Preakness Stakes: Titletown Five joins probables; Bellarmine withdrawn from consideration
As of Tuesday, the prospective Preakness field was holding steady at 12 3-year-olds following one addition and one subtraction.
Maryland Jockey Club officials reported early Tuesday that trainer D. Wayne Lukas will run Titletown Five in the Preakness, a fact later confirmed by David Miller, a co-owner of the colt. That gives Lukas a third Preakness runner, along with Oxbow and Will Take Charge.
Within minutes of the Titletown Five announcement, trainer Ken McPeek said via Twitter that he was withdrawing Bellarmine from consideration for the Preakness.
Titletown Five, owned by a group that includes football legend Paul Hornung, most recently was fourth in the April 27 Derby Trial at Churchill. The Tiznow colt breezed a half-mile Tuesday morning at Churchill in 47.60 seconds.
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Also, trainer Tom Amoss said Tuesday afternoon that after consultation with the owners of Mylute, there will be no firm decision about whether to run in the Preakness until after the gray colt trains Saturday morning at Churchill. Mylute, owned by GoldMark Farm and Whisper Hill Farm, finished fifth in the Derby, beaten just two heads for third by Revolutionary and Normandy Invasion.
In alphabetical order, these are the 12 known Preakness hopefuls: Departing, Goldencents, Govenor Charlie, Itsmyluckyday, Mylute, Normandy Invasion, Orb, Oxbow, Street Spice, Titletown Five, Vyjack, and Will Take Charge.
Probable starters for the 2013 Preakness Stakes
| Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Last race/finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Departing | Al Stall Jr. | Brian Hernandez Jr. | Illinois Derby, 1st |
| Goldencents | Doug O'Neill | Kevin Krigger | Kentucky Derby, 17th |
| Govenor Charlie | Bob Baffert | Martin Garcia | Sunland Derby, 1st |
| Itsmyluckyday | Eddie Plesa Jr. | John Velazquez | Kentucky Derby, 15th |
| Mylute | Tom Amoss | Rosie Napravnik | Kentucky Derby, 5th |
| Normandy Invasion | Chad Brown | Javier Castellano | Kentucky Derby, 4th |
| Orb | Shug McGaughey | Joel Rosario | Kentucky Derby, 1st |
| Oxbow | D. Wayne Lukas | Gary Stevens | Kentucky Derby, 6th |
| Street Spice | Greg Geier | Jeffrey Sanchez | Illinois Derby, 5th |
| Titletown Five | D. Wayne Lukas | TBA | Derby Trial, 4th |
| Vyjack | Rudy Rodriguez | Garrett Gomez | Kentucky Derby, 18th |
| Will Take Charge | D. Wayne Lukas | Jon Court | Kentucky Derby, 8th |