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Sunday, May 13, 2007

Preakness Notes

- Chelokee is unlikely for the Preakness; Michael Matz reiterated to the NY Times that he was not eager to run with....Street Sense, as well as Hard Spun and Curlin. His third place finish in the Florida Derby doesn't look as good as it might have before the Derby, and the colt is recovering from a foot abscess, so Matz, as we might expect him to, seems to be doing the right thing by opting for the softer Barbaro Stakes. Or perhaps he'd prefer to forego all those inevitable interview requests and just wait for the Peter Pan.

Here's Street Sense's eventful recap for Sunday: “We stood him in the gate and backed him out.” He sounds ready to me. Nafzger said he'll breeze him on Tuesday; ship him on Wednesday.

Larry Jones continues to sound very cocky about Hard Spun; here he dismisses any threat posed by the speedy Flying First Class:

“He’s just a little faster than the other horses,” Jones said of Hard Spun. “If you want to run with him early, if you want to commit suicide, he’ll make you run much faster than you want to. I’m not saying he’s the fastest horse in the world, but he’s got a great cruising speed.” [Thoroughbred Times]
I continue to be a bit confused about this horse; he showed some nice handiness stalking the pacesetters in the Lane's End, and I don't really understand why he has to run so fast so early at this point.

And Pletcher is hinting at entering another horse in addition to King of the Roxy. He would not be drawn into naming his second possible entrant, saying only that the decision would be made on Wednesday. [Brisnet] Hmmm, any guesses? If he's thinking of any of the colts, or the filly, who ran on Derby weekend, we'd have to presume that he/she is doing quite well in order for him/her to run back on two weeks rest.

7 Comments:

Harl said...

I wouldn't mind seeing CIRCULAR QUAY return to face these rivals. I don't think he ran a whole lot in the Derby other than passing all those tiring horses late to get 6th and I think he would have ran a much better race had he not been drawn to the outside. Plus, the Preakness would be a second start off an eight week layoff.

His appearance would at least add some wagering appeal to the race (as would the addition of RAGS TO RICHES).

Anonymous said...

I agree on CQ, and think he would enter a closer type so as not to conflice with KOTR's style.

Of the also ran's only CQ and Tiago showed anything at all, both at least closed some ground late once they got clear.

The filly will wait for the Belmont, methinks.

Anonymous said...

PS R2R and CQ are have the same ownership, so IF they have decided to run the filly in the Belmont, then CQ makes perfect sense for the Preakness, especially with the 8 week previous vacation.

Another thought, IF SS loses the Preakness, R2R may have a virtual walk over in the Belmont. Who would run against her?

Alan Mann said...

>>Who would run against her?

I'm sure Lukas could come up with someone. But I think Tiago seems pretty certain to run in the Belmont at this point, and Slew's Tizzy (oh man) is being mentioned as well.

Good point about CQ not conflicting with KOTR, though since they have different (headstrong) owners, it may not ultimately be the trainer's call.

El Angelo said...

I think if Pletcher's going to enter a 2nd horse it's probably someone who didn't run last weekend. I'd guess Deadly Dealer.

Harl said...

http://www.drf.com/news/article/84881.html

Anonymous said...

Two smooth trips on a rail custom scraped for the occasion does not a triple crown fave- yet. Has anyone interviewed the track super at Churchill Downs? At Pimlico? What kind of surface is being ordered up for Saturday? We shall see, after all that's why they run the race, isn't it?!