NEWS
Gayego enters Preakness Stakes mix
Posted: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 5:19 PM
GAYEGO
Kurtis Coady/Coady Photography
by Steve Bailey
The Preakness Stakes (G1) gained a Grade 2 winner on Tuesday when trainer Paulo Lobo confirmed that Gayego, who finished 17th in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), will run in the second leg of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown.
The Gilded Time colt is the only horse who contested the Kentucky Derby slated for a return engagement with Derby winner Big Brown in the Preakness.
Arkansas Derby (G2) winner Gayego is scheduled to arrive at Pimlico Race Course on Wednesday following a cross-country flight from California that he will share with fellow Preakness hopeful Yankee Bravo.
“He’s an extremely good shipper,” said Lobo, who will have his first Preakness starter.
Gayego shipped to Oaklawn Park in April and won the Arkansas Derby by three-quarters of a length. He went on the road again for his start in the Kentucky Derby on May 3. Lobo said the colt was compromised by a sluggish start and early traffic problems but did not overexert himself during the 1 1/4-mile race.
“He came back very well,” Lobo said. “He’s been eating everything. He’s feeling happy.”
Racing Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who has ridden Gayego in each of his six lifetime starts, will return for the Preakness. Smith rode Prairie Bayou to victory in the 1993 Preakness.
Three other probable Preakness starters completed their final workouts on Tuesday prior to the 1 3/16-mile race on Saturday.
Albert Fried Jr.’s three-time stakes winner Giant Moon drilled a bullet half-mile in :47.77 under regular exercise rider Caesar Correa at Belmont Park. Trainer Richard Schosberg said the bay Giant’s Causeway colt completed the first quarter in :22.80 and covered three furlongs in :35.80.
“The track was good and he handled it well,” Schosberg said. “If he was going a little bit quick, maybe it’s better that we had an extra day. Certainly, we’re in good order fitness-wise for the race. We don’t have to do a whole lot, just basically keep him happy and get him down there in good order.”
Maiden winners Stevil and Tres Borrachos worked on Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs.
Racing Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito was pleased with Stevil’s four-furlong breeze in :47.80, the sixth-fastest of 61 timed moves at the distance.
“He’s a very consistent horse, and hopefully he’ll run well Saturday,’’ said Zito, who won the 1996 Preakness with Louis Quatorze. “We’re ready. He’s been running good all winter.”
Stevil, who enters off a fourth-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1), is expected to arrive at Pimlico on Wednesday.
California-based rider Tyler Baze flew into Louisville to ride Tres Borrachos, guiding the Ecton Park gelding through four furlongs in :50.40.
Tres Borrachos ran on synthetic surfaces in California for his first five career starts. He was third in the El Camino Real Derby (G3) at Bay Meadows in his first start on a conventional dirt track, and finished third again in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn in his previous start after dueling with eventual winner Gayego.
Baze, who will be riding in his first Preakness, was impressed with Tuesday’s drill.
“It was so beautiful it was ridiculous,’’ said Baze, who flew back to California immediately after the workout. “He did it the right way and finished well. He is so impressive, the way he worked today and went over a dirt track like that and not be blowing.
“I’m hoping Saturday is my day. I know this is a good horse now that I’ve ridden him in Arkansas and I know him. I’m really looking forward to it.’’
Tres Borrachos is scheduled to be shipped from Louisville to Balitimore along with Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown on Wednesday.
Steve Bailey is deputy news editor of Thoroughbred Times
