Barbaro Updates: 850
updates are now here.
Update 4945: Now it looks like Rachel Alexandra's bid to run in the Preakness is back on: Whitney to Rachel Alexandra's Rescue.
Update 4944: Mike Gathagan's Preakness report from Pimlico:
'RACHEL' WORKS SHARPLY IN KENTUCKY FOR MIDDLE JEWEL; TWO NEW SHOOTERS COULD EXCLUDE FILLY FROM FIELD
BALTIMORE, 05-10-09---Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra turned in a strong workout Sunday morning at Churchill Downs, but a full field of 14 Triple Crown-nominated horses could stymie plans to enter the standout filly in Saturday's 134th running of the Preakness.
Pimlico officials had been expecting a field of 13 runners - including Rachel Alexandra - to be entered in the Preakness, but late Sunday afternoon it appeared that the filly who captured the Oaks by more than 20 lengths might be excluded from the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown by the prospect of two new shooters being entered.
Rachel Alexandra was not nominated to the Triple Crown, but she could be eligible to compete in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown if her new owner, Stonestreet Stables, owned by Jess Jackson, pays a $100,000 supplemental entry fee and one of the 14 positions in the starting gate is available. Nominated horses have preference, however, and the probable Preakness field suddenly swelled Sunday to 15, including 14 Triple Crown nominees and Rachel Alexandra.
Ahmed Zayat, the owner of the Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile said in an interview on the HRTV (Horse Racing Television) program RaceDay America Sunday morning that he had been called by Mark Allen, the co-owner of Derby winner Mine That Bird, and discussed entering other horses to exclude Rachel Alexandra. If Rachel Alexandra did make it into the Preakness field, Allen would be forced to find a replacement for Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel, who has made a year-long commitment to ride Stonestreet's star filly. Mike Smith would likely get the assignment.
Zayat, who nominated 22 horses to the Triple Crown, said in the interview that he agreed to enter a second horse. Allen also told HRTV that he intends to enter Indy Express, a maiden owned by Fourteen Enterprises, in which he has an interest. Indy Express is winless in nine career starts and has earnings of $12,618.
Late Sunday afternoon, Zayat told Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas that he intended to enter only Pioneerof the Nile.
At mid-day Sunday, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas announced that he planned to enter a second colt, Marylou Whitney's Luv Gov, who broke his maiden on the Derby Day program, in addition to Flying Private, who finished last in the Derby. Whitney owns Birdstone, the sire of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.
Jackson purchased Rachel Alexandra early last week and transferred her from trainer Hal Wiggins to Steve Asmussen's stable. In her first work for Asmussen Sunday, she covered four furlongs in 48.40 seconds. Following the breeze, Jackson confirmed that he planned to enter Rachel Alexandra in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
"Rachel Alexandra had an impressive workout today and she is ready to run in the Preakness," Jackson said in a statement. "Since it's Mother's Day, I wish I could announce to all mothers everywhere that this incredible filly is entered to take on the boys, but Triple Crown rules may prevent us from sending her to Pimlico. I want the fans to know that we are prepared to enter here and I'm hopeful that her entry will be accepted. I know that we all want the thrill of seeing her race next weekend."
The first four finishers in the Kentucky Derby (Mine That Bird, Pioneerof the Nile, Musket Man and Papa Clem) automatically make the Preakness field because they earned purse money in Louisville. The next three in the field, based on graded earnings are General Quarters, Friesan Fire and Big Drama. Terrain, Flying Private, Take the Points and Hull qualify in the next category (earnings in all non-restricted stakes). The final three spots are currently filled by Luv Gov, Tone It Down and Indy Express (total lifetime earnings). All 14 were pre-nominated to the Triple Crown prior to the Kentucky Derby.
Rachel Alexandra would rank fifth on the list and bump all the others down one notch.
MINE THAT BIRD - The Kentucky Derby winner galloped a little more than two miles at Churchill Downs Sunday morning in preparation for his start in Saturday's Preakness Stakes.
"He's doing super, as good as ever," exercise rider Charlie Figueroa said. "I know he hasn't backed off. There is no regression at all."
Trainer Bennie "Chip" Woolley echoed Figueroa's assessment of his gelding who shocked the racing world to score by nearly seven lengths at 50-1 in the Derby.
"The horse has been training super," he said. "We've been tracking him just about every day and he's really doing well."
Woolley has been enjoying a return to relative normalcy in recent days.
"It's been a little hectic, but things have settled down a little, so we're actually able to enjoy it," said the New Mexico-based trainer. "It got pretty wild, but we've getting time to reflect on everything that's happened."
Things will be getting considerably more hectic beginning on Tuesday, when he puts his Derby winner on a Pimlico-bound van.
BIG DRAMA - Trainer David Fawkes scheduled a leisurely morning for Big Drama at Pimlico Sunday. The Florida-bred colt was sent to the turf course following training hours to get acquainted with the grassy area where Fawkes will saddle him for a start in the134th running of the Preakness Stakes.
Big Drama, who arrived at Pimlico on Wednesday morning from South Florida, impressed his Calder-based trainer with his appearance.
"Coming into the cooler weather has been great," Fawkes said. "He's doing super. He's coming into himself right now. He looks great; his color's good; his weight is good; I have no complaints the way he is right now."
Big Drama will get back to work Monday, when jockey John Velazquez is scheduled to be aboard for a half-mile workout after the renovation break (8:30 a.m.).
Big Drama has finished first in his last six races since finishing third in his debut last summer. The son of Montbrook swept the Florida Stallion series last year before capturing the Delta Jackpot (G3) to conclude his productive juvenile season. In his only start this year, he ran seven furlongs in a blistering 1:20.88 to finish first in the Swale Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream, only to be disqualified and placed second.
"He's one of those super hard-trying horses. He always gives you 110 percent. In his works in the morning, if you ask him to work good, he works good. If you don't want him to work fast, he'll do what you want," Fawkes said. "In the afternoon, he always gives you 110 percent."
Fawkes has saddled only one horse at Pimlico, where Hidden Tomahawk finished off the board in the 1992 Maryland Breeders' Cup.
FLYING PRIVATE/LUV GOV - Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas sent Marylou Whitney's colt Luv Gov out for a four-furlong breeze in 48.20 seconds Sunday morning Churchill Downs. Flying Private is scheduled to work Monday morning at Churchill.
"I think I'll just go an easy half with him," Lukas said. "He doesn't need much. That two-week span between the Derby and Preakness is a concern of getting the energy back, so I don't have to do a lot with him. He's had plenty of racing."
Flying Private has three seconds in seven starts this year. He finished last in the field of 19 in the Derby over a sloppy sealed track that Lukas said may have affected many of the runners in the field.
"I've got a nice horse. He's a very good horse," Lukas said. "He didn't show up in the Derby, granted, so tell them to bet on somebody else. Having said that, he's a well-bred horse, he'll go a mile and three sixteenths. He's got a top rider in Alan Garcia, who just won the Peter Pan (Saturday at Belmont Park). There's a lot to like."
Lukas also said Sunday that he intends to enter Luv Gov, a colt bred and owned by Marylou Whitney, in the Preakness. After running second in three consecutive races, the son of Ten Most Wanted broke his maiden on the Kentucky Derby Day program at Churchill Downs. The colt turned in a solid breeze Sunday morning.
"We think he's our Belmont Stakes horse and we are looking for another spot to get a good one in," Lukas said. "He's truly a mile-and-half, a mile-and-three-sixteenths horse. And he ran a huge race on Derby day. He actually ran better than most of the horses in the Derby. We're going to give him a shot to go."
Lukas said that both horses will ship to Pimlico on Tuesday. He has not named a rider for Luv Gov.
FRIESAN FIRE - The Louisiana Derby winner is scheduled to be vanned from Delaware Park to Pimlico Monday morning.
Trainer Larry Jones plans to send Friesan Fire to the Pimlico track Tuesday morning for a five-furlong workout that will determine the Preakness status of the Kentucky Derby's beaten-favorite. The son of A.P. Indy returned from his 18th-place finish at Churchill Downs with cuts in all four legs, believed to be suffered in bumping incidents shortly after the start.
Should he pass the test, Friesan Fire will be ridden by Gabriel Saez, who'll be aboard for Tuesday's workout.
GENERAL QUARTERS - The Blue Grass Stakes winner galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Justin Court Sunday morning at Churchill Downs. Trainer Tom McCarthy plans to ship his one-horse stable to Pimlico on Tuesday.
"He's doing great, so far," said the 75-year-old former school teacher and principal. "I'll give him a real easy maintenance breeze tomorrow, about a half-mile."
The son of Sky Mesa, while ridden for the first time by Julien Leparoux, had a litany of issues when finishing 10th in the Kentucky Derby. Leparoux will also ride McCarthy's first Preakness starter.
"He came out of the race pretty good the next day, but right after the race he had one nostril completely closed or clogged," McCarthy said. "(Atomic Rain) must have hit him right there in one eye. It was closing pretty fast when we got to it and got all the dirt out from under the lid. He took a pretty good knock."
It was also the first time the Sam Davis Stakes winner had raced on anything other a fast track or a firm turf in his 12 career starts.
"He just couldn't get a hold of the track more than anything," McCarthy said. "He's got a great big Size 7 foot on him and he got hit a couple times. It was just kind of a rough Derby. There were some very nice horses that finished behind me."
HULL - The lightly raced unbeaten winner of the Derby Trial worked five furlongs in a "bullet" 59.40 seconds Sunday at Churchill Downs under regular rider Miguel Mena.
Trainer Dale Romans said the owners of the son of Holy Bull are still undecided about running, but their decision may have a lot to do with the entry of the filly Rachel Alexandra.
"She changes the dynamics of the whole race," Romans said. "She's true speed that keeps on going. She's real quality. It makes it a tougher decision to go. We're going to sit down and talk about it on Tuesday and see if we want to go up there and run against her. Right now, I still think we're going to go, but we'll see what happens."
Hull didn't get to the races as a 2-year-old, but has gone undefeated in three starts in a career that began on Feb. 7 at Fair Grounds. Owned by Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor and Gary Barber, Hull has won his three starts by a total of 16 lengths at three different race tracks.
MUSKET MAN - One trainer who seemed more than comfortable with the possible addition of Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness field is trainer Derek Ryan, whose late-running colt might benefit from more pace up front.
"I'm glad she's in there," Ryan said Sunday from Monmouth Park, where his colt will remain until race day. "Why not? She’ll keep Big Drama pretty honest on the lead and if you get beat by her, you'll be getting beat by one of the best (fillies) of all time. If you beat her, you've beaten one of the great ones of all time - plus, plus."
Ryan said he's comfortable staying in New Jersey for all of Musket Man's prep work. The son of Yonaguska has won five of seven career starts with two thirds. This year, the Kentucky bred is 3-for-5 with a pair of thirds.
"He just galloped a mile and a half today," Ryan said. "There's no rush to get there; we're only about three hours down the road. He shipped for his first three races (all wins), so it's no problem."
Ryan said he plans to work Musket Man on Tuesday and then gallop up to the race. Musket Man won the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) and Illinois Derby (G2) before finishing a troubled third in the Kentucky Derby.
"He ran his race, but he probably should have been second," Ryan said. "He came out of it good."
PAPA CLEM - The Kentucky Derby must have seemed like a walk in the park compared to the fourth-place Derby finisher's van ride from Louisville to Baltimore, a journey that began at 10:30 a.m. in Kentucky and ended at 1:10 a.m. Sunday morning.
"He looked fine this morning," said trainer Gary Stute, who will be saddling his first Preakness runner. "We just walked him today, I don't see any problem."
The Arkansas Derby winner was only a nose and a head from finishing second in the Derby at odds of 12-1 with some traffic issues in the stretch. Stute's father, Mel, won the Preakness with Snow Chief in 1986.
PIONEEROF THE NILE = Ahmed Zayat's Kentucky Derby runner-up is scheduled to work Monday morning at Churchill Downs. The son of Empire Maker galloped 1 1/2 miles Sunday morning.
"It was great to gallop on a fast track," trainer Bob Baffert said.
RACHEL ALEXANDRA - Just over a week after her 20 1/4-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks on May 1, Rachel Alexandra tuned up for a planned run in the Preakness with half-mile breeze in 48.40 seconds Sunday at Churchill Downs.
Exercise rider Dominic Terry was in the saddle as Rachel Alexandra turned out fractional times of: 12.40 and: 24.40 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:02 over the fast track. The move ranked 13th among 81 works at the distance.
"I thought it went beautiful," Asmussen said. "I'm surprised the racetrack dried out so well considering they cancelled (races) two days ago.
"She's a beautiful filly. I think she's doing extremely well. Every sight of her has been impressive and I'm just very happy to get this light move in this morning under very good conditions."
Asmussen won the Preakness in 2007 with eventual "Horse of the Year" and 3-year-old champion Curlin, who rallied to edge Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Street Sense in that race. He declined to speculate where Rachel Alexandra fits among the males being pointed toward Saturday's race at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course.
"I think it's like all races - you only worry about what you can take care of," he said. "The filly has proven what a tremendous mare she is. Mr. Wiggins has done a remarkable job with an amazing filly and we're just very fortunate to be around her."
Rachel Alexandra's win in the Kentucky Oaks was her fifth consecutive victory - all in stakes competition - and lifted her career earnings to $958,354. Her career record stands at 7-2-0 in 10 races.
TAKE THE POINTS - The Starlight Partners' colt Take the Points, turned in a very good five furlong work in 1:00.09 Sunday over the training track at Belmont Park. It was the second fastest of 38 at the distance on that track.
"He worked in company with Monba, who we're also running on Preakness Day on the turf," said Don Lucarelli, one of the principal owners in the stable. "According to Angel Cordero, who was aboard Monba, Take the Points outworked Monba a little bit."
Take the Points finished fourth in the Santa Anita Derby and did have enough graded stakes earnings to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, but the owners and trainer Todd Pletcher decided to aim for the Preakness instead.
"Since we added the blinkers after his last race in California, he has really stepped up," Lucarelli said. "That's what gave us the encouragement to potentially bypass the Derby to go on a track that favors speed a little more. Not that you'll see us on the lead, but that track should lend itself to his style of running. He galloped out real strong and they were very happy with the work."
TERRAIN - Trainer Al Stall Jr. sent Terrain to the Churchill Downs track Sunday morning for a five-furlong workout in company with Map of the World. The gelded son of Sky Mesa was clocked in 1:02.60 while finishing on even terms with his stablemate, who broke off two lengths ahead. Jamie Theriot was aboard for the workout, which ranked 19th of 35 at the distance.
"I had worked a few horses earlier in the morning and the track was fast. I didn't want any lights out work," said Stall, who reported that he'll name a rider for Terrain on Wednesday morning. "He is ready to run. He got dialed in today. I told Jamie just to sit behind him and when he chirped to him, he was right on him and they finished heads up. Jamie was happy with him."
Terrain is scheduled to fly from Louisville on Wednesday.
TONE IT DOWN - Sunday was "walk day" at nearby Laurel according to 73-year-old trainer Bill Komlo for the third-place finisher in the recent Federico Tesio (G3), who will likely be the only Preakness runner to have ever raced over the Pimlico surface.
"(The Preakness) was kind of always in the back of our minds when we got the horse in the Timonium sale last May," said Komlo, a former University of Maryland football player. "When he ran second in his first start going a mile, we thought maybe we've got a distance horse here."
That first start came with only four days left in his 2-year-old season, and the son of hot young sire Medaglia d'Oro has since won twice going longer in five starts at age 3. Komlo said jockey Mario Pino probably had the colt too close to the lead in his last two starts and has replaced him with former Maryland champion Kent Desormeaux.
"I think he wants to come from off the pace," said Komlo, who said he may not give Tone It Down another work since the Tesio was only two weeks ago. He will ship in to Pimlico on race day.
Update 4943: It looks like some pretty underhanded dealings are brewing with the intent to make sure Rachel Alexandra cannot run in the Preakness: Owners plot to keep Oaks winner out of Preakness.
Update 4942: The Rail on Rachel this morning: Rachel Alexandra Rearing To Go.
Update 4941: I spoke to Dominic Terry after we finished work this morning. There are simply no superlatives appropriate to describe how well Rachel Alexandra worked this morning. How easily she got her 48.4 half mile work. Galloping. Dominic has worked a lot of horses, and good horses.
And for me, six sets at Woodbine, four before the break and two after the break. All mine galloped nicely. It was chilly here though, very cold really after the ridiculous weather system we had pass through yesterday.
We have four runners this afternoon, so it will be a busy day all around. But so cool to learn about Rachel's effortless work-out.
Update 4940: Rachel Alexandra worked a half mile in 48.4 under Dominic Terry this morning.
Update 4939: Chantal Sutherland on Mine That Bird: No Shortage of Love for Mine That Bird.
We will see a few of the Preakness contenders putting in their Preakness work this morning.
Update 4938: The lightly-raced Charitable Man took the Peter Pan Stakes today after a dull effort in the Blue Grass Stakes: Peter Pan: Charitable Man Lives Up to Praise.
My latest contribution to The Rail: Preparing for the Preakness Stakes.
Update 4937: John Asher's report from Churchill Downs:
CHURCHILL DOWNS BARN NOTES
Saturday, May 9, 2009
WOOLLEY TO NAME BOREL ON KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER MINE THAT BIRD FOR PREAKNESS
TERRAIN, HULL WORKS POSTPONED UNTIL SUNDAY
LUKAS NAMES GARCIA TO RIDE FLYING PRIVATE
EVENTFUL MORNING FOR GENERAL QUARTERS
BOREL TO BE NAMED ON MINE THAT BIRD - The "$64,000 question" for trainer Bennie "Chip" Woolley is who will ride Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird in next Saturday's Preakness (GI) at Pimlico.
"Calvin Borel will be on the (entry) card," Woolley said Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. "I do have a backup, but I am not ready to release it."
On Friday, Borel agreed to ride Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) winner Rachel Alexandra for the rest of the season and the filly is being considered as a possible supplemental entry into the Preakness, which would leave Woolley looking for a rider in the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
With a sloppy track greeting Mine That Bird for a third consecutive morning, Woolley altered the morning exercise program for the Derby winner from two trips around the track to a back-track to the paddock runway followed by a once-around gallop with exercise rider Charlie Figueroa up.
"The track was a little chewed up yesterday, a little heavy," Woolley said.
Heavy rain Friday afternoon forced cancellation of the final five races on the 10-race card and left the track "off" Saturday morning.
Woolley also said Saturday morning that if Mine That Bird ran well enough at Pimlico to merit a trip to the Belmont Stakes (Grade I) on June 6, he would bring the Birdstone gelding back to Churchill Downs.
"That's the plan, to come back here if he runs well," Woolley said. "The horse likes it here and gets over the ground well."
Woolley said he would stay here with the horse and not make a quick trip back to his home base in New Mexico while Mine That Bird preps for the Belmont.
WORKS BY PREAKNESS CANDIDATES TERRAIN, HULL POSTPONED - Adele Dilschneider's Terrain galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break under exercise rider Jimmy Valdez as trainer Al Stall Jr. opted to wait a day to work the fourth-place finisher in the Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I).
"The track should be fine tomorrow at 8:30 and after a day of racing," Stall said. "Either Jamie (Theriot) or Julien (Leparoux) will work him."
Stall has not confirmed a rider for the Preakness.
Trainer Dale Romans moved a scheduled five-furlong work for Derby Trial (Grade III) winner Hull to Sunday morning because of track conditions.
"He galloped today and will work tomorrow," Romans said of the undefeated colt, who is owned by Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber. Jockey Miguel Mena is slated to be aboard for the work
Romans said he would "decide probably by Tuesday" whether Hull goes to Baltimore or waits for the June 6 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park.
LUKAS NAMES GARCIA TO RIDE FLYING PRIVATE - With exercise rider Taylor Carty up, Robert Baker and William Mack's Flying Private galloped in the first set that trainer D. Wayne Lukas brought to the track.
Lukas confirmed that Alan Garcia would have the mount on Flying Private, who finished 19th in Kentucky Derby 135. It will mark Garcia's second Preakness starter, having finished seventh on Mint Slewlep in 2007 behind Curlin.
GENERAL QUARTERS HAS EVENTFUL MORNING - It was an eventful return to the track on Saturday for Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) winner General Quarters. Just before completing his mile and a half morning exercise under Justin Court, a horse dropped a rider between and six- and five-furlong poles and ran loose toward the mile chute.
"He (General Quarters) had to check a little bit when he came around the turn," owner/trainer Tom McCarthy said. "You never know what they (loose horses) are going to do. If he had gone to the seven-eighths (pole), we'd have been in trouble."
McCarthy kept his colt in the barn on Friday because of track conditions.
"It was still deep, muddy this morning," McCarthy said. "He went well over it, but racing in it is a little different."
McCarthy plans to ship General Quarters by van to Pimlico on Tuesday.
"I have never been there," he said. "I am eager to get over there and see it."
RACHEL ALEXANDRA, PIONEEROF THE NILE GALLOP; PAPA CLEM HEADS EAST -- Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick's Rachel Alexandra galloped once around a sloppy racetrack with exercise rider Dominic Terry up before 6:30 on Saturday morning for trainer Steve Asmussen.
The Kentucky Oaks winner, who would have to be supplemented to next Saturday's Preakness Stakes (Grade I), would be ridden by Calvin Borel if she starts.
The Borel-Asmussen tandem would be seeking their first win together since July 6, 2007, when Borel rode Wundelia to victory at Churchill Downs.
Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to work Sunday or Monday.
A couple of hours after Rachel Alexandra was on the track, Zayat Stables' Pioneerof the Nile galloped a mile and a half.
"He couldn't be doing any better," exercise rider George Alvarez reported after the exercise over a track designated as "muddy" after the morning renovation break.
Trainer Bob Baffert, who was saddling two starters in Saturday's Lone Star Derby (Grade III) in Texas, is expected to return to Louisville on Saturday night.
Pioneerof the Nile may work Monday and is scheduled to ship to Pimlico on Wednesday.
Bo Hirsch's Papa Clem completed the Churchill Downs phase of his Preakness training early Saturday morning by galloping a mile and a half under exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez.
The Gary Stute trainee left Churchill Downs at 10:30 a.m. by van for Pimlico.
Update 4936: Mike Gathagan's Preakness update:
RACHEL ALEXANDRA SCHEDULED TO FLY TO BALTIMORE BUT DECISION TO ENTER IN THE PREAKNESS IS NOT FINAL
BALTIMORE, 05-09-09---The prospective field for next Saturday’s 134th Preakness Stakes received a boost in star power when assistant trainer Scott Blasi informed Maryland Jockey Club director of horsemen's relations Phoebe Hayes that Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) winner Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to fly into Baltimore next Wednesday for next Saturday's $1 million classic. A decision on whether she actually gets on the Tex Sutton plane in four days will not be made until the filly works.
The Maryland Jockey Club expects a field of 13 for the 1 3/16th mile, $1 million classic at Pimlico Race Course after Laurel Park-based trainer William Komlo announced today that Tone It Down will run, while Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey told the Maryland Jockey Club that Conservative will not.
"We are excited at the prospect of seeing the first four finishers from the Kentucky Derby and the superstar filly in the Preakness," said Maryland Jockey Club president and chief operating officer Tom Chuckas. "We could be looking at one for the ages."
Rachel Alexandra, who won the May 1 Oaks by a record 20 1/4 lengths, was purchased earlier this week by Jess Jackson of Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick from L and M Partners, LLC and transferred from the barn of Hal Wiggins to that of Steve Asmussen. Asmussen trained 2007 Preakness winner Curlin for a partnership that included Stonestreet.
"If she continues to be in perfect condition," Jackson said in a statement yesterday, "our intention will be to run her in the Preakness."
A Stonestreet spokeswoman said Saturday that no decision has been made to run Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness and a final decision would not happen until after the filly works, which will happen at Churchill Downs Sunday or Monday.
Rachel Alexandra is not nominated to the Triple Crown and can only get into the middle jewel of the Triple Crown if less than 14 pre-nominated horses are entered and her connections pay a $100,000 supplementary nomination fee.
If she runs, the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro would be the first Oaks winner ever to run in the Preakness. Fifty-two fillies have competed in the Preakness with four crossing the finish line first: Flocarline (1903), Whimsical (1906), Rhine Maiden (1915) and Nellie Morse (1924). The most recent filly to run in the middle jewel was Excellent Meeting ten years ago and only three have raced here since 1939.
Pimlico oddsmaker Frank Carulli confirmed that he would make Rachel Alexandra the morning line favorite. Genuine Risk (1980) and Winning Colors (1988), who both came to Baltimore as Kentucky Derby winners, went off as the betting favorites in the Preakness two weeks later.
Rachel Alexandra has won seven of 10 lifetime starts for $958,354, including five straight stakes with jockey Calvin Borel. Jackson announced yesterday that Borel would remain the rider on Rachel Alexandra. This would be the fourth time in Preakness history that a rider of the Kentucky Derby winner did not retain the mount in the middle jewel, but the first time that rider took a call on another starter.
The $64,000 question for trainer Bennie "Chip" Woolley is, "who is going to ride Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in next Saturday's Preakness?"
"Calvin Borel will be on the (entry) card," Woolley said Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. "I do have a backup, but I am not ready to release it."
Industry sources say among those being considered are Hall of Famer Mike Smith, a New Mexico native like Woolley and owners Mark Allen and Leonard Blach, who won the 1993 Preakness aboard Prairie Bayou, and Chantal Sutherland, who rode he gelding four times as a two-year-old, winning three stakes at Woodbine.
With a sloppy track greeting Mine That Bird for a third consecutive morning, Woolley altered the morning exercise program from two trips around the track to a back-track to the paddock runway and then had him gallop once around with exercise rider Charlie Figueroa up.
The son of Birdstone will leave Louisville via van on Tuesday morning and arrive at Pimlico sometime after the afternoon rush hour. The Maryland Jockey Club has arranged a police escort for Mine That Bird and his connections from Interstate 70, prior to the Baltimore Beltway, into Pimlico.
In his final day as the only horse stabled in the Preakness stakes barn, Delta Jackpot winner Big Drama galloped around the Pimlico oval at 6:30 a.m. with exercise rider and assistant trainer Celia Fawkes. The son of Montbrook, who is five-for-seven lifetime, has been at Pimlico since early Wednesday morning. Trainer David Fawkes plans on breezing Big Drama four-furlongs Monday morning at 8:30, after the renovation break. Celia Fawkes has been in Baltimore since Tuesday night with her husband arriving tonight. Their 11-year-old daughter, Natalie, will join them Friday.
"She wouldn't miss this for the world," said Celia Fawkes.
Papa Clem left Louisville at 10:30 a.m. Saturday via van and is headed to Pimlico. Trainer Gary Stute said the Arkansas Derby winner will walk the shedrow Sunday, gallop Monday and work five-furlongs Tuesday morning. The son of Smart Strike finished fourth in the "Run for the Roses".
Larry Jones will ship Friesan Fire into Pimlico Monday afternoon and plans on breezing the son of A.P. Indy, who suffered cuts in his left front foot while getting bumped shortly after the start of the "Run for the Roses" and finished 18th as the betting favorite, five-furlongs with jockey Gabriel Saez Tuesday morning and then make a final decision.
In addition to Mine That Bird, two other Preakness starters, General Quarters and Flying Private will leave Churchill Downs Tuesday and van to Pimlico. Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas named Alan Garcia to ride Flying Private. While Lukas has saddled 32 Preakness starters, hoisting the Woodlawn Vase five times, General Quarters owner/trainer Tom McCarthy, the 75-year-old former principal has never been to Old Hilltop.
"I am eager to get over there and see it," McCarthy said.
Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile, Terrain and Hull are expected to be on the plane with Rachel Alexandra Wednesday, which is scheduled to leave Louisville at 12:30 p.m. All four are scheduled to work before heading to Baltimore.
Trainer Todd Pletcher scrapped a work for Take the Points this morning due to inclement weather in New York. The son of Even the Score is now scheduled for a Sunday morning breeze either at Belmont Park or the training oval at the Long Island track.
Trainer Derek Ryan plans on working Musket Man three-furlongs on Tuesday at Monmouth Park and shipping the third place finisher in last week's Kentucky Derby to Pimlico the morning of the race. Musket Man has won five-of-seven lifetime, including the Grade II Illinois Derby and the Grade III Tampa Bay Derby.
Tone It Down will also ship into Pimlico the morning of the race. The son of Medaglia d'Oro has won two-of-six races and finished third in last Saturday's Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico. Hall of Fame rider Kent Desormeaux, who won five riding titles at Pimlico from 1987-1989, will ride. Desormeaux has two Preakness victories-Real Quiet (1998) and Big Brown (2008) and has finished in the money five times in 11 tries.
"We felt this was a once-in-a-lifetime deal," Komlo said. "We are Maryland people and he is a Maryland horse. We feel we have not seen the best of this horse just yet. We have been very patient and he is a nice horse. We don't know if we can compete but we are willing to try."
McGaughey said Conservative is "not running" and will be pointed to the Grade III Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont.
Update 4935: My latest entry for The Rail, and I am sure some will disagree: Borel Makes the Right Call.
A straightforward morning this morning for Steve at Woodbine. I had six sets, and all galloped nicely. Not so for everybody, and I sat and watched one of the outriders doing a marvelous job catching a loose horse breezing along the inside rail.
Thankfully we were finished riding before 9 am. We then experienced the strangest weather i think I have ever experienced. It changed from a reasonably decent morning to thunder, lightening and rapid hale! Riders who were caught up in the weather came back with whelts. Bleeding. Just bizarre. This lasted for about fifteen minutes. I could hear the siren going off on the track. Just crazy stuff!
Update 4934: Calvin Borel on Talkin' Horses.
And Curlin now has a baby full brother: Full Brother to Curlin is Foaled (with Video).
Today's Peter Pan at Belmont has traditionally served as a prep race for the Belmont: Scorewithcater set for Peter Pan.
Update 4933: John Asher's notes from Churchill Downs:
CHURCHILL DOWNS BARN NOTES
Friday, May 8, 2009
BOREL WILL CONTINUE TO RIDE RACHEL ALEXANDRA
WOOLLEY, NAFZGER COMPARE DERBY NOTES
PAPA CLEM HEADING TO PIMLICO ON SATURDAY
TERRAIN, FLYING PRIVATE NEEDS PREAKNESS RIDERS
BOREL TO CONTINUE TO RIDE KENTUCKY OAKS WINNER RACHEL ALEXANDRA- Jockey Calvin Borel has reached an agreement with the new owners of Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) winner Rachel Alexandra to ride the 3-year-old filly through the "current racing season."
Jess Jackson's Stonestreet Stables, majority owner of Rachel Alexandra, and partner Harold McCormick announced in a press release issued Friday that Borel would continue to ride the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, who was purchased for an undisclosed price in a private transaction earlier this week. Rachel Alexandra is unbeaten in five races under Borel, a string that started in November in the Golden Rod (GII) at Churchill Downs and continued in her record 20 1/4-length victory in the Oaks under the track's historic Twin Spires on May 1.
"It came down the fact that he knows and loves this horse, that he knows how to get the most from her and he knows how to win," Jackson said in the press release. "We think this is a perfect match of rider and horse."
"We're very happy to have the opportunity to continue to ride Rachel Alexandra," said Borel. "I've had the chance to ride some great horses, but she is one of the most special horses I've ever been around. I appreciate the faith that Mr. Jackson and Mr. McCormick have shown in me, and we can't wait to be there wherever she runs next."
Borel's agent, Jerry Hissam, said his rider would have no further comment on the agreement.
The victory aboard Rachel Alexandra was the first by Borel in America's top race for 3-year-old fillies. He followed that one day later with a victory aboard Double Eagle Stables and Buena Suerte Thoroughbreds' Mine That Bird at odds of 50-1 in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI). The Derby victory was the second for the 42-year-old Borel, who won the race in 2007 aboard James Tafel's Street Sense.
Borel's sweep of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks was the seventh in the 135-year history of the two races, and the first since Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey won the Derby with Sea Hero and the Derby with Dispute in 1993.
Borel ranks third in the Spring Meet jockey standings with nine wins.
WOOLLEY, NAFZGER COMPARE DERBY-WINNING NOTES - Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine's Mine That Bird galloped a little more than two miles over a sloppy Churchill Downs racing surface Friday morning under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.
"Everything has fallen into place since the Derby," trainer Bennie "Chip" Woolley Jr. said as the Birdstone gelding walked back to Barn 42. "He is doing good. He is eating good. He hasn't lost any weight, not that he could afford to lose any. The only thing I could without is some of this rain."
Heavy overnight rain left the track sloppy for a third consecutive morning. Since his Kentucky Derby victory last Saturday, Mine That Bird has only seen a fast track in the morning two days and more rain is expected overnight into Saturday.
Woolley, who had lunch and dinner Thursday with two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer and Hall of Famer Carl Nafzger, plans to keep Mine That Bird on his twice-around routine until Tuesday.
"Maybe Tuesday morning before we leave I will just jog him and we'd have to go before 7 if we do that," Woolley said.
PAPA CLEM TO SHIP TO PIMLICO ON SATURDAY - Bo Hirsch's fourth-place Kentucky Derby finisher Papa Clem galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break with exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez up.
Trained by Gary Stute, Papa Clem has been stabled in trainer Cody Autrey's barn at Churchill Downs since arriving in Louisville on April 14 after his victory in the Arkansas Derby (Grade II). That stay will come to an end Saturday.
"We are leaving tomorrow," said Gonzalez, who serves as Stute's main exercise rider.
"I would imagine he would train in the morning," Autrey said. "He is scheduled to leave (by van) about 10 a.m."
SLOPPY TRACK KEEPS GENERAL QUARTERS IN BARN - Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy kept Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) winner General Quarters in the barn Friday morning because of track conditions.
"I woke up at 2 and saw all the lightning and then the rain," McCarthy said. "The first thing I did when I got here was check the track and it looked terrible. I would rather be safe than sorry."
With more heavy rain in the forecast for later Friday and overnight into Saturday, McCarthy was asked if he could skip another day.
"I will have to gallop him or do something in the morning," McCarthy said.
McCarthy plans to have General Quarters leave by van early Tuesday morning, which gives the Sky Mesa colt three more days of training at Churchill Downs.
NO PREAKNESS RIDERS CONFIRMED FOR FLYING PRIVATE, TERRAIN - Robert Baker and William Mack's Flying Private galloped early Friday morning under Taylor Carty and then took a brief stroll into the mile chute accompanied by trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who was alongside on a pony.
Lukas has not confirmed a rider for Flying Private in the Preakness.
"I should have one by this afternoon," Lukas said. "I have one thing I have to tie up."
Adele Dilschneider's Terrain galloped a mile and a half under Jimmy Valdez before 7 a.m. Trainer Al Stall Jr. plans to work Terrain on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the weather.
Stall has not named a rider for Terrain.
"We are going to wait and see what happens," Stall said. "But there will be somebody in white pants waiting to get on the horse."
WEATHER COULD POSTPONE HULL WORK - Trainer Dale Romans had undefeated Derby Trial (Grade III) winner Hull out for a mile and a half gallop before the renovation break.
Hull is supposed to work five furlongs after the renovation break on Saturday with jockey Miguel Mena up, but Romans may push the move back a day because of weather.
"If I have to, I can wait," Romans said.
Owned by Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber, Hull may bypass the Preakness if Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) winner Rachel Alexandra is supplemented.
Romans said if Hull does not run in the Preakness, the son of Holy Bull would point to the $250,000 Woody Stephens (Grade II) at seven furlongs on June 6 at Belmont Park.
PIONEEROF THE NILE GALLOPS; "RACHEL" GOES AROUND ONCE- Zayat Stables' Pioneerof the Nile galloped a mile and a half after the renovation break with exercise rider George Alvarez up.
Trainer Bob Baffert, who has yet to commit the Kentucky Derby runner-up to the Preakness, is due back in Louisville on Saturday night.
Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick's Rachel Alexandra made one trip around the sloppy Churchill Downs oval before 7 a.m. with exercise rider Dominic Terry up.
Update 4932: More on Borel's decision to ride Rachel Alexandra if she runs in the Preakness: 'Rachel' Aimed at Preakness With Borel Up.
And if this does happen, I am hoping Chantal Sutherland returns to ride Mine That Bird.
Update 4931: This morning I asked David Cotey how he named Mine That Bird: How Mine That Bird Got His Name.
Update 4930: Preakness update from Mike Gathagan at Pimlico:
DECISION ON RACHEL ALEXANDRA'S PREAKNESS STATUS EXPECTED AFTER THE SUPERSTAR FILLY WORKS FOR NEW BARN
BALTIMORE, 05-08-09---A decision as to whether Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) winner Rachel Alexandra will be supplemented into the field for the 134th Preakness Stakes could be made Sunday or Monday after the filly works for her new trainer, Steve Asmussen. The $1 million Preakness will be held on Saturday, May 16 at historic Pimlico Race Course.
The Preakness field currently has nine confirmed starters: Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Musket Man, Papa Clem, General Quarters, Flying Private, Big Drama, Take the Points, Terrain and Hull.
The status of two other likely Preakness starters, Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile and Derby favorite Friesan Fire, will be made Monday and Tuesday respectively after both work.
Conservative and Tone It Down are also under consideration for Maryland's marquee race. The Preakness is limited to 14 starters.
Rachel Alexandra, who was purchased by Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick two days ago and transferred to Asmussen, made one trip around the sloppy Churchill Downs oval before 7 a.m. with exercise rider Dominic Terry up. Yesterday Asmussen, who conditioned 2007 Preakness winner Curlin for a group that included Stonestreet, indicated his new star, who won last week's Oaks by 20 1/4 lengths, would work Sunday or Monday at Churchill Downs.
Rachel Alexandra is not nominated to the Triple Crown and could only get into the middle jewel of the Triple Crown if less than 14 pre-nominated horses are entered and her connections pay a $100,000 supplementary nomination fee. If she runs, Rachel Alexandra would be the first Oaks winner ever to run in the Preakness. Fifty-two fillies have competed in the Preakness with four crossing the finish line first: Flocarline (1903), Whimsical (1906), Rhine Maiden (1915) and Nellie Morse (1924). The most recent filly to run in the middle jewel was Excellent Meeting ten years ago.
The lone Preakness starter in the Pimlico stakes barn, Delta Jackpot winner Big Drama, jogged a mile and then galloped under exercise rider and assistant trainer Celia Fawkes, who said the son of Montbrook would have the same routine Saturday and Sunday leading up to Monday's breeze. Big Drama has won five-of-seven lifetime starts and saw his five-race win streak end in the March 28 Swale Stakes (Grade II) at Gulfstream Park despite setting a track record at seven-furlongs when he was disqualified for interfering with the runner-up.
"I think a fresh horse has an advantage going into the Preakness, that's why we've seen so many spoils in the Triple Crown," said trainer David Fawkes. "The horse hasn't done anything wrong. He's always gotten the distance we've asked him to get. First time at a mile and a sixteenth over a deep racecourse at Calder he did it. Went to a bullring at Delta Downs, he did that."
Papa Clem, the fourth place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, will be the next Preakness starter in the Pimlico stakes barn when the Gary Stute trainee arrives Saturday evening. The Arkansas Derby winner is expected to leave Louisville at 10 a.m. Stute's father, Mel, won the 1986 Preakness with Snow Chief.
"You only get one chance with the Derby, Preakness and Belmont and with my stable I don't know if I'll get too many more opportunities," Stute said. "Most of my horses are claiming horses and most of them are used to running back in two weeks so to be honest I'm kind of anxious to run this horse back in two weeks. I thought the Preakness would be the perfect distance for my horse and my dad's two for two, he won the Preakness and the Dixie (Kadial-1988) there so far at least at Pimlico the Stutes are undefeated."
Stute plans on walking Papa Clem Sunday, galloping Monday and working the son of Smart Strike five-furlongs on Tuesday morning.
Larry Jones will ship Friesan Fire into Pimlico Monday afternoon and plans on breezing the son of A.P. Indy, who suffered cuts in his left front foot while getting bumped shortly after the start of the "Run for the Roses" and finished 18th as the betting favorite, five-furlongs with jockey Gabriel Saez Tuesday morning and then make a final decision.
Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird galloped a little more than two miles over a sloppy Churchill Downs racing surface Friday morning under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.
"Everything has fallen into place since the Derby," trainer Bennie "Chip" Woolley Jr. said. "He is doing good. He is eating good. He hasn't lost any weight, not that he could afford to lose any."
The son of Birdstone will leave Louisville via van on Tuesday morning and arrive at Pimlico sometime after the afternoon rush hour. The Maryland Jockey Club has arranged a police escort for Mine That Bird and his connections from Interstate 70, prior to the Baltimore Beltway, into Pimlico.
D. Wayne Lukas (Flying Private) and Tom McCarthy (General Quarters) plan on vanning their Preakness starters from Churchill to Pimlico on Tuesday.
Terrain, Hull, Pioneerof the Nile and Rachel Alexandra, if the latter two run, will fly into Baltimore Wednesday, May 13, the day of the post position draw.
Trainer Derek Ryan told Maryland Jockey Club officials that Musket Man, the third place finisher in the Derby, will remain at Monmouth Park until the morning of the Preakness, with a scheduled arrival at 6:30 a.m., the morning of the middle jewel.
"We've been on the road for a long time and we want to be able to stay home for as long as we can," said Ryan. "Plans remain the same, to work the horse 3/8ths on Tuesday if the rain cooperates. We seem to be coming in under the radar, but were used to it. We knew we had a big horse coming into his first start."
Take the Points will put in his final Preakness work on Saturday or Sunday, according to trainer Todd Pletcher. The connections skipped the Derby for the son of Even the Score to compete in the Preakness.
Trainers Shug McGaughey and William Komlo informed Maryland Jockey Club officials that a decision would be made tomorrow on the Preakness prospects of Conservative and Tone It Down respectively.
"We got together last night and after discussing the race, decided to sleep on it some more," said Komlo of the third place finisher from last Saturday's Tesio Stakes at Pimlico. "We'll get together again later today and try to come up with a decision."
Update 4929: Rachel is pointed to the Preakness with Calvin Borel: Borel to ride Rachel Alexandra, excerpt:
Jess Jackson, whose Stonestreet Stables purchased Rachel Alexandra this week in partnership with Harold T. McCormick and turned over the filly to trainer Steve Asmussen, said in the release that retaining Borel "came down to the facts that he knows and loves this horse, that he knows how to get the most from her. We think this is a perfect match of rider and horse."
Today I had lunch with Paul and Gemini Caine who run Pine Valley Training Centre. They provided the early education for Mine That Bird.
Update 4928: Railbird here, with your weekly update.
The New York sky is cloudless this morning, but races will be run off the turf at Belmont this afternoon. That's bad news for fans of Grand Couturier. The 6-year-old, whom trainer Robert Ribaudo has kept primed and waiting for a just-right turf race this spring, was to have made his 2009 debut in the Three Coins Up Stakes (race eight) today. The Man o' War and Sword Dancer -- which Grand Couturier has won twice -- are the races to which Ribaudo is pointing the horse this year, which gives him plenty of time to come back, but an appearance can't come soon enough for those of us who enjoy following veteran campaigners on the grass.
On Saturday, possible Belmont Stakes contenders prep in the Peter Pan. Among the seven starters are three names familiar from the Derby trail: Imperial Council, second to I Want Revenge in the Gotham, then a poor finisher in the Wood after flipping out in the paddock; Hello Broadway, coming off a Keeneland allowance win; and Charitable Man, making his second start off a layoff after a troubled trip in the Blue Grass Stakes. Also entered is closer Scorewithcater, winner of the Borderland Derby. You may recognize the name of the runner-up in that race -- it's none other than Mine That Bird, otherwise known as the longshot victor of the 135th Kentucky Derby.
In his final Derby prep, Mine That Bird finished fourth in the Sunland Derby, a race that has now turned out two next-out stakes winners (Advice, winner of the Lexington Stakes, is the other). Will there be a third? Three other starters from the Sunland are entered in the Lone Star Derby on Saturday: likely favorite Mythical Power, who finished second in that race, Mayor Marv, winner of the Turf Paradise Derby, and Dumar. Another trio starts for trainer Steve Asmussen, who has yet to win the Lone Star Derby. He'll get his best shot with Uno Mas, repeatedly tested against Louisiana Derby winner and Derby favorite Friesan Fire at the Fair Grounds this winter.
At Hollywood on Saturday, the Mervyn Leroy Handicap drew six, including the undefeated front-runner Rail Trip, making his graded stakes debut. On Sunday, the Railbird Stakes attracted an intriguing field of nine topped by Carlsbad, facing her toughest test yet, despite being the sole graded stakes winner in the bunch.
Update 4927: A very pleasant and relaxing morning's work this morning at Woodbine for Steve. We had six sets, two of which went to the gate for a little schooling. All mine galloped nicely. The weather too is gorgeous today, which makes work that much more pleasant!
Update 4926: I had long hoped Rachel Alexandra would have her chance to proove she is the best 3yo in North America. Her recent purchase has created a firestorm across the internet, which in of itself has got more people talking about the Triple Crown. Certainly she should make the Triple Crown more exciting if she does compete in either the Preakness or the Belmont: Filly could elevate '09 Triple Crown.
Found on Paulick Report.
And please keep calling.
Hiya, FsOB! And may I say, "TGIF!". Wishing each of you and all horses & their riders a safe weekend. May the horses en route to Maryland for the Preakness next Saturday have uneventful travels. Shall I be the first poster today? Hmmm, let's see....
Posted by: Robyn Hoffmann at May 8, 2009 11:43 AM