Preakness offers a big test for Alwaysmining and his team

Trainer Kelly Rubley and jockey Daniel Centeno have worked long and hard to reach the 144th Preakness Stakes. Alwaysmining, the Maryland-bred gelding with whom they will team, has taken a far easier path, which makes it difficult to determine how he will stack up in what will be by far the toughest race of his career.

Alwaysmining is a son of Travers and Cigar Mile winner Stay Thirsty, who began his stallion career at Ashford Stud in 2013 but is now standing in California for a $6,000 fee. Alwaysmining’s dam is the blue-collar racemare What Will Be, who won four of 33 starts.

If he were to win the Preakness, Alwaysmining would be the first Maryland-bred to do so since Deputed Testamony in 1983, the first gelding since Funny Cide in 2003, and the first Maryland-bred gelding ever. Rubley would become the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race.

:: Preakness one-stop shop: Get PPs, picks, handicapping guides, and more

Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale purchased Alwaysmining as a yearling for $130,000 at the Keeneland September sale. He was competitive in his first three starts in Kentucky at age 2 but was then sent to Laurel Park by trainer Laura Wohlers, where he promptly won a maiden race by 4 1/2 lengths.

Soon thereafter, Alwaysmining was sold to Gregory and Caroline Bentley, who operate a small stable and own 550-acre Runnymede Farm in scenic Unionville, Pa. He didn’t run well in his first two starts for the Bentleys but comes into the Preakness off six consecutive wins at Laurel for Rubley, who has built a well-respected stable at the Fair Hill Training Center since going out on her own as a trainer in 2014.

“When he came to me, he hadn’t developed as much as he has now,” Rubley said. “He was like a younger version of himself, more immature, but he had a lovely way of going.

“Now, he’s a little taller and he’s started to fill out. He’s not as gangly as he was. The wins have certainly built his confidence level.”

The Preakness will be Alwaysmining’s first start in graded company, but he nonetheless has been impressive during his streak, which includes five stakes wins by a combined 26 1/2 lengths, or more than five lengths per race. He hasn’t exactly faced cream puffs, either.

In December, Alwaysmining beat Our Braintrust, who won the Tremont at Belmont Park last June, in the restricted Maryland Juvenile Futurity. Our Braintrust has since finished second in the Jerome, been sold to Gary Barber, and finished third, beaten a neck, in the Grade 3 Withers. Alwaysmining’s other victims include fellow Preakness starters Win Win Win, whom he beat in the Heft Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths, and Gray Magician, whom he drilled by 4 1/4 lengths in the Miracle Wood.

Joevia, the runner-up to Alwaysmining in the March 16 Private Terms Stakes, won the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park by 2 3/4 lengths last Sunday.

The Private Terms was Alwaysmining’s first start around two turns. He won by 6 3/4 lengths and earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure. A start in the Wood Memorial or Blue Grass Stakes, which could have netted him Kentucky Derby qualifying points, was considered but Rubley, the Bentleys, and racing manager Joe Cassidy ultimately decided to race him in the Federico Tesio – a win and you’re in for the Preakness – and to take their shot at the big time in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

“We based our decision on protecting the longevity of this horse,” Rubley said. “The Kentucky Derby is a very hard race for a young horse, and he’s a gelding, so there’s no stud deal to consider. We’re looking at the whole season. If he runs well in the Preakness, we have many options for him going forward.”

Even Rubley is not sure how Alwaysmining will fare against the likes of expected Preakness favorite Improbable or Lecomte and Risen Star winner War of Will.

“The numbers say he belongs in the Preakness,” she said. “I think he definitely deserves the opportunity.

“Is he good enough? That’s what we are going to find out. Right now there’s no way to know.”

Having a starter in a Triple Crown race validates the 2009 decision Rubley made to give up a career in education and pursue a life in horse racing.

“My parents were startled and thought it was an odd career choice, to say the least,” she said. “The Preakness is a giant deal to me. It’s my dream. Personally, this is a monumental race for me.”

Rubley grew up in New York state, participating in show jumping, eventing, and dressage competitions. After graduating from college with Bachelor’s degrees in biology and chemistry, she earned Master’s degrees in secondary education and administration, and taught middle school science for seven years.

She gave up the profession to take a job as an exercise rider for Barclay Tagg and eventually became an assistant trainer. She moved on to work as an assistant to Jimmy Toner at Fair Hill before opening her own stable.

“I started out with five horses, and it grew to 10, and then jumped to 20,” Rubley said. “We had 60 last year, which is a good number. I’m trying to build an allowance-horse stable. I’ve kind of modeled what I do after the people I came up under, Barclay and Mr. Toner.”

Rubley has built a roster of clients that include West Point Thoroughbreds, The Elkstone Group, and Gunpowder Farms. To have developed a Preakness contender can only further her career.

“It puts my name in certain circles,” Rubley said. “It makes me more marketable, even to my current owners, who can buy a promising horse and tell their clients, ‘I want to send this horse to Kelly, and here’s why.’”

Centeno spent the winter competing at Tampa Bay Downs and shuttling to Maryland to ride Alwaysmining, aboard whom he is 6 for 6. In the 1 1/8-mile Tesio, Centeno gave Alwaysmining an old-fashioned schooling by taking the naturally quick runner off the pace. It took Alwaysmining a little while to relax, but he did.

“He’s drawn a lot of inside posts, so we sent him all the time,” Centeno said. “It was new to him when I took a hold, but he settled for me. It also took him a little time on the backstretch to grab the bit when I asked him. But when he did, he just took off and ran by them fast.”

Alwaysmining rocketed to the lead in the Tesio before reaching the far turn. He won by 11 1/2 easy lengths.

“I know the competition was not really great, but I liked the way he did it and think it was a good learning experience for him,” Centeno said. “We know each other. I am confident he will do anything I ask in the Preakness.”

Centeno, a 47-year-old native of Venezuela, has won more than 2,800 races since coming to the United States in 2003. He is a six-time leading rider at Tampa Bay Downs and has won the Tampa Bay Derby twice, first with Musket Man in 2009 and then with Ring Weekend in 2014.

“Both horses went on to run in Triple Crown races but they used different riders,” Centeno said. “I know how it works, but I always hoped some day I would get my chance. I am grateful to Kelly and the owners for keeping me on for the Preakness. I feel blessed that I have this shot.”

The Bentleys, Rubley, and Centeno will all be testing deeper waters Saturday in the Preakness. But don’t be surprised if the patient, confidence-building campaign they have given Alwaysmining has him ready for the race of his life.