Kentucky Derby rematch in Preakness
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Preakness Stakes will provide a rematch between the top two finishers in the Kentucky Derby.
Good Magic trainer Chad Brown confirmed Sunday that the Derby runner-up will enter Saturday’s Preakness at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Good Magic finished 2 1/2 lengths behind Derby winner Justify, who also will compete in the Preakness.
“The horse has just been training very well since the Derby,” Brown said. “He bounced out of the race in great condition and I think he deserves a chance in the race.”
Co-owned by Five Racing Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Stables, Good Magic was the two-year-old champion male and holds a 2-3-1 record in six starts. He has career earnings of US$2,255,000.
Good Magic was scheduled to be shipped from Belmont Park to Baltimore yesterday.
Brown said Justify will be a tough horse to beat in the Preakness.
“We’re going to need to improve,” Brown said. “Even though our horse ran an excellent race in the Derby and earned a lot of respect from everybody, he needs to again move forward and we need to have Justify come back to us a little bit. I think that the margin that I saw between the two horses is not out of the question that we’ll be able to make up that difference.”
Bolt d’Oro, who finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby, will not run in the Preakness, owner/trainer Mick Ruis said Sunday.
Bolt d’Oro has been training at Keeneland since the Kentucky Derby and will target the Met Mile on June 9 at Belmont.
After Justify raced to a 2½-length victory in the slop as the 5-2 favourite, trainer Bob Baffert and his star horse drew a horde of visitors to his barn at Churchill Downs.
“He knows he’s a stud,” Baffert said.
It was a quick appearance.
With Justify playfully tossing his head, Baffert knew it was best to get the champ back in his stall where he couldn’t inadvertently kick anyone.
Baffert will be seeking his record-tying seventh Preakness victory. His four other Derby winners — Silver Charm, Real Quiet, War Emblem and American Pharoah — all won the 1 3/16-mile race.
Of course, American Pharoah went on to capture the Belmont and complete the sport’s first Triple Crown sweep in 37 years.
But Baffert isn’t going there yet.
“Right now I’m thinking just keep him healthy,” he said.
Baffert plans to leave Justify at Churchill Downs until the chestnut colt is shipped to Pimlico likely the Wednesday of race week.
Among the fresh horses under consideration are Tampa Bay Derby winner Quip and Federico Tesio winner, Diamond King.
Quip had enough qualifying points to get into the Derby field, but his ownership chose to point him toward the Preakness. The colt is owned by WinStar Farm, one of Justify’s multiple owners.
Todd Pletcher, who dislikes running his horses again in two weeks, said Audible (third in the Derby), Magnum Moon, Vino Rosso and Noble Indy would return to his New York base.