BALTIMORE – Ten years ago, Robbie Bailes narrowly averted becoming a sorry footnote in Preakness history. Bailes was the trainer of Scrappy T, whose erratic swerve under Ramon Dominguez at the top of the stretch caused the eventual winner, Afleet Alex, to almost fall.
The incident was so scary that Bailes said he’s watched it only a couple of times.
Hope’s Love, a full sister of Kentucky Derby-winning Horse of the Year California Chrome, will be scratched from her planned debut Friday at Golden Gate Fields.
The 2-year-old chestnut filly was the 8-to-5 morning line favorite in the 4½-furlong race but came down with “just a little virus,” said trainer Steve Sherman, who said she would be pointed to a June 13 maiden race.
BALTIMORE – As far as jockey Gary Stevens is concerned, the post-position draw for Saturday’s $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico couldn’t have gone any better if he was allowed to conduct the draw himself.
Stevens was not only happy to have his mount, Kentucky Derby runner-up Firing Line, draw the outside post in the eight-horse field, but he seemed downright giddy that his major competition, Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah and Derby third-place finisher Dortmund, drew posts 1 and 2.
The Maryland Jockey Club is guaranteeing the size of a number of wagering pools on Friday and Saturday at Pimlico.
There is also a daily double linking Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan and the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. Last year, the wager was on the Pimlico Special – rather than the Black-Eyed Susan – and the Preakness. It handled $495,000.
:: Preakness: Contenders and news
All of the pick fives at Pimlico on Friday and Saturday will have a 12 percent takeout.
Supermason, who racked up his second blowout stakes win last Saturday night at Lone Star Park, has no immediate race plans but long term could be a candidate for the $50,000 Assault on July 11 at Lone Star Park and the $100,000 Prelude on Aug. 8 at Louisiana Downs, said trainer Bret Calhoun.
Erica Murray’s journey to becoming a jockey started as a toddler, when her mother took her to Louisiana Downs to watch morning training. It came full circle at the Bossier City track last Saturday, when the 17-year-old Murray won with her first career mount, Broussard. Following the race, a celebration coordinated by her fellow riders closed out a day to remember.
“I got ice water, baby powder, ketchup [thrown] all over me,” Murray said. “I’ve never been so ready for that my whole life!”
Minutes after winning the Kentucky Derby, Bob Baffert was being interviewed on NBC when he dedicated American Pharoah’s victory “to a friend of mine, Bob Adair, who isn’t doing too good right now.”
The comment undoubtedly went over the heads of the vast majority of Derby viewers because Robert Adair, while a Quarter Horse legend, is not well known in Thoroughbred circles.
Edison was named the 2014 Alberta Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old at the annual Night of Champions dinner at the Matrix Hotel in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, last Saturday.
Trained by Robertino Diodoro, Edison raced just once in Alberta in 2014, but his 11-length romp in the Grade 3, $200,000 Canadian Derby clearly was the most impressive performance at Northlands last year.
BALTIMORE – Neil Howard, here at Pimlico for Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan Stakes with a filly named Ahh Chocolate, needs no reminder that it has been 25 years since he saddled Summer Squall to win the Preakness.
“I don’t like thinking how long it’s been,” Howard said with a grin.
Owned by Dogwood Stable and ridden by Pat Day, Summer Squall ($6.80) defeated Unbridled by 2 1/4 lengths in the 1990 Preakness after having finished second to that rival in the Kentucky Derby. Mister Frisky was another nine lengths back in third in a field of nine.
