Preakness 2021: Asmussen remains confident in Midnight Bourbon

As he headed back to his Churchill Downs barn on Monday morning following a workout by Midnight Bourbon for the Preakness Stakes, to be run Saturday at Pimlico, trainer Steve Asmussen said he began to muse to himself over “what a crazy lot we are.”

“We walked over for the Derby thinking we were going to win, it didn’t work out how we expected – ouch – and today we’re, ‘Yay, we’re going to win the Preakness,’ ” he said.

Midnight Bourbon was sixth in the Kentucky Derby after losing valuable early position. “It just wasn’t meant to be,” Asmussen said.

Midnight Bourbon figures to be one of the main contenders on Saturday in the Preakness, and he tuned up for the race on Monday morning with a half-mile drill in 50.20 seconds, standard stuff for Asmussen five days out from a race.

Twice previously Asmussen has won the Preakness, both times with horses who ran Derby weekend. Curlin, third in the Derby, prevailed in the Preakness, as did the filly Rachel Alexandra, who had won the Kentucky Oaks 15 days earlier.

:: Join DRF Bets and get ready to watch and wager on the Preakness with a $250 first deposit bonus

Midnight Bourbon, a son of Tiznow, will be making his fifth start of the year on Saturday. He won the Lecomte in January, was third in the Risen Star in February, and second in the Louisiana Derby in March – all at Fair Grounds – prior to the Kentucky Derby.

“He’s fun to train. He’s a machine,” Asmussen said. “He’s a big, strong, gorgeous horse who just loves to be outside.”

Midnight Bourbon was scheduled to leave Tuesday morning for Baltimore, Asmussen said.

The Preakness draw was scheduled for later Tuesday, postponed 24 hours by Maryland Jockey Club officials owing to the situation with trainer Bob Baffert regarding his announcing on Sunday that Medina Spirit, the Derby winner, had his initial Derby post-race test come back positive for a legal, therapeutic medication that is not permitted to be in a horse’s system on race day. In the aftermath of that disclosure, Churchill Downs announced it would not allow Baffert to enter any horses at its track. As of Monday morning, no other racing entity had done anything similar.

The field for the Preakness was in flux owing to whether Baffert would be able to run both Medina Spirit and Concert Tour, who most recently was third in the Arkansas Derby. Ten were expected to be entered, but trainer Dale Romans said he was considering running Sittin On Go – fifth most recently in the Pat Day Mile – if Baffert’s horses were not allowed to run.

Concert Tour worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 on Sunday morning at Churchill Downs. Medina Spirit was not scheduled for any workouts in between the Derby and Preakness, which is standard for Baffert when the Preakness is held 14 days after the Derby.

Baffert has won the Preakness a record-equaling seven times, tying him with R. Wyndham Walden, whose victories came between 1875 and 1888.

Chad Brown was also scheduled to enter two in the Preakness, Crowded Trade and Risk Taking. Both were scheduled to van to Pimlico from New York on Tuesday.

The horse with the longest commute is Rombauer, who returned to his home base at Santa Anita after finishing third last time out in the Blue Grass Stakes. He was scheduled to fly east on Tuesday, trainer Michael McCarthy said.

Other expected runners included France Go de Ina, Keepmeinmind, Ram, and Unbridled Honor.

– additional reporting by Marty McGee