At Churchill Downs, no fewer than five Preakness hopefuls had their final pre-race workouts Monday morning over a fast track: Mylute, Govenor Charlie, and three from Wayne Lukas.
Shug McGaughey is not known for hyperbole. But in assessing Orb’s final workout for Saturday’s 138th Preakness Stakes, the Hall of Fame trainer was not afraid to toss around works like “freaky,” “breathtaking,” and “spectacular.”
Itsmyluckyday worked a half-mile in 47.20 seconds Sunday afternoon at Monmouth Park, a drill Eddie Plesa Jr., his trainer and co-owner, wanted to get in prior to Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
Normandy Invasion, the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, will not run in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes and instead will make the $1 million Travers on Aug. 24 at Saratoga his next major objective, owner Rick Porter said Sunday.
Departing, one of the top threats to Orb in the 138th Preakness Stakes, had his final workout for the race when going a very easy half-mile in 50.40 seconds on a beautiful Sunday morning at Churchill Downs.
On Saturday trainer Eddie Plesa hoped to give Itsmyluckyday his final workout before next Saturday’s 138th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, but wet weather caused Plesa to postpone the work.
Trainer Tom Amoss confirmed Mylute as a starter for the 138th Preakness after the gray colt went through a routine gallop well before dawn Saturday over a muddy and harrowed track at Churchill Downs.
It was shaping up to be a restless weekend for trainer Chad Brown as he contemplates whether or not to run Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Normandy Invasion back in next Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.
Kentucky Derby 139 proved to be a memorable race won by a deserving horse and rider. Let’s go through the field, 1 to 19, with a post-script and what the future could hold for each.
Goldencents was one of the bigger disappointments in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 17th, beaten nearly 50 lengths by Orb. On Thursday, Goldencents went back to the track to train, jogging around the Pimlico main track with regular jockey Kevin Krigger aboard.
