Improbable stretches his legs for Preakness

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bob Baffert has implicit trust in his longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes, but the Hall of Fame trainer felt like it wouldn’t hurt anything to stop by Churchill Downs on his way to another Preakness just to check in on Improbable.

“I just wanted to make sure he’s still got a lot of energy and going over the ground really well,” Baffert said Monday morning after an easy half-mile breeze in 51.80 seconds by Improbable, the morning-line favorite for the 144th Preakness on Saturday at Pimlico in Baltimore. “He looks really healthy. He’s held his weight really well.”

Barnes has overseen Improbable at Churchill since shortly after the colt ran in the Kentucky Derby, the May 4 race in which he finished fifth before being placed fourth on the disqualification of Maximum Security. Improbable is one of eight 3-year-olds among a prospective Preakness field of 12 who have done the bulk of their training at Churchill toward the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Equine charter flights scheduled for Tuesday (from Lexington) and Wednesday (from Louisville) were to transport most of them to Baltimore, with at least one, War of Will, traveling by van.

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Baffert said the Monday breeze for Improbable was purposely slower than normal. It came in the middle of what essentially was a fast gallop, or “two-minute lick,” wherein the colt was timed from the half-mile to the pole by Churchill clocker John Nichols.

“I went a real easy half with him,” said Baffert. “I didn’t want to do too much.”

Baffert, a seven-time Preakness winner, said he wanted to make sure Improbable was in good stead, which is why he flew from California to Louisville on Sunday to be on hand the next morning.

“He looks like he’s enjoying himself out there,” he said. “I didn’t see anything that would make me want to change my mind about going. I wanted to make sure he was hitting on all cylinders. We don’t want to go up there and embarrass ourselves.”

Baffert, in good humor as usual, conceded Improbable most likely will be the Preakness favorite despite having gone winless in three starts this year. It’s an unseemly record for any favorite in a Triple Crown event but speaks to the fact that none of the four horses who finished ahead of Improbable in the Derby – Maximum Security, Country House, Code of Honor, and Tacitus – are running back in the Preakness. It’s the first time for such absences since 1951.

“We won’t have any of the Derby winners in there,” he said with a smile, tacitly acknowledging the controversy that led to Country House being declared the winner after Maximum Security was placed 17th. “But it’s still going to be an exciting race. To me, it’s still an important race.”

Country House is just the fifth Derby winner in 60 years not to contest the Preakness. The others were Tomy Lee (1959), Gato Del Sol (1982), Spend a Buck (1985), and Grindstone (1996).

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who rode Cutting Humor (10th) in the Derby, has the call on Improbable.

Improbable is one of four Derby returnees set for the Preakness, along with War of Will, Win Win Win, and Bodexpress. There are eight new shooters in the race: Alwaysmining, Anothertwistafate, Bourbon War, Laughing Fox, Market King, Owendale, Signalman, and Warrior’s Charge.

Laughing Fox, trained by Steve Asmussen, also breezed Monday at Churchill, going a half-mile in 51.60 seconds.

Entries for the entire 14-race Saturday card at Pimlico are to be drawn Wednesday. The long-range weather forecast for Saturday calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 73.