Divining Rod’s Preakness run stirs memories of Barbaro

Roy and Gretchen Jackson are excited about running Lexington Stakes winner Divining Rod in the Preakness next Saturday. They believe he is coming to hand at the right time and deserves an opportunity to face the best of his age group in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

The Jacksons are also aware that their Preakness participation will stir up memories – both for themselves and the public – of Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby and Florida Derby winner, whom they bred and raced.

Barbaro broke down in his right hind leg soon after the start of the Preakness and was pulled up on national television by jockey Edgar Prado. Following months of intensive treatment at the New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania, Barbaro was euthanized on Jan. 29, 2007, after developing laminitis in his front legs.

The Jacksons did everything possible to save Barbaro and have come to terms with his loss. They also admit it will be difficult not to think of him when they run Divining Rod, their first Preakness starter since that fateful day.

“It’s only natural when we go there to see a race that it may come into your mind,” Roy Jackson said. “But you can sit there and mope about it or get on with your life, and that’s what we have chosen to do.”

Gretchen Jackson has a similar philosophy of dealing with those old memories.

“That was then and this is now,” she said. “I can’t have that in my mind, that tragedy. We dwell on what Barbaro gave us, and we were very fortunate to have him. We choose to dwell on the positives regarding him.”

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The Jacksons are proud that three full brothers to Barbaro whom they bred and raced – Margano (earner of $337,000), Lentenor ($184,000), and Nicanor ($147,000) – had successful careers. They are all by Dynaformer out of La Ville Rouge.

Divining Rod is a son of Tapit out of three-time Grade 1 winner Precious Kitten, who was bred and was raced through her 4-year-old season by Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Roy Jackson purchased Precious Kitten as a Christmas present for his wife, and the mare went on to win the Grade 1 Gamely at 5.

Precious Kitten is a half-sister to the Ramsey’s prolific sire Kitten’s Joy.

“As I remember, the Ramseys had a lot of the family and they were willing to sell her to get some working capital to do some other things,” said Roy Jackson, 78.

Last week, Precious Kitten foaled a full sister to Divining Rod, according to Gretchen Jackson. Divining Rod is her first foal to race.

Divining Rod has made five starts, all for trainer Arnaud Delacour. He was second, beaten a neck, in the Sam Davis Stakes at Tampa three starts back, and then third in the Tampa Bay Derby to Carpe Diem. In his most recent start, Divining Rod came from several lengths off the pace to win the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

“I thought he really put it together in his last two starts,” Delacour said. “He behaved well in the Lexington. He rated a little and then came on late.”

Delacour, 39, is from Normandy, France. He spent six years working for Christophe Clement and now, along with his wife, Leigh, bases his stable at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland. Divining Rod will be Delacour’s first starter in a Triple Crown race.

“This is a step up for him for sure,” Delacour said. “He will be facing tough competition, but I think right now is the time to find out how he fits with these type of horses.”

American Pharoah gallops

At Churchill Downs on Friday, Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah and Derby third-place finisher Dortmund each galloped for the first time since last Saturday’s race. Both colts are trained by Bob Baffert.

American Pharoah galloped about 1 1/4 miles under his regular exercise rider, Jorge Alvarez. American Pharoah came on the track a little before 8:30 a.m., just after the regularly scheduled harrow break. He went slowly and deliberately much of the way while showing good energy, particularly on the clubhouse turn toward the end of his exercise.

Dortmund went through pretty much the same routine a minute or two after his stablemate, and was skipping over the ground as he moved through the stretch. Dana Barnes was aboard, with assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes, astride a stable pony, watching closely.

On Thursday, their first day to train since the Derby, both horses jogged.

All of the Churchill Downs-based horses that will run Preakness weekend at Pimlico are booked on a Wednesday morning charter from Louisville to Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Baffert is scheduled to arrive here Sunday night and will be on hand to oversee the horses through their departure. He will then meet them in Maryland.

Derby runner-up Firing Line came out about 15 minutes after Dortmund for a routine gallop. Trained by Simon Callaghan, this was his third day back to the track.

Danzig Moon on fence

Trainer Mark Casse was in Ocala, Fla., in body on Friday morning, but his spirit was back in Louisville where his Kentucky Derby fifth-place finisher Danzig Moon is training. Casse, who said he spoke with owner John Oxley Thursday night, said Danzig Moon is 50-50 to run in the Preakness.

Casse sounded torn between running back in two weeks or waiting for a different spot. As an Ontario-bred, Danzig Moon is eligible for the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine in early July.

“The horse trained great this morning at Churchill,” said Casse, who spoke to his son and assistant Norm, who is at Churchill. “He’s not a huge horse, he’s more of a big, leggy horse, but he’s one tough son of a gun. They banged him around pretty hard and I think he got mad.”

Casse knows that the first three finishers from the Derby – American Pharoah, Firing Line, and Dortmund – will again be the ones to beat in Baltimore, but added, “You would sure feel kind of foolish if one of the big horses goes down and you’re not there.”

The jockey situation regarding Danzig Moon is also in flux as Julien Leparoux, who rode the colt in the Derby, is also the rider of Lexington Stakes winner Divining Rod, who is a confirmed runner for the Preakness. There has been no decision on which horse Leparoux would ride should they both be entered in the Preakness.

With trainer Todd Pletcher still non-committal on his Preakness plans – though Materiality and Carpe Diem appear the only ones he is even considering for the race – jockeys John Velazquez and Javier Castellano could be searching for mounts.

– additional reporting by David Grening and Marty McGee