Believing it would be “too much too soon,” trainer Bob Baffert on Friday said that undefeated 3-year-old Crude Velocity would skip the Preakness Stakes on May 16 at Laurel Park and likely point to the Grade 1 Woody Stephens on June 6 at Saratoga. Baffert announced his decision Friday morning on the “At the Races” radio show hosted by Steve Byk. Crude Velocity, coming off a very fast win the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on the May 2 Kentucky Derby undercard, would most likely have been the favorite in the Preakness, a race that also will be absent Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo. While Baffert, who holds the record with eight Preakness victories, said he was tempted to run, he believes the right thing to do by the horse is give him more time. “I would love to be there but going a mile and three-sixteenths, two turns for the first time coming off those big” speed figures wouldn’t be right, Baffert said. Saying “this horse needs to run in Grade 1s,” Baffert indicated the Woody Stephens, a seven-furlong race June 6 on the undercard of the Belmont Stakes is likely Crude Velocity’s next start. Crude Velocity is 3 for 3, all in races run around one turn. Baffert didn’t totally dismiss the Grade 3, $500,000 Matt Winn, a 1 1/16-mile race on June 7 at Churchill Downs, as a potential race in which to stretch out Crude Velocity in distance. :: Get ready for Preakness with DRF past performances, picks, and betting strategies! Baffert said the Grade 1 Haskell, a 1 1/8-mile race on July 18 at Monmouth Park “is a race that’s very important to me.” Baffert has won the Haskell nine times. Baffert said he also wants to run Crude Velocity as a 4-year-old, with the $20 million Saudi Cup in mid-February as “a bucket-list race” for him. Before any potential new names surface, there were, as of Friday morning, 16 horses under consideration for the Preakness. The race is limited to 14 starters, but two horses may be carded as also-eligibles. Entries close and post positions will be assigned Monday. One horse who remains under consideration but who is not yet definite is Silent Tactic, the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby runner-up who was scratched from the Kentucky Derby due to a bruised foot. On Friday at Churchill, Silent Tactic worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds. Casse said the work keeps Silent Tactic under consideration for the Preakness, though no final decision on his status was immediately made. “If he didn’t work well today I would have said we’re not going, but he worked well enough it is still a possibility,” Casse said. “There’s a much greater possibility today than there was yesterday.” Silent Tactic had a busy winter/spring at Oaklawn Park, running second in the Smarty Jones, then winning the Grade 3 Southwest before getting neat a nose by Class President in the Grade 2 Rebel and four lengths by Renegade in the Arkansas Derby. Renegade came back to run a strong second in the Kentucky Derby. Due to the multi-level way in which horses qualify to run in the Preakness, the defection of Crude Velocity helped Corona de Oro leapfrog Smoovin Saturday and Pretty Boy Miah from third also-eligible to into the field. Crude Velocity’s defection meant Robusta gets in under the provision that the seven horses with the most graded stakes earnings make the field. The last four horses qualify for the Preakness based on most earnings in non-restricted stakes. Corona de Oro has more than Smoovin Saturday and Pretty Boy Miah. The last few spots are given to horses with the highest lifetime earnings. Smoovin Saturday and Pretty Boy Miah both have more lifetime earnings than Corona de Oro. :: Get Preakness Betting Strategies for exclusive wagering insights, contender analysis, and more Three Preakness spots were secured by Taj Mahal, Crupper, and Ocelli. Taj Mahal (Federico Tesio) and Crupper (Bathhouse Row) won automatic qualifiers to the Preakness. Ocelli, despite being a maiden, gets into the Preakness because of his third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Preakness conditions say no horse who earns purse money in the Kentucky Derby shall be denied the opportunity to enter and start in the Preakness. ◗ Final workouts were to completed over the weekend for potential Preakness starters. One of the more key moves was to be done by Great White, who flipped over just behind the gate prior to the start of the Kentucky Derby. Trainer John Ennis told Preakness publicity he may work the horse himself on Saturday to get an idea how he’s moving. On Thursday, at Lone Star Park, Express Kid worked five furlongs in 1:00.71 out of the gate. Express Kid, who won the Springboard Mile at 2, hasn’t started since he got beat a nose by Pavlovian in the Sunland Derby on Feb. 15. ◗ Rafael Bejarano has been named to ride Robusta in the Preakness. Cristian Torres rode him to a 14th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.