Who’s headed to the Preakness? Owners, trainers look ahead after Kentucky Derby.
The morning after a wild Kentucky Derby, talk of who would and wouldn’t head to the Preakness Stakes was already in full swing.
The scrambled 2020 Triple Crown calendar will leave additional time for connections to consider their next move after the Derby — and more time for Saturday’s competitors to get some rest — with four weeks until this year’s Preakness instead of the customary 14 days.
The race at Pimlico — set for Oct. 5 with no fans in attendance — will also be the final leg of the Triple Crown, though that honor won’t be on the line this year.
Tiz the Law won the Belmont Stakes on June 20, and Authentic upset him to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, lessening the intrigue for next month’s Preakness, postponed from mid-May because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The field for that race could still be a talented one.
Bob Baffert, fresh off winning his record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby, indicated Sunday morning that both Authentic and Thousand Words, who scratched just minutes before the Derby after a scary scene in the paddock, would be pointed toward Pimlico in four weeks.
Baffert is keeping both 3-year-old colts in Louisville under the care of legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas, instead of shipping them back to his home base in California. Baffert said he expects both horses to go on to the Preakness and wants them to travel as little as possible between now and then.
“I thought it might be too hard on them to go back. So I have an assistant trainer, this D. Wayne Lukas guy here,” Baffert joked. “So they’re going to be in Wayne’s barn. We’re going to run them out of here. If they’re working well and all going well, they’ll go to the Preakness.”
Baffert said his Derby winner, Authentic, came out of the race well. Thousand Words was also remarkably uninjured after rearing back and toppling over in the paddock about 20 minutes before Derby post time. He was scratched almost immediately but checked out fine after an examination Saturday evening. He was still doing well Sunday morning.
“We’ll give him another chance at it,” Baffert said. “He didn’t have a scratch on him.”
Baffert’s longtime assistant trainer, Jimmy Barnes, suffered a broken wrist in the paddock incident with Thousand Words and said Sunday that he watched the Derby on a phone while in an ambulance on his way to the hospital. He was back at Churchill Downs on Sunday morning.
Tiz the Law’s next move
The Preakness is not a sure thing for Tiz the Law, who finished second — a length and a quarter behind Authentic — after going off at 7-10 odds Saturday, making him the biggest Derby favorite since 1979.
Trainer Barclay Tagg said his preference would be to skip the Preakness and train Tiz the Law up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 7. The 3-year-old colt has had a busy summer, winning the Belmont Stakes in June, the Travers Stakes in early August and running second in the Derby on Saturday. His past two races have been at 1¼ miles.
“He’s come out of it well,” Tagg said Sunday morning. “He ate up his dinner last night. He’ll go back to New York Tuesday. I don’t want to say too much about the Preakness. I just want to see how he is.”
Tiz the Law owner Jack Knowlton told the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union on Sunday morning that he would “absolutely” want to run the colt in both the Preakness and Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“I definitely want to go to the Preakness if the horse is going well,” said Knowlton, who added that he would make the final decision on Tiz the Law’s next start.
Art Collector returns?
Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector returned to training Friday at his home base in Goshen, and trainer Tommy Drury is planning to run him in the Preakness Stakes next.
Art Collector might have been the second betting choice in the Derby behind Tiz the Law, but he was removed from consideration from the race just before Tuesday morning’s post position draw with a minor foot injury. That ailment should have no negative impact on his ability to run at Pimlico in four weeks, and he’d be among the favorites for that race.
Other Preakness possibles
In addition to Authentic, Thousand Words, Tiz the Law and Art Collector, a list of possible Preakness starters sent out by Pimlico on Sunday included Derby third-place finisher Mr. Big News, the two horses that scratched from the Derby earlier in the week — Finnick the Fierce and King Guillermo — and several that didn’t run in the Derby, including Dr. Post, Pneumatic, Mystic Guide, Lebda, Happy Saver, Mongolian Wind and Azul Coast, who is trained by Baffert.
Mr. Big News made a big move on Derby day to get up for third place at 46-1 odds. Trainer Bret Calhoun said Sunday morning that no plans had been made for his next start.
Tampa Bay Derby winner King Guillermo was scratched from the Derby on Thursday after developing a fever, and trainer Juan Carlos Avila said then that the Preakness would be the next goal.
Derby long shot Finnick the Fierce was scratched Friday due to an issue with his right front leg.
Dr. Post ran second to Tiz the Law in the Belmont Stakes and finished third behind Authentic and Ny Traffic in the Haskell on July 18. He was seen as a contender for the Kentucky Derby, but trainer Todd Pletcher kept him in New York instead, and he finished fourth in Saturday’s six-horse Jim Dandy Stakes, a race won by Mystic Guide.
None of the other Kentucky Derby trainers would commit to their next race Sunday morning.
John Shirreffs, trainer of Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P., said his colt didn’t take to the Churchill Downs track in his first start outside of California.
“I haven’t even thought about that,” Shirreffs said of his next race. “He’ll head back to California Monday and we’ll see.”
This story was originally published September 6, 2020 at 2:47 PM.
