Firing Line resting up for summer goals

ARCADIA, Calif. – Firing Line, second in the Kentucky Derby on May 2 and seventh when eased in the Preakness Stakes last Saturday, will not race again until at least July, trainer Simon Callaghan said.

Callaghan is considering running Firing Line in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 2 or the $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 29, with a potential prep race in the $350,000 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4.

“We’ll keep him in light training for a couple of weeks,” Callaghan said.

Owned by Arnold Zetcher, Firing Line has won 2 of 7 starts and earned $974,800. He won the Sunland Park Derby in March and was beaten a length by American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby. In the Preakness Stakes, Firing Line stumbled at the start, which cost the colt dearly, jockey Gary Stevens said after the race.

A massive rainstorm struck Pimlico in the minutes before post time for the Preakness, and Callaghan said the sloppy track did not suit Firing Line.

“It seems he came out of the race fine,” Callaghan said. “It was a crazy experience with the rain.”

Dortmund, third in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness, has returned to trainer Bob Baffert’s base at Santa Anita. Baffert said on Wednesday that he does not have a race goal for Dortmund, who won the Santa Anita Derby on April 4.

The first objective is to allow Dortmund to regain weight, Baffert said.

“He lightened up a little bit,” Baffert said. “We’ll ease back on him and get the weight back. The next 30 days, we’ll go light with him.”