Preakness: Kentucky Derby winner Authentic back in training

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Authentic has returned to training at Churchill Downs as the 2020 Kentucky Derby winner now sets his sights on the Oct. 3 Preakness at Pimlico in Baltimore.

Authentic and his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Thousand Words both are stabled in Barn 44 of the Churchill backstretch with D. Wayne Lukas. Both are galloping each morning with Lukas and his longtime assistant, Bas Nicholl, overseeing them.

Baffert told Pimlico publicity while attending the Keeneland yearling sales on Sunday that Authentic, owned by a partnership led by Spendthrift Farm, came out of the Derby in good shape and that both he and Thousand Words could breeze this coming weekend. The colts eventually will be flown to Maryland several days out from the Preakness.

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Authentic is “ready to go,” added Baffert. “We would have been ready to go in two weeks.”

The traditional Preakness date is the third Saturday in May, two weeks after the Derby, but the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forced a reshuffling of the 2020 Triple Crown schedule. The Belmont Stakes, won by Tiz the Law, was run June 20, and the Preakness is being run four weeks following the Derby as the final leg of the series.

Authentic, ridden by John Velazquez, edged away from heavily favored Tiz the Law in the final furlong of the Sept. 5 Derby to land Baffert in a tie with Ben Jones for the most victories (six) in America’s most famous race. It also gave Baffert 16 wins in Triple Crown events, extending his own record. Baffert stands tied with R.W. Walden for most Preakness wins with seven.

Meanwhile, Baffert said his longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes, is recovering at home in California after undergoing surgery for fractures of his right wrist suffered when Barnes attempted to restrain Thousand Words as the colt acted up and flipped in the paddock prior to the Derby, forcing an automatic scratch. Baffert said surgeons had to insert nine screws and a plate in the wrist to repair it.

Besides Authentic and Thousand Words, at least 11 other 3-year-olds ranging from definite to possible are under consideration for the 145th running of the $1 million Preakness. Tiz the Law would be foremost among the rest, although trainer Barclay Tagg, based in New York, has yet to commit the colt.

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The other Preakness prospects are Art Collector, Dr Post, Happy Saver, King Guillermo, Lebda, Liveyourbeastlife, Mongolian Wind, Mr. Big News, Mystic Guide, and Pneumatic.

As with the Belmont and Derby, no spectators will be permitted at the Preakness because of the coronavirus pandemic.