Preakness:The black-eyed Susan blanket

The Preakness goodluck Team Valor


hull streaks clear

Unbeaten Derby Trial (Grade III) winner Hull has been added to the lineup for the 134th running of the Preakness® Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 16.

The son of Holy Bull is a perfect three-for-three this year, breaking his maiden first time out at the Fair Grounds on February 7 then defeating allowance company at Turfway Park on April 2 before his Derby Trial victory at Churchill Downs on April 25.

Miguel Mena will have the Preakness mount for trainer Dale Romans. The colt will arrive on Wednesday, May 13.

Last week it was announced that Hull was going to be pointed to the Grade II Woody Stephens on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

“The Kentucky Derby was a very hard, grueling race and any horse coming out of that will be compromised to a certain extent,” said co-owner Barry Irwin, owner of Team Valor International. “I look at the Derby as like a heavyweight boxing match. It is tough enough under normal conditions but the way that track was Saturday it could compromise any of those horses headed to the Preakness.”

Hull will breeze at Churchill Downs on Saturday morning.

“Our biggest fear has been we have never run around two turns and it sure would be nice if we had done it once so the horse could get the condition and experience but sometimes life is not ideal and you have to seize the opportunity when it presents itself,” added Irwin. “I like the horse but it was the jockey who swayed me. The trainer is confident in the horse but the jockey is over the moon about how good the horse is. He says we have gotten nowhere near the bottom of him. That encouraged me to want to try the Preakness.”

The Preakness now has four confirmed starters: Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Papa Clem, the fourth place finisher in Saturday’s “Run for the Roses” and Big Drama, who is five-for seven in his career.

The Preakness is limited to 14 starters. Fourteen of the last 17 years have seen double-digit starters.




The Black-Eyed Susan Blanket



A long-standing Preakness tradition is to drape a blanket of Black-Eyed Susans across the shoulders of the winning horse. The 18X90 inch blanket takes three people two full days to create. First they attach a layer of greenery to a perforated spongy rubber base. Then they string more than 80 bunches of Viking daises together on flocked wire and interweave them into holes in the matte. The ends of the wire are snipped closely and the whole back of the blanket is covered with thick felt. Because Black-Eyed Susans do not bloom until June in Maryland, the centers of the daises are daubed with black lacquer to recreate the correct appearance. The blanket is then sprayed with water and refrigerated until it is presented to the winner on Preakness day.




stretcher and blanket needed if you overdose
in these black-eyed susans

Rachel Alexandra: will be bred
to Curlin when retired

RACHEL ALEXANDRA, the brilliant runaway winner of the Kentucky Oaks, has been sold to a partnership involving Curlin's owner Jess Jackson's and could now be transferred to the barn of trainerSteve Asmussen.

Her trainer Hal Wiggins, who had nominated the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park on June 6 as her next start, said he "wouldn't be surprised" if her new owners now paid the $100,000 to supplement her into the Preakness Stakes.

"They signed the papers this afternoon, and the money will be transferred tomorrow," Wiggins told the Herald-Leader on Wednesday. "As soon as the money clears, they'll come pick her up. It's hard, you have mixed emotions about it. We're really going to hate losing her."

Rachel Alexandra, who was bred by owner Dolphus Morrison, captured the Kentucky Oaks by a record 20 1/4 lengths to stretch her unbeaten run to ten.

Jackson, whose Stonestreet Stable have bought the filly with Harold McCormick, said:

"Rachel Alexandra is one of the best horses in racing today. She is fast, strong and durable - the traits we should all be breeding into all future generations of race horses. Her beauty and athleticism will thrill thousands of fans."

He said the filly would be bred to Curlin upon her retirement.
Rachel Alexandra's Oaks triumph was thefirst Grade I victory for both Wiggins and Morrison.

Wiggins said: "It probably wasn't an easy decision for (Morrison), but I think the amount of money sometimes you can't turn down. I can't blame him, I really can't. Sometimes these horses go years and years and don't make a lot of money, but when you have a chance to hit a home run, you take it.

"We hate it, but we all feel blessed to have had her through the Oaks, and we will always have those memories with our family and friends. Whenever you lose a filly like that from your barn, it's a tremendous loss. But you pick up and go on, and I hope to see her in the winner's circle many times."

Mine That Bird installed as Preakness favourite


USA: Shock Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird was installed on Thursday as the 3-1 favourite by Blue Square for the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimilco on May 16.

Mine That Bird confounded experts on both sides of the Atlantic with his 50-1 win in the ‘Run for the Roses' at Churchill Downs last Saturday and is clear favourite to land the second leg of the US Triple Crown.

Pioneerof The Nile, runner up in the Kentucky Derby, is Blue Square's 4-1 second favourite despite not yet being confirmed for the race by trainer Bob Baffert while the third and fourth in that race, Musket Man and Papa Clem, are 9-2 and 5-1 respectively.

The outsider of the field is 66-1 shot Sky Gate, who is trained by Brian Meehan, but the trainer said on Thursday that the Southwell maiden winner will not run in the race.

One horse not quoted for the race by Blue Square is Friesan Fire, but the colt remained a likely runner in the race according to his trainer Larry Jones.

Friesan Fire had been sent off the 38-10 favourite for the Kentucky Derby and disappointed in trailing home 18th of the 19 runners but it subsequently emerged that he had ripped off part of his foot early in the race.

He is undergoing treatment on the injury and Jones said: "It's healing really fast and we feel like we have a really good shot and we can make it."

Friesan Fire's presence on the list of possible Preakness starters would take the likely field to 14, the limit for the Classic.

Should all of them start then Rachel Alexandra, just purchased by Jess Jackson and a possible supplementary entry, would be denied a place in the final line up as original nominees take preference over supplementary entries.

134th Preakness Stakes betting:

Blue Square: 3-1 Mine That Bird, 4-1 Pioneerof The Nile, 9-2 Musket Man, 5-1 Papa Clem, 6-1 General Quarters, 10-1 Conservative, 12-1 bar

Rachel alexandra has been confirmed a runner in the preakness and has been installed the 4/5 favourite:

4-5 Rachel Alexandra, 7-2 Mine That Bird, 5 Pioneerof The Nile, 11-2 Musket Man, 6 Papa Clem, 7 General Quarters, 12 Conservative, 14 Hull, 16 bar

Let me just say this about Rachel Alexandra's performance in the Kentucky Oaks:

I have never seen an easier or more dominating effort in a top-class race from any horse, including Secretariat.

She won as if she were out for a morning canter.

Amazing.

Lets take the 8/10!!!

Rachel Alexandra gets Preakness go-ahead

USA: Stunning Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra has been confirmed an intended runner in the Preakness Stakes, where she will take on shock Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

Calvin Borel will ride Rachel Alexandra in preference to Mine That Bird in the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico on Saturday week.

Formerly trained by Hal Wiggins, the filly has been purchased by Curlin's owner Jess Jackson under the Stonestreet Stable banner and has joined Steve Asmussen.

Her new connections issued a press release saying she would run in the Preakness, "if she continues to be in perfect condition."

Bookmakers Blue Square make Rachel Alexandra their 4-5 favourite for the Preakness, with Mine That Bird a 7-2 chance.

Borel, considered such a major factor in Mine That Bird's Derby success, will ride the filly in all her races during the current season.

Jackson explained: "It came down to the fact that he knows and loves this horse, that he knows how to get the most from her and he knows how to win.

"They were an amazing team in the Kentucky Oaks winning by 20 lengths. We think this is a perfect match of rider and horse.

"If she continues in perfect condition, we intend to run her in the Preakness."

Mike Smith is favourite to replace Borel on Mine That Bird at Pimlico.

Preakness Stakes

Blue Square: 4-5 Rachel Alexandra, 7-2 Mine That Bird, 5 Pioneerof The Nile, 11-2 Musket Man, 6 Papa Clem, 7 General Quarters, 12 Conservative, 14 Hull, 16 ba

USA: IN a remarkable twist to the Preakness Stakes, connections of leading contenders are threatening to gang up in an attempt to keep spectacular Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra out of the second leg of the Triple Crown.

After a solid half-mile workout on Sunday, Rachel Alexandra is poised to join the Preakness field on Saturday as a $100,000 supplementary entry.

However, the second leg of the Triple Crown has a maximum limit of 14 runners, and horses originally nominated to the Triple Crown take precedence.

On Sunday, Ahmed Zayat, owner of Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof The Nile, told an HRTV (Horse Racing Television) audience that he has received a phone call from Kentucky Derby-winning owner Mark Allen.

Zayat suggested Allen had said he will enter a second horse, a A.P. Indy maiden named Indy Express, in addition to Mine That Bird in an attempt to keep Rachel Alexandra out of the field.

Zayat added that he has agreed to enter a second horse alongside Pioneer of The Nile, and that veteran owner Marylou Whitney will also enter a horse in the Classic.

The D Wayne Lukas-trained Luv Gov, who broke his duck on the Kentucky Derby undercard, is the likely Whitney runner. He fired a bullet (fastets work of day at a certain distance) at Churchill on Sunday.

"The race looks like it will fill, or overfill," said Zayat, who claimed he had missed a number of calls from Allen because he did not recognise the number.

When he did dinally take the call, Allen explained to him that he felt the Preakness was a battle between Mine That Bird and Pioneerof The Nile and, essentially, the filly had no business being in the race.

Allen said: "I think them supplementing her is what caused the uproar.

Allen added that he was set to lose jockey Calvin Borel, who is committed to Rachel Alexandra, while he suggested his trainer Chip Woolley had fallen ill after contracting an infection in the leg he injured in a motorcycle accident.

"I want Calvin back on my horse too," said the owner. "If Pioneerof The Nile and all them think they have a shot to beat me on a good track, I'm happy to give them a shot at it.

"Calvin is in a bad spot - hopefully, he'll ride this horse. If he doesn't ride, then probably Mike Smith."

Glad to read this.

Plot to keep Alexandra out of Preakness aborted


USA: An attempt to keep spectacular Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra out of the Preakness Stakes has been abandoned after Mark Allen, owner of the Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, announced he would not enter a second horse in the second leg of the Triple Crown.


With the Preakness having a limit of 14 runners, Allen had been behind a plan in which he and other owners would make multiple entries that would deny the filly, who has to be supplemented, a place in the race for which original nominations take precedence.

But after the scheme became public and Ahmed Zayat, owner of Pioneerof The Nile, and Marylou Whitney backed down, Allen said he would withdraw Indy Express, a colt who has still to win a race.

He said: "My decision to enter Indy Express in the Preakness was strictly business but after consulting with my Dad and Doc Blach, I have decided to withdraw Indy Express to prevent any further misunderstandings.

"They're advice to me was just to do what's right, because arrogance and greed isn't right. Indy Express is a good colt and showing a lot of potential. I'll just have to look forward to running him later on down the road. The bottom line for me is that we came here to race and enjoy our win here in Louisville. So, we'll meet everyone in Baltimore, ready to run."

He added: "When it comes to Rachel Alexandra, I personally don't think any filly should be in a race against colts at this stage of their careers. I don't believe in running fillies against the colts. But Rachel Alexandra is a superior filly and could be the exception. Mr. Jackson has a great trainer in Steve Asmussen and I'm sure they will make the right decision and Lord help us all if she does get in."

Whitney said that if Rachel Alexandra was still 15th on the eligibility list she would not run her colt, Luv Gov, who her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, had entered earlier in the day.

"We think Rachel Alexandra is wonderful," said Whitney's husband, John Hendrickson. "We entered our horse because we thought we had a shot. But if we are the deciding factor on whether or not Rachel Alexandra getting in, then we'll withdraw, and wait until the Belmont. We're for sportsmanship and what's best for the game. It is ladies first for us."

HUL – The connections of the least-experienced prospect for the Preakness decided on Monday to withdraw the son of Holy Bull from the Preakness field.

“When I committed to run in the race, I liked the way it was setting up,” said co-owner Barry Irwin of Team Valor International. “I think the pace is going to be too hot. I don’t like the way it’s shaping up for our horse. It’s going to be our horse’s first time around two turns, and I just think there’s too much speed in there and I’m not comfortable.”

The unbeaten son of Holy Bull won the Derby Trial in his last start, only the third of his career. Irwin said they would run Hull in the Woody Stephens on the Belmont Stakes undercard on June 6.

“I’d like to be able to run him in the Preakness, but I don’t want to screw the horse up,” Irwin said. “He’s only run three times, so I don’t want to mess him up.”

Good call Barry imvho

Mine the bird looking well

Trainer Bob Baffert(on his hack), looks on in awe



Bennie Woolley Jr., jumps in the truck Tuesday