Preakness 2022: Sunday workout to determine Shake Em Loose's next start
The status of potential Preakness entrant Shake Em Loose will likely be determined following the gelding’s scheduled workout at Laurel Park on Sunday morning.
Reached by telephone on Saturday, trainer Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon mentioned that Shake Em Loose will breeze five furlongs on turf, possibly in company with stablemate Can the Queen, a 6-year-old mare best known for winning the Sensible Lady Turf Dash last summer at Pimlico. Can the Queen finished fourth against males in the King T. Leatherbury Stakes at Laurel on April 23.
Shake Em Loose galloped “awesome” on Saturday morning, according to Sanchez-Salomon, who cross-entered Shake Em Loose in Wednesday’s $150,000 Caesars Stakes for 3-year-olds going a mile on the grass at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
Shake Em Loose’s participation in the Caesars “is a very small possibility, but a really long shot,” according to Sanchez-Salomon. “I’m planning to run here [Pimlico].”
The Preakness isn’t the only Pimlico stakes race this week that Sanchez-Salomon is considering for Shake Em Loose. The claimer-turned-multiple stakes winner is also possible for the $100,000 James W. Murphy for 3-year-olds turf milers.
“The Preakness is going to be tough, and I don’t want to kill my horse’s heart,” Sanchez-Salomon admitted. “I just want to let him be a horse. He’ll tell me tomorrow.”
Shake Em Loose was bred in Kentucky by Pillar Property Services Inc. Sold for $1,000 as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling, Shake Em Loose raced six times for trainer Hamilton Smith before being claimed out of a $16,000 maiden claiming victory by Sanchez-Salomon on behalf of J R Sanchez Racing Stable.
Shake Em Loose has won three of five starts for Sanchez-Salomon, including the Heft Stakes at Laurel on Dec. 26 and the Private Terms there on March 19. He finished third in his most recent outing, the Federico Tesio at Pimlico on April 16.
A son of Shakin It up out of the West by West mare Cash No Credit, Shake Em Loose has only started once on grass, finishing 11th in a maiden special weight at Laurel on Oct. 8.