NEWS
Lookin At Lucky wins Preakness
Posted: Saturday, May 15, 2010 6:26 PM
LOOKIN AT LUCKY
PhotosByZ.com/Thoroughbred Times
To view the Preakness Stakes, click here.
by Ed DeRosa
Some say it is better to be lucky than good, but Lookin At Lucky did not need luck and was just plain good when winning the Preakness Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
The win came with Martin Garcia aboard after Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert switched jockeys following Lookin At Lucky’s sixth-place finish as the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) favorite with Garrett Gomez in the irons. The win was Garcia’s first in any classic and gave Baffert his fifth Preakness triumph to go along with three Derby wins and one Belmont Stakes (G1) victory.
“I’ve just been clicking with Garcia, and we’d been winning a lot of races,” Baffert said. “When he has horse turning for home, he can really finish, and he came out today to ride. He was just so pumped up, but so young he probably doesn’t understand the magnitude of what this means.”
Derby winner Super Saver pressed the pace of First Dude throughout the first mile of the 1 3/16-mile race, but the Maria’s Mon colt, who had given trainer Todd Pletcher his first Derby winner after 24 previous starters, did not respond to jockey Calvin Borel’s urging turning for home and faded to eighth while First Dude finished gamely to hold on for second. Jackson Bend finished third and Yawanna Twist was fourth.
Lookin At Lucky completed 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.47 on a track rated as fast.
“I wouldn’t change my trip for nothing in the world, but he just came up empty,” Borel said of Super Saver. “He ran a hard race in the Derby. I was comfortable with where I was, but when I asked him he just didn’t have anything, so I wrapped up on him.”
Indeed, Super Saver’s chances of becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 ended at about the three-eighths pole.
“I thought as well as First Dude hung in there that we were in a good spot,” Pletcher said. “It looked like the colt was relaxed and traveling well down the backside, and you could tell that when he went to the far turn, he came up empty. Calvin gave him a perfect trip.
“I wouldn’t trade the Derby for anything; we got the one we wanted most. We would have loved to come here and win the Preakness and go to Belmont with a chance to win the Triple Crown.”
Although Pletcher remains winless in the middle leg of the Triple Crown, Lookin At Lucky’s victory elevated Baffert into a tie with Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas with five Preakness wins, two fewer than the seven R. W. Walden won while training in the 19th century.
Baffert trains Lookin At Lucky, a Smart Strike colt, for Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman. They acquired the colt for $475,000 during the 2009 Keeneland April two-year-olds in training sale.
“Bob called me and said, ‘We’ve gotta buy a horse.’ I asked him how much he’d cost. ‘It doesn’t matter; we have to buy this horse,” Pegram said of the acquisition from the consignment of Jerry Bailey Sales Agency, agent.
Bailey bred the colt in Kentucky in partnership with Lance Robinson and their Gulf Coast Farms.
“When Bob wants to buy a horse, you listen. We’ve had too much success together for me to be cheap.”
If the Preakness victory does not move Lookin At Lucky to the head of the three-year-old class, it at least gets him back in the conversation. No reigning juvenile champion has repeated as three-year-old champion since Spectacular Bid in 1978-’79.
Assuming that conversation also includes the Derby winner, fans will likely have to wait until later this year to see the two classic winners spar since Baffert was hesitant all week to commit to the Belmont, win or lose. Super Saver, meanwhile, will point toward summer races.
The top Preakness performer likely for the Belmont is First Dude. Earlier this week, trainer Dale Romans had said “the farther the better” for the Stephen Got Even colt, so a Belmont engagement in three weeks could suit the Preakness pacesetter.
To view Bob Baffert and Mike Pegram's comments following the Preakness Stakes, click here.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Ed DeRosa is news editor of Thoroughbred Times
Baffert’s classic success
Kentucky Derby
|
Horse |
Year |
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Silver Charm |
1997 |
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Real Quiet |
1998 |
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War Emblem |
2002 |
Preakness Stakes
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Horse |
Year |
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Silver Charm |
1997 |
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Real Quiet |
1998 |
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Point Given |
2001 |
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War Emblem |
2002 |
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Lookin At Lucky |
2010 |
Belmont Stakes
|
Horse |
Year |
|
Point Given |
2001 |
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: Bill, Newton, NJ on May 16, 2010 at 02:45 PM
Head of the class, you have got to be kidding me. The best was was lost to an injury, is trained by Todd Pletcher and is not Super Saver. I think the winner of the Belmont will hold that title until The Travers at Saratoga. That should be confirmed by Ice Box or Fly Down. Time will Tell.
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Posted by: Stephen Ciattei, Long Island, NY on May 16, 2010 at 01:31 PM
I thrilled for the Horse. Lookin At Lucky was foaled on May 27th 2007 he isn't even a 3yo yet. He is huge and rangey animal. He can only grow and get better. We could be looking at the next Horseracing folk hero.
Getting back to his age ... What he did as a 2yo was mind boggling for an underaged horse, and even this season so far he has shown a class beyond his years. Give him a rest and go after Quality Road and Zenyatta!
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Posted by: JT, HAWTHORNE, CA on May 16, 2010 at 11:32 AM
I'm happy for Bob and Martin. I've met both of them. Martin has breezed and ran my friends horses. Bob has a lot of confidence. Martin has always had alot of confidence within himself, but sometimes everyone in life needs someone to give you those big opportunities to prove yourself. The only regret I would have is that Martin was not given the mount for the Derby. Happy for Lucky, Bob & Martin. Very deserving of the preakness!
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Posted by: Robert, Miami, NY on May 16, 2010 at 08:57 AM
Let's not start the "Triple Crown" hype until a horse has accomplished at least winning the first two! My God; Super Saver couldn't even win the Tampa Bay Derby before beating a lackluster crop of three year olds in the Derby.
The only story this year is that the Lukas clone, Pletcher, after years of throwing his usual clunkers in the Derby [24], he found a nut. Those are mostly million dollar clunkers as babies. Their is an increasing amount of malarky in today's thoroughbred racing game and it's broadcasting. Nice to have a real guy, like Rail Borel, to remind us of yester-year.
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Posted by: JR, Destin, FL on May 16, 2010 at 04:47 AM
Did Calvin cry? I bet that he is still so very proud of his most special self though.
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