NEWS
Recapturetheglory out of Preakness
Posted: Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:47 PM
RECAPTURETHEGLORY
Four Footed Fotos
Grade 2 winner Recapturetheglory will not make a planned start in the Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course because of a fever.
Ronnie Lamarque, who co-owns Recapturetheglory with trainer Louie Roussel III, made the decision on Saturday after results from blood tests came back for the Cherokee Run colt. Recapturetheglory finished fifth, 11 3/4 lengths behind winner Big Brown, in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) in his previous start on May 3 at Churchill Downs.
“The racehorse comes first,” Lamarque said. “He had a slight temperature plus a slight pulse in his right front toe.
“For betterment of racing, we are electing to give this horse some time and let him regroup. We are really going to miss the Preakness experience. We felt we had a live chance to turn the tables on Big Brown.”
Recapturetheglory’s temperature was taken Friday night.
“He just wasn’t acting right,” assistant trainer Lara Van Deren said from Churchill Downs, where Recapturetheglory has trained since the Derby. “He was backing up against the gate in the stall and he never does that. [Saturday] morning his temperature was over 102.”
Recapturetheglory’s defection likely means that none of the 19 three-year-olds that faced Big Brown in the Derby will run in the Preakness. That has not occurred since Citation won the Derby as the 2-to-5 favorite in 1948 and coasted to a 5 1/2-length romp in the Preakness.
Big Brown is one of 12 horses expected to contest the Preakness, a 1 3/16-mile race that is the second leg of the Triple Crown. Other confirmed starters include Behindatthebar, Giant Moon, Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane, and Kentucky Bear.
Macho Again, Racecar Rhapsody, Riley Tucker, Stevil, Tres Borrachos, and Yankee Bravo also are confirmed starters. Harlem Rocker is a possible starter.
Macho Again, winner of the Derby Trial Stakes in his previous start on April 26 at Churchill, reentered the Preakness picture on Saturday, one day after trainer Dallas Stewart said he was not under consideration for the Preakness. Stewart said the potential field played a role in his decision about the race.
“We sat down and really looked at the field,” Stewart said. “There is one superstar in there [Big Brown], and I feel [Macho Again] can be competitive with the rest of them. He has never been doing better than he is now.”
West Point Thoroughbreds owns Macho Again, a Macho Uno colt who breezed four furlongs in :50.80 on Saturday at Churchill. The breeze, under Kenny Bourque, ranked 52nd of 59 timed moves at the distance.
Stewart said his decision to reconsider entering Macho Again was not based on the breeze.
“He never has been much of a work horse,” Stewart said. “But we will see how he is in the morning and we are seriously considering it. It’s a once in a lifetime chance and [West Point President] Terry [Finley] has left the decision up to me.”
Grade 3-placed winner Racecar Rhapsody breezed five furlongs in 1:01 on Saturday at Churchill. The breeze, under Jose Castanon, was the third-fastest of 29 timed workouts at the distance.
“He worked well,” trainer Ken McPeek said. “He laid off another horse and finished strong.”
Racecar Rhapsody is scheduled to be shipped to Pimlico on Wednesday, the same day Big Brown is scheduled to depart Churchill for Baltimore. On Saturday, Big Brown galloped for the first time since winning the Derby.
With assistant trainer Michelle Nevin in his saddle, Big Brown jogged to the front side of the track and then galloped a little more than one mile.
“I was looking for what I saw,” trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said.
Big Brown jogged the previous three mornings at Churchill.
Trainer Beau Greely plans to work Tres Borrachos on Tuesday at Churchill and ship him to Pimlico on Wednesday. The Ecton Park gelding, who finished third in the Arkansas derby (G2), has been bothered by a skin irritation on the left side of his neck.
“He had a little ringworm that showed up last week,” Greely said. “It has dried up now, but at the moment he won’t win any beauty contests.”
Grade 1-placed winner Kentucky Bear is the only Preakness starter currently on the grounds at Pimlico. The Mr. Greeley colt breezed five furlongs in 1:01 on the sloppy main track on Saturday.
The breeze, under jockey Jamie Theriot, was the fastest of two timed workouts at the distance.
“I thought it was a great work,” said Theriot, who will ride Kentucky Bear in the Preakness. “I think he’s at the top of his game.
“It’s a great opportunity to get the pleasure to ride horses like this in this kind of races. It’s a dream come true.”
Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. said on Saturday that Chuck C. Lopez will ride Grade 3 winner Hey Byrn in the Preakness. Lopez rode the Put It Back colt for the first time in a 2 1/4-length win in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) on April 12 at Gulfstream Park.
“It looks to me if you take out Big Brown than you could run the rest of those horses ten times and probably have six different winners,” Plesa said. “It looks like most of the three-year-olds are pretty equal.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher decided not to work unbeaten Withers Stakes (G3) winner Harlem Rocker on an off track on Saturday at Belmont Park. The Macho Uno colt is slated to work on Sunday morning, with a Preakness decision expected the following day.
The Preakness field is limited to 14 starters.
