A third horse exiting the Kentucky Derby, Max Player, has joined the prospective field for the 145th Preakness. Trainer Steve Asmussen has confirmed that Max Player, fifth in the Sept. 5 Derby, will be on a Tuesday equine charter flight to Baltimore for the $1 million Preakness, which will be run Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course. Max Player will join the Derby winner, Authentic, and the third-place finisher, Mr. Big News, in traveling from Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. All three Derby horses were scheduled to have their final pre-race works at Churchill. Mr. Big News was likely to breeze Friday, according to trainer Bret Calhoun, while Max Player will breeze Monday, Asmussen said. Authentic originally was going to work Saturday but now will do so Monday, owing to the travel itinerary of Bob Baffert. With his top older horses Maximum Security and Improbable facing each other Saturday in the Awesome Again at his home track, Santa Anita, Baffert will return to Kentucky from California on Sunday so as to be on hand Monday morning. Baffert’s second Preakness starter, Thousand Words, will work Saturday morning at Churchill.  :: Preakness 2020: Contenders, news, past performances, and more Max Player was making his first start for Asmussen when finishing seven lengths behind Authentic in the Derby; the colt’s five previous starts had come for Linda Rice. Max Player will be one of three starters for Asmussen in the Preakness, along with Pneumatic and Excession. Max Player, owned by George Hall and Sport BLX Thoroughbreds, already has worked twice at Churchill since the Derby, including a five-furlong drill Monday in 1:00.20. “I’m very pleased with him,” Asmussen said. “He’s a wonderful horse and he’s really thrived in the cooler weather. I like how he worked Monday, but more importantly, I like how he’s responded from that work and the way he’s gone back to the racetrack.” Pneumatic has been pointing to the Preakness since shortly after he won the Pegasus on Aug. 15 at Monmouth Park. The Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred will be shipping to Maryland from Saratoga, where he has been in steady training under Asmussen’s longtime assistant, Scott Blasi. Excession, owned by Calumet Farm, will be making his first start since having a knee chip removed following a second-place finish at 82-1 behind Nadal in the March 14 Rebel at Oaklawn Park. A one-time winner from nine career starts, the Union Rags colt has had six timed works at Churchill since mid-August and will have a seventh Monday. :: Click to learn about our DRF's Free Past Performance program. “The chip was extremely minor but had to be addressed,” Asmussen said. “Obviously, he’s coming off a long layoff, but that was a great race he ran behind Nadal. With the unique circumstances of this year [because of the coronavirus pandemic] and the condensed stakes schedule for 3-year-olds, the timing allowed him to take a last shot at a classic.” Riding assignments for the Asmussen trio are Paco Lopez on Max Player, Joe Bravo on Pneumatic, and Sheldon Russell on Excession. Asmussen has won the Preakness twice – with Curlin in 2007 and Rachel Alexandra in 2009. His only other victory in a Triple Crown event came in the 2016 Belmont Stakes with Creator. The Preakness is being run as the final jewel of the 2020 Triple Crown. Tiz the Law, winner of the June 20 Belmont Stakes, was declared out of consideration for the Preakness this week by trainer Barclay Tagg in order to point to the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland. The Preakness is a Win and You’re In event toward the Classic. Entries for the Preakness will be drawn at noon Eastern on Monday. As of Thursday, at least nine 3-year-olds will enter – besides three for Asmussen, two for Baffert, and Mr. Big News, the other confirmed starters are Art Collector and a pair of supplementary entries, Jesus’ Team and Liveyourbeastlife. Four more are possible starters – Swiss Skydiver, Mystic Guide, and the Todd Pletcher pair of Dr Post and Happy Saver. All are scheduled to breeze this weekend in helping to determine their status. As with the preceding two legs of the Triple Crown, no fans will be at Pimlico because of the pandemic; only essential personnel, participants, and some guests and media will be allowed inside the racetrack gates. The Preakness will anchor a sensational 12-race all-stakes card also featuring major races such as the Black-Eyed Susan and De Francis Dash.