Preakness 2021: Risk Taking jumps in, will scratch from Peter Pan

ELMONT, N.Y. – Risk Taking, the 7-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park, will scratch from that race and instead run in the $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico next Saturday, trainer Chad Brown said Friday.

Risk Taking will be ridden by Jose Ortiz and gives Brown a second runner in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown as he will also run Crowded Trade. Javier Castellano rides Crowded Trade.

Brown said part of the reason to run Risk Taking in the Preakness is the two-turn configuration and 1 3/16-mile distance of the race. The Peter Pan is run at 1 1/8 miles around one turn.

“I like this horse around two turns better,” Brown said.

During the winter, Risk Taking won a maiden race and the Grade 3 Withers, both 1 1/8-mile races run around two turns at Aqueduct. Sent off the favorite in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial, also a two-turn, 1 1/8-mile race, Risk Taking finished seventh, 6 3/4 lengths behind upset winner Bourbonic.

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“I still don’t know what happened in the Wood. He caught a lot of dirt in the race,” Brown said. “If I can get a race like I did two back, it’s worth a shot. The risk-reward factor is in our favor to try this.”

Brown won the 2017 Preakness with Cloud Computing, who had enough points to run in the Kentucky Derby but was held out of the race after a third-place finish in the Wood Memorial.

“It’s a race we’ve won before. I have a lot of respect for the race,” Brown said. “There’s been a lot of defections. I’m not one to sit on the sidelines and just hand it to somebody. Let’s take a shot with these horses and see what happens.”

Brown planned to work Crowded Trade and Risk Taking in company with each other on Saturday morning at Belmont Park.

Both Crowded Trade and Risk Taking are owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables.

Rombauer a new shooter

Derby Fever being what it is, Michael McCarthy is now glad he skipped the Kentucky Derby with Rombauer. The Twirling Candy colt had easily enough qualifying points to make the 20-horse Derby cutoff, but discretion got the better part of valor.

“If you’ve got a lightly seasoned horse like this one, with his whole career ahead of him, sometimes the Derby isn’t the right route,” said McCarthy. “The Derby can be a very taxing race on these young horses.”

Rombauer, bred and owned by John and Diane Fradkin, earned an expenses-paid berth into the Preakness by winning the Feb. 13 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate, which, like Pimlico, is owned by The Stronach Group.

“These races can get a little expensive to run in,” said McCarthy.

The stretch-running Rombauer was third behind Essential Quality and Highly Motivated in his most recent race, the April 3 Blue Grass at Keeneland. McCarthy is based at Santa Anita but spent Derby week at Churchill Downs when saddling seven starters.

“After watching the way the Derby shaped up, I’m glad we’re aiming toward the Preakness,” he said.

Rombauer is one of nine or 10 3-year-olds expected when Preakness entries are drawn Monday at Pimlico. The Friday card is being drawn Sunday and all Saturday races are being drawn Monday.

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Only three Derby runners are wheeling back in the Preakness – Medina Spirit (first), Midnight Bourbon (sixth), and Keepmeinmind (seventh).

Concert Tour works Sunday

With Bob Baffert headed back to Louisville over the weekend, Derby winner Medina Spirit went through a third straight day of light training Friday when out for a routine gallop on another chilly morning at Churchill Downs.

Baffert was scheduled to return Saturday from California so as to be on hand Sunday morning to watch Medina Spirit train and to send his second Preakness prospect, Concert Tour, through a final pre-race breeze. Both colts will depart by van after training Monday because Tex Sutton, the widely used equine airline-charter company, is going on indefinite hiatus because of a regulatory snafu. All of the other Kentucky-based horses scheduled to run in Baltimore also will take a van ride that typically takes about 11 hours.

◗ As of Friday morning, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas had yet to officially name a jockey for Ram in case the colt runs in the Preakness. Ram figures as the longest shot in the race after getting a career-high 81 Beyer Speed Figure in winning a one-mile allowance that opened the Derby Day card.

– additional reporting by Marty McGee