Mystic Guide not definite for Preakness

Mystic Guide came out of his half-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Jim Dandy a little tired but otherwise in good shape, trainer Mike Stidham said Sunday. While Stidham said he will strongly consider the $1 million Preakness on Oct. 3 for Mystic Guide’s next start, he stopped short of committing the colt to the race.

“If the race makes sense we’ll go there,” Stidham said Sunday afternoon. “It’s not a must-run-in race, it’s a race we'll look at and if the race make sense for the horse we’ll do it.”

Stidham said that among the criteria he and Godolphin president Jimmy Bell will use to determine if the Preakness makes sense is how his horse is doing and how the field for the Preakness is shaping up.

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Mystic Guide earned a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure for the Jim Dandy performance. Authentic earned a 105 Beyer for his victory in the Kentucky Derby.

In addition to the number being an improvement for Mystic Guide, the colt showed better focus with the addition of blinkers. Both Stidham and jockey Jose Ortiz had mentioned the horse raced spotty in the Peter Pan, a race in which he finished third here July 16.

“It didn’t make him show more speed because he’s a big lumbering colt no matter what,” Stidham said. “It made him a little handier, when the rider asked him he was there instead of taking a lot of urging.”

Mystic Guide shipped back to Stidham’s base at the Fair Hill training center on Sunday.

Liveyourbeastlife finished fast to be second in the Jim Dandy after dropping back to last at the half-mile pole. Trainer Jorge Abreu said the outcome might have been different had Junior Alvarado been able to keep him out in the clear.

While Liveyourbeastlife is not Triple Crown nominated it is likely he will be supplemented to the Preakness for a fee of $25,000, according to owner Bill Lawrence.

"We are leaning strongly towards [supplementing] to the Preakness and will see how the horse does the next few weeks," Lawrence wrote in a text. "We will run him if we think we can win the race."