Justify Versus the Tote in Preakness 143?
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SATURDAY, MAY 19, 2018 JUSTIFY VERSUS THE TOTE FRIDAY=S PREAKNESS REPORT: EARLY MORNING GALLOP FOR JUSTIFY IN PREAKNESS 143? by Steve Sherack BALTIMORE, MD B Taking no chances with more wet weather on its way Friday, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert sent out his unbeaten GI Kentucky Derby winner and >TDN Rising Star= Justify (Scat Daddy) to train in the dark shortly before daybreak at soggy Pimlico at 5:30 a.m. Owned in partnership by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners and Starlight Racing, Justify continues to show all the right signs since arriving in Baltimore, turning in another spirited and controlled gallop of 1 1/2 miles over the sloppy going. The strapping chestnut is the 1-2 morning-line favorite for Saturday=s 143rd renewal of the GI Preakness S. Cont. p3 (click here) Justify will be heavily favored to become the seventh IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Derby/Preakness winner since 2004 | Horsephotos EASY CUP RETURN FOR STRADIVARIUS Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is set for another tilt at By Alan Carasso the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot after winning Friday’s Sure, the connections of seven other horses--a trio of also-rans G2 Yorkshire Cup. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN from the GI Kentucky Derby and four new shooters--were willing Europe. to oppose >TDN Rising Star= Justify (Scat Daddy) in the 143rd running of the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Race Course. But come 6:48 p.m. Eastern time late Saturday afternoon, the infield tote board will suggest that the 9 1/2-furlong test is strictly a one-horse affair. So just how low will Justify go--pari-mutuelly speaking? While 2016 Derby hero Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) was off at 6-5 en route to an eighth-place effort behind Cloud Computing (Maclean=s Music) last year at Old Hilltop, the previous four Derby winners were each backed into long odds- on favoritism, though two of those ultimately proved to be money burners. Nyquist (Uncle Mo) was bet down to 7-10 in 2016, but Exaggerator (Curlin) took advantage of his superior wet-track form en route to a 3 1/2-length victory as the favorite weakened to third. Many would forget that future Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) returned a seemingly generous $3.80 in powering home through the off going to score by seven lengths in 2015, while at 1-2, California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) ranks as the most heavily backed Derby winner since Big Brown (Boundary) sailed home at 1-5 in 2008. Cont. p3 Congratulations to Owner / Breeder Isabelle de Tomaso and Trainer H. Graham Motion www.hillndalefarms.com LGB, LLC 2018 / Photo: Jim McCue/Pimlico/Maryland Jockey Club PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Saturday, May 19, 2018 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Rachel McCaffrey Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist Justina Severni Soggy weather couldn’t keep the smiles away at Old Hilltop. A crowd of 48,265 attended Friday’s program at Pimlico Race Course, the second largest in the Black-Eyed Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes Susan’s 94-year history. On-the-scene coverage continues on page 3. | Horsephotos [email protected] Marketing Manager TODAY’S GRADED STAKES Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen EST Race Click for TV Director of Information Technology 1:40a Doomben Cup-G1, DOO -------------- ----- Ray Villa 2:26a Darley Goodwood S.-G1, MOR -------------- ----- [email protected] 2:35a Heian S.-G3, KYO -------------- ----- Bookkeeper 9:25a Aston Park S.-G3, NBY -------------- ----- Terry May 10:40a Al Shaqab Lockinge S.-G1, NBY -------------- ----- [email protected] 2:07p Dixie S.-GII, PIM TJCIS PPs TVG WORLDWIDE INFORMATION 3:25p Gallorette S.-GIII, PIM TJCIS PPs NBCSN International Editor 4:05p Maryland Sprint S.-GIII, PIM TJCIS PPs NBCSN Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] 5:08p Selene S.-GIII, WO TJCIS PPs TVG European Editor 5:26p Louisville H.-GIII, CD TJCIS PPs TVG Emma Berry 5:33p Soaring Softly S.-GIII, BEL TJCIS PPs TVG [email protected] 5:44p Arlington Matron S.-GIII, AP TJCIS PPs TVG Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN 6:48p Preakness S.-GI, PIM TJCIS PPs NBC Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 12 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • MAY 19, 2018 Preakness 143 cont. from p1 Orb (Malibu Moon) was 70 cents on the dollar in 2013, but he never really truly reached contention and checked in a well- beaten fourth. Excepting the ill-fated Barbaro a dozen years ago, other Derby winners rolled at odds-on in the Preakness over the last 3 1/2 decades include Fusaichi Pegasus (second to Red Bullet at 3-10 in 2000); Easy Goer (runner-up at 3-5 to Sunday Silence in the epic 1989 Preakness); Swale (seventh to Gate Dancer in 1984 at 4-5); and Linkage (second to Aloma=s Ruler as the 1-2 chalk in 1982). Heavily favored though he will be, Justify is not likely to attract the same support as Count Fleet (1943), Citation (1948), Native Dancer (1953), Nashua (1955) or Secretariat (1973), each of whom won the Preakness at odds of 3-10 or less, and in the case of Count Fleet, 15 cents on the dollar when taking home the middle leg by eight lengths en route to that year=s Triple Crown. His price will be too skinny for many to swallow Saturday afternoon, but barring an upset, Justify should be able to continue his assault on the 2018 Triple Crown. For a detailed horse-by-horse analysis, click for the TDN=s Top Preakness Contenders, brought to you by WinStar, authored by T. D. Thornton Friday=s Preakness Report cont. from p1 Baffert looked on with WinStar=s Elliott Walden by the gap as Justify splashed his way past the illuminated grandstand. The pair, of course, have their share of history as rivals, too. Walden famously spoiled Real Quiet=s Triple Crown bid for Baffert back during his training days with Victory Gallop in 1998. Trainer Rodolphe Brisset, former longtime assistant to Bill Mott, had a smile on his face as he entered the track aboard >TDN Rising Star= Quip (Distorted Humor). The GII Tampa Bay Derby winner and GI Arkansas Derby runner-up had a nice bounce in his step as he jogged the wrong way before turning around and galloping a mile. Brisset briefly had Justify in his shedrow at Keeneland last fall before he shipped out to join Baffert=s stable in Southern California. Half of the eight-horse field assembled for the Preakness had completed their final preparations by 6 a.m. Friday, including the D. Wayne Lukas-trained pair of >TDN Rising Star= Sporting Chance (Tiznow) and Bravazo (Awesome Again), who were both out for light exercise. Lukas and Baffert have both won the Preakness six times trailing only Robert Wyndham Walden with seven. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 12 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • MAY 19, 2018 Trainer Tom Amoss was in town to oversee Kentucky Derby eighth-place finisher and GII Louisiana Derby runner-up Lone Sailor (Majestic Warrior). He jogged a mile Friday. AJust going to the gate and coming home,@ Lone Sailor=s affable exercise rider Maurice Sanchez offered upon heading out. Diamond King (Quality Road), winner of the local prep Federico Tesio S. for trainer John Servis of Smarty Jones fame, got a nice rise out of a small group of press assembled by the rail when he entered the track sporting a decorative Alibi Breakfast saddle towel prior to jogging two miles. Champion Good Magic (Curlin) had an easy morning jogging as well after galloping three straight days at Old Hilltop. Conditioner Chad Brown, seeking his second straight Preakness win, was in attendance for the first time at Pimlico this week during training hours. He was joined at the Stakes Barn by Good Magic=s co-owners Bob Edwards of e Five Racing and Barbara Banke of Stonestreet Stables. The lightly raced Tenfold (Curlin), fifth while making his stakes Unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner Justify hit the track at debut in the Arkansas Derby, schooled in the starting gate 5:30 a.m. Friday morning | Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club before galloping about 1 1/4 miles with two-time Preakness winning trainer Steve Asmussen watching from the grandstand. With some light rain beginning to pick up just before 7 a.m., Tenfold later walked the shedrow sporting his Sentient the remaining quartet of Preakness runners made appearances Jet/Homes For Our Troops cooler. The latter builds specially within approximately a 15-minute window. adapted custom homes for severely injured veterans. Cont. p5 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 12 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • MAY 19, 2018 Friday Preakness Report cont. Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who was in the irons for World A Sunrise Tour, out in full force all week despite some very Approval=s last three wins, gets back aboard.