up a little extra exercise Wednesday morning at Delaware Park.
"We let him ease down the lane a bit," said Jones, whose colt was ridden by regular jockey Mario Pino. "We galloped him a mile, then let him breeze about a quarter of a mile."
Jones said he didn't time Hard Spun in the stretch.
"He probably went in 24 (seconds) and change. For him, it was more or less an open gallop," said Jones before loading his colt onto a Pimlico-bound van that arrived at 1:30 p.m.
Pino, the winningest rider in Maryland history, will retain the mount aboard the son of Danzig in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
MINT SLEWLEP -- On the last day that Mint Slewlep had the Preakness Stakes Barn to himself, trainer Robbie Bailes sent his colt to the track Wednesday morning for a one-mile jog at Pimlico.
Prior to the arrival of several Preakness entrants later in the day, Bailes expressed satisfaction with how Mint Slewlep had settled into his new surroundings.
"Everything is fine with him," he said. "He's happy."
The Bowie Training Center-based trainer was asked if he had any memories of past runnings of the Preakness that stood out in his mind.
"You mean other than the one with Scrappy T.?" asked Bailes, a wide grin spreading across his face as he recalled his first and only Preakness starter's eventful journey in 2005.
Scrappy T. moved to the lead on the turn into the homestretch before suddenly veering out into the path of onrushing Afleet Alex, who fell to his knees but somehow kept his feet under him to go on to win by nearly five lengths. Despite blowing the turn and making contact with the eventual winner, Scrappy T. easily held second by five lengths.
"I remember the first Preakness I’d seen live was Codex and Genuine Risk and the deal at the top of the stretch," said Bailes, referring to the 1980 Preakness in which Codex survived an objection lodged by the rider of Genuine Risk after coming out into the path of the Kentucky Derby-winning filly at the top of the stretch. "Maybe that was some kind of karma that went on with me. I really didn't think about it until (Wednesday) morning. I said, 'Maybe that had something to do with Scrappy,'" laughed Bailes, who reported that Scrappy T. is slated to be back in training in June and likely to return to action in the fall.
Alan Garcia has the mount aboard Marshall Dowell’s Mint Slewlep.
STREET SENSE -- Trainer Carl Nafzger checked with his staff at Churchill Downs to get a report on Street Sense Wednesday morning while heading north by car for a trip to Baltimore with his wife, Wanda. The Nafzgers arrived at Pimlico shortly after 1 p.m., a couple horse ahead of the Kentucky Derby winner.
"He jogged a mile this morning," Nafzger said. "He looked good; everything's good with him. I just hope he has a smooth flight."
A number of horses departed the airport at Louisville just before 8 a.m., but Street Sense was scheduled to be on a second flight that was scheduled to arrive at Baltimore-Washington International Airport at approximately 1:45 p.m. Pimlico will be the fifth different race track that Street Sense has competed on since his 2-year-old debut at Churchill last July. He began his 3-year-old campaign by winning the Tampa Bay Derby before getting nosed for the win in the Blue Grass at Keeneland in his final Derby prep. He has also raced twice at Arlington Park, site of his maiden victory last August.
Veteran jockey Calvin Borel will be aboard Street Sense, his first-ever Preakness mount.
XCHANGER -- Trainer Mark Shuman couldn't be more pleased with the manner in which his Preakness contender, Xchanger, galloped 1-1/2 miles over the all-weather surface at Fair Hill Training Center Wednesday morning.
"He went as good as he could go," Shuman said. "He's a happy horse. All we need to do now is keep the zip in him. He showed a lot of zip this morning."
Shuman currently leases 20 stalls at Fair Hill.
"It is second to none. It's a great place to train any horse, not just a great place to prepare a horse for a major stake," said Shuman. "It's a fabulous place. Now that we have the Tapeta (all-weather) surface, it makes my job much easier."
Shuman is in the process of building a 32-stall barn at Fair Hill.
"I bought the last property left on the grounds," said Shuman, who expects the barn to be ready during the summer.
Shuman, who currently has 27 horses in training, won titles at Gulfstream Park and Monmouth Park while training for owner Michael Gill. Fortunately, Shuman was prepared when Gill decided to get out of the racing business.
"Mike made it nice for me by backing out of the game gradually," he said. "Mike gave me the heads up. He started to get out of the business in July '05 and didn't get out until January '06. So, I had six months to build up."
Shuman said he'd decide Thursday whether he will ship Xchanger to Pimlico on Friday or Saturday morning. He has entered three other horses for Saturday's card, and he said he might ship Xchanger on Friday to avoid too much confusion if all of his stablemates get into their respective races.
Ramon Dominguez will ride Xchanger in the Preakness.
Update 1903: As decided yesterday, Hard Spun did do a little breeze this morning: Hard Spun Completes Preakness Preparations, excerpt:
During the blowout, the son of Danzig changed leads on cue, going along easily with his ears up. Passing the eighth pole he started to get into the work, pinned his ears and began pulling Pino, before stretching out in the final eighth where the rider had to take a firm hold of the reins and then just let him gallop out slowly.
"He was starting to get into it in the last part and I had to go 'Whoo' and he kind of came back to me," Pino said. "He was getting his juices flowing coming to the wire and felt really strong. He felt just like he did going into the Derby. He didn't get much out of the gallop out because we didn't want him to do too much because there was a lot of traffic out there.
"It was a good idea to blow him out. Larry wanted to change his mind a little and stretch him out a notch, and he felt happy doing it."
Update 1902: A nice AP story on Hard Spun that sheds some light on his character / disposition: Hard Spun's Nature Belies Preakness Odds, excerpt:
If he were to be judged on his personality, Hard Spun might be considered a long shot. If it were up to Hard Spun, he'd probably be walking on a worn path with a stranger on his back.
"He's just an extremely nice horse. There's not an aggressive bone in his body," Jones said. "The other riders that see us, they say, 'That's Hard Spun?' They can't believe it. I told them, in his next career, he thinks he's going to be a trail-riding horse. He's almost people!"
Hard Spun has had very little time to socialize this week while nestled in Stall 50 of Barn 8 at Delaware Park. Given the attention he received before the Derby, a little quiet time is probably a good thing.
"The only time he's in a bad mood is from 11 o'clock to 3 o'clock, when it's his nap time and people won't leave him alone," Jones said. "Other than that, you can take him on a picnic with you and he'll be happy."
A quick update on ESPNs coverage for the Preakness:
4:30 pm today: ESPN2 (draw)
4 - 6 pm friday: ESPN2
12 - 5 pm saturday: ESPN
Update 1901: Another lovely morning at Fair Hill, and only three to ride. I also had a visitor (Washington Post) and an interview with NPR from Lexington to complete at about 9 am (to air this afternoon). Real Lace was first to go out. She jogged two miles around the dirt track. She had a visit yesterday from the acupuncture lady, and as is usual the day after such a visit, had a nice and easy day today. Second out was Whip Smart, and she went to the gate to stand, along with Tim on Quick Quest. They both stood quite well. We then galloped a mile together on the dirt. My final ride was Farouche, and she went to the Tapeta, Tim came along with Who's Happy. Steve (Washington Post) had arrived and walked out with us. As we were coming up to the track from the tunnel we passed Xchanger, who is now equipped with a Preakness saddle towel (being a grey he really did not need much more to identify him). Anyway, Farouche galloped a mile and a quarter and she went well.
Steve and I continued to chat up until the time I did the NPR phone interview (regarding today's media blitz). I then took Steve around Fair Hill, visited the Therapy Center, and then went to Prizzios for breakfast as we continued our "interview".
Update 1900: Rumours were rife yesterday morning that Hard Spun had been sold, not so according to Mike Jensen: Owner: Hard Spun isn't for sale. Hard Spun is due to work a little this morning at Delaware for his final Preakness preparation.
Lester Piggott, arguably the best jockey to ever ride anywhere, was hospitalized yesterday but appears to be out of danger: DECISION EXPECTED ON 'PIGGOTT DAY'.
Today is our second Media Blitz day. Note, the letter being used has a new addition!
Good morning FOB's.
Rest in peace Barbaro - I watched all of your races yesterday on video. You are simply awesome and amazing - it is clear you were never going to lose a race.
Have a great day everyone!
Posted by: Paul at May 16, 2007 10:52 AM