Jose Ortiz to ride Anothertwistafate in Preakness; Code of Honor to have summer campaign
Jose Ortiz will ride Anothertwistafate in the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, on May 18 at Pimlico, trainer Blaine Wright said Tuesday.
Anothertwistafate most recently finished second in the Lexington Stakes on April 13 at Keeneland behind Owendale, who also is bound for the Preakness. Javier Castellano rode him that day for the first time, replacing his initial rider, Juan Hernandez, who was aboard Anothertwistafate when he finished second to Cutting Humor in the Sunland Park Derby and when he won the El Camino Real Derby.
The El Camino Real Derby, on Feb. 16 at Golden Gate Fields, was a Win In You're In race toward the Preakness.
Anothertwistafate was intended for the Kentucky Derby, but after the Lexington he was outside the top 20 in terms of points. Rather than hope to get in, and even if that happened run him back in three weeks for the second straight time, Wright and owner Peter Redekop decided to take Anothertwistafate back to Golden Gate to prepare for the Preakness. He worked there on Saturday, going five furlongs in 1:01.80 on the all-weather surface.
Ortiz rode Tacitus in the Derby, but that colt is bypassing the Preakness to await the final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, on June 8. Tacitus crossed the wire fourth in the Derby but was promoted to third following the disqualification of Maximum Security.
In other Preakness developments, trainer Shug McGaughey on Tuesday said that Code of Honor, who was elevated from third to second in the Derby, will skip the Preakness and point to a summer campaign that he hopes includes the Travers at Saratoga
"That would be a nice thought," McGaughey said Tuesday at Belmont Park. “I want to give him a chance. He’s still young.”
Code of Honor arrived back at Belmont on Monday and was scheduled to go back under tack on Wednesday.
McGaughey said the Dwyer on July 6 at Belmont is likely the next target.
- additional reporting by David Grening
| Potential Preakness Starters | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Last Race |
| Alwaysmining | Kelly Rubley | Daniel Centeno | Tesio, 1st |
| Anothertwistafate | Blaine Wright | Jose Ortiz | Lexington, 2nd |
| Bodexpress | Gustavo Delgado | undecided | Ky. Derby, 13th |
| Bourbon War | Mark Hennig | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | Fla. Derby, 4th |
| Improbable | Bob Baffert | Mike Smith | Ky. Derby, 4th |
| Laughing Fox | Steve Asmussen | Ricardo Santana, Jr. | OP Invitational, 1st |
| Mr. Money | Brett Calhoun | Gabriel Saez | Pat Day Mile, 1st |
| Owendale | Brad Cox | Florent Geroux | Lexington, 2nd |
| Signalman | Kenny McPeek | Brian Hernandez, Jr. | Blue Grass, 3rd |
| War of Will | Mark Casse | Tyler Gaffalione | Ky. Derby, 7th |