Racing! It’s Preakness Day

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as Santa Anita’s unprecedented run of safety comes to an end.

Everyone knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of when. After almost 7,000 timed workouts and races, Santa Anita suffered another horse fatality on Friday when Commander Coil broke down with a shoulder injury and was euthanized during morning training.

While everyone knows the only acceptable number of fatalities is zero, it was remarkable that Santa Anita went six weeks without a death. Now, the horse population is down and the number of races has been reduced, but statistically speaking it was a run that was every bit as startling as 23 deaths between Dec. 26 and March 31.

Santa Anita, and the industry, would like to look at it as the first death in six weeks. Others will look at it as No. 24.

There was also a death at Pimlico, probably a heart attack after the end of a stakes race. Here’s a wrapup of both incidents. Just click here.

Also, you might be interested in a story about what Bob Baffert thinks about Improbable’s chances in Preakness. Just click here.

More on the Preakness

It’s Preakness Day at crumbling Pimlico Race Course. Friday’s highlight: There was no running water in part of the facility, the part the media was located.

Now, let’s take one spin around the barns as we head into the 144^th running of the Preakness Stakes. The quotes are courtesy of the Pimlico notes crew. (They get to the barns at 6 a.m. on the day before the big race, so I don’t have to. So, thanks.)

--Alwaysmining: Jockey Daniel Centeno on keeping the ride aboard the horse that has won six in a row. “I've been fortunate to ride some nice horses. I won two Tampa Bay Derbys with nice horses that went to the Triple Crown races, but it's part of the business. Sometimes they want somebody with experience and I never had the experience. I'm really lucky and blessed that they let me stay on [Alwaysmining]. He's a nice, cool horse to ride. He's very professional.”

--Anotertwistafate: Trainer Blaine Wright on what to expect. “Our plan is to keep his face clear and adapt to what's going on to the outside of us. I think we're in a terrific spot. We'll meet with our jock (Jose Ortiz) [Saturday] and get his take on things. He knows these horses probably a little bit better than we do as he's ridden against them. It will be interesting to see what he thinks.”

--Bodexpress: Trainer Gustavo Delgado on Friday’s work. “We took him to the starting gate and he galloped. Everything was good.”

--Bourbon War: Trainer Mark Hennig on an equipment change. “When I look back and watch some of his races, he's great at relaxing and shutting off and waiting for the jock. But the reins weren't tight for the jock, so when the jock asked him it seemed to take him three or four jumps to get into that good stride. I thought maybe with the short-cup blinkers, it would get him a little more on the bridle – not necessarily to get him closer to the pace but to get him more on the bridle.”

--Everfast: Tammy Fox, assistant to trainer Dale Romans, talking about Friday’s work. “He did everything good, he was smart,” she said. “As long as they don't act stupid, it's all good.”

--Improbable: Baffert on Friday’s work. “He looked good. Got the thumbs up from the rider. All's well.”

--Laughing Fox: The colt schooled in the starting gate and then galloped for 1 ¼ miles.

--Market King: Trainer Wayne Lukas borrowed Baffert’s exercise rider Humberto Gomez and here’s what Wayne had to say. “He said he likes my horse. My horse is good, It was just a routine gallop.”

--Signalman: Trainer Kenny McPeek on the race distance. “I'd like to see him run back to his 2-year-old form (5-2-2-1), but we'll just have [jockey] Brian [Hernandez, Jr.] get him out there and go from there. I do think the added distance (1 3/16 miles) works for him. He should like it.”

--Warrior’s Charge: Owner Marshall Gramm on supplementing his horse into this race. “Once we saw Maximum Security out and saw a lot of those Derby horses fall by the wayside, we thought it's worth the gamble ($150,000) in terms of the supplement. I think we'll be up front. Hopefully, the pace won't be too fast and we'll be able to be right up among the leaders if not on the lead. And as they turn for home, hopefully we kick away and see if they can catch us.” (Note: Warrior’s Charge is trained by Brad Cox, who also trains Owendale.)

--War of Will: Trainer Mark Casse had the colt jog a mile with exercise rider Kim Carroll, the usual pre-race routine.

--Win Win Win: Trainer Michael Trombetta on Friday’s training. “All went well this morning, a gallop around the track and everything looks good.”

Last word on Saez suspension

Some of you emailed to point out that the length of Luis Saez suspension (15 days) for his ride on Maximum Security was due to previous violations. That is so true, it was his third violation for careless riding. But the point I did not make very well was that the stewards knew it would result in a 15-day suspension and gave it to him in a race in which many believe he did nothing wrong.

Santa Anita review

No stakes on Friday’s Santa Anita card so we have to turn to a $67,000 allowance for 3-year-old fillies going five furlongs on the turf to find the feature race. It was won in devastating off-the-pace performance by Holly Hundy under the guidance of Kent Desormeaux. The winning margin was 2 ¾ lengths.

“The best horse usually wins on grass, but not by two or three lengths,” trainer Vladimir Cerin told Mike Willman of Santa Anita. “Kent says she relaxes real nice, so we’ll see how she does going two turns.”

Holly Hundy paid $6.80, $4.00 and $3.60. Cavernndchipmunks finished second and Devils Dance was third. Cavernnchipmunks was ridden by Flavien Prat. If this were a normal Preakness, he would have been on his way to Baltimore to ride Couontry House in the Preakness. But, not so this year with the colt skipping the race because of sickness.

Desormeaux took his horse four wide to win driving away in the stretch.

“There were about four of them that were pretty aggressive, so I said, ‘See ya’ll later, I hope,” Desormeaux said. “She’ll definitely go two turns. She relaxes like an all-star.”

Santa Anita preview

Santa Anita has a 10-race Preakness Day card starting at noon. The field sizes are pretty good, there are five turf races, one Grade 3 stakes race and three allowances. The feature is the Grade 3 $100,000 Lazaro Barrera Stakes for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs. The big question is why don’t they shorten the name of the race to the “Laz Barrera Stakes,” since that’s how he was known to, well, almost everyone?

The favorite is one of Baffert’s one-time Derby trail contenders: Mucho Gusto. At 4-5 he is the favorite. He’s three-of-five lifetime and has never been off the board. He was second behind Improbable in the Los Alamitos Futurity and third in the Sunland Derby. This race obviously shortens him up. Joe Talamo is the rider.

The second favorite, at 5-2, is Sparky Ville for Jeff Bonde and Victor Espinoza, who will be his fourth jockey in his last four starts. He is three-of-nine lifetime and won the San Vicente, the big early-in-the-meet seven-furlong race. The post is around 4:30 p.m., or after the Preakness Stakes.

Here are the field sizes, in order: 10, 9, 6, 8, 12 (2 also eligible), 11, 9, 10, 14, 10 (4 ae).

Big races preview

A look at graded stakes or races worth $100,000 or more on Saturday. All times PST.

8:41 Pimlico (3): $100,000 LARC Sir Barton Stakes, Mar-bred 3-year-olds, 1 1/16 miles. Favorite: King for a Day (7-5)

9:51 Pimlico (5): $100,000 James W. Murphy Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 mile on turf. Favorite: Current (4-1)

10:28 Pimlico (6): Grade 3 $150,000 Maryland Sprint Stakes, 3 and up, 6 furlongs. Favorite: Lewisfield (9-5)

11:07 Pimlico (7): $100,000 Searching Stakes, fillies and mares 3 and up, 1 ½ miles on turf. Favorite: Ickymasho (8-5)

11:12 Woodbine (3): Grade 3 $125,000 Selene Stakes, fillies 3-years-old, 1 1/16 miles. Favorite: Bold Script (4-5)

12:25 Pimlico (9): $100,000 The Very One Stakes, fillies and mares 3 and up, 5 furlongs on turf. Favorite: Jo Jo Air (3-1)

1:05 Pimlico (10): Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes, fillies and mares 3 and up, 1 1/16 miles on turf. Favorite: Inflexibility (3-1)

1:42 Pimlico (11): Grade 3 $200,000 Chick Lang Stakes, 3-year-olds, 6 furlongs. Favorite: Preamble (5-2)

1:55 Churchill (9): Grade 3 $100,000 Louisville Stakes, 3 and up, 1 ½ miles on turf. Favorite: Soglio (5-2)

2:21 Gulfstream (10): $100,000 Musical Romance Stakes, Fla-bred fillies and mares 3 and up, 7 furlongs. Favorite: Stormy Embrace (9-5)

2:26 Belmont (11): $100,000 Soaring Softly Stakes, fillies 3-years-old, 7 furlongs on turf. Favorite: Stillwater Cove (5-2)

2:39 Pimlico (12): Grade 2 $250,000 Dixie Stakes, 3 and up, 1 1/16 miles on turf. Favorite: Catholic Boy (3-1)

3:48 Pimlico (13): Grade 1 $1.5 million Preakness Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 3/16 miles. Favorite: Improbable (5-2)

4:30 Santa Anita (8): Grade 3 $100,000 Lazaro Barrera Stakes, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs. Favorite: Mucho Gusto (4-5)

Ciaran Thornton’s SA pick of the day

RACE THREE: No. 6 Left Alone (3-1)

Left Alone travels down from Golden Gate off two straight wins since moving to the US. The horse previously raced on turf in the UK so today’s surface is no problem. Had a best of the day workout before shipping down here and races protected today, both big reasons to be confident here. Trainer Manuel Badilla is 26% winner last race and the jockey Irving Orozco, who rides for the 1st time, travelled down to ride for this trainer whom he is 5 of 8 for a 63% win rate. They mean business today.

Friday’s result: Another big winner for us as Morgan S. romped home at 8-1 paying a handsome price of $18.80.

Ciaran Thornton is the handicapper for Californiapick4.com, which offers daily full card picks, longshots of the day, best bets of the day.

Ed Burgart’s LA pick of the day

SEVENTH RACE: No. 5 Harem Bar Cartel (5-2)

This sophomore colt looked solid when working alone from the gate with a nice 18.0 clocking April 20 while preparing for first start since November. He was quick early and displayed nice stride under hand ride while drifting inward. He ran well fresh in Oregon debut victory last year and doesn’t catch the strongest field for the non-winners-of-three level. Three of his five rivals finished less than a neck apart in their last race which was captured by a 13-1 outsider.

Final thought

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And now the stars of the show, Friday’s results and Saturday’s entries.

BREEZY BEE saved ground chasing the pace, advanced inside into the stretch, was blocked off heels and steadied then bumped in midstretch, got out past midstretch and rallied under some urging and good handling to get up nearing the wire. EQUAL MEASURE dueled between horses then put a head in front outside a rival on the second turn, battled outside that one in midstretch, inched away nearing the sixteenth pole but could not hold off the winner. SUNRISER angled in and stalked inside, came out into the stretch, drifted in a bit to bump with the winner in midstretch and edged a rival for third. FIELD BET had good early speed and dueled inside, fought back on the second turn and in the stretch, could not match the top pair in the final sixteenth and was edged for the show. CALENTITA (IRE) a step slow to begin, tugged between horses then angled in and saved ground off the pace, came out on the second turn and three wide into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. RUNAWAY LUCK four wide early, angled in and stalked outside a rival then three deep on the second turn and into the stretch and weakened. ROYALLY BLAND prompted the pace three deep, dropped back between foes on the second turn and had little left for the drive. TWINKLE DREAM three deep early, chased outside a rival, fell back a bit off the rail on the second turn and gave way. The stewards conducted an inquiry into the stretch run before ruing SUNRISER initiated the contact with the winner.

SPOKANE EAGLE was sent along to duel outside a rival, kicked clear and angled in on the backstretch, opened up and set the pace inside, remained well clear under urging in the drive and was under a hold late. SHEER FLATTERY broke slowly, saved ground chasing the pace, advanced inside on the turn and into the stretch, continued along the rail and edged a rival for the place. MATRICULATE stalked outside a rival then three deep on the turn and into the stretch and was edged for second. TRIBAL ROAR went up inside to press the pace then came out and stalked a bit off the rail, went outside a rival on the turn and between foes leaving the turn and into the stretch and weakened. AMERICAN CURRENCY stalked off the rail then between foes into the turn, dropped back then angled in leaving the turn, gave way and was eased in the final furlong.

SHADY EMPIRE sped to the early lead, angled in and dueled inside, inched away into the stretch, kicked clear and proved best under a left handed crack of the whip and good handling. SIDE STREET DAVE saved ground stalking the pace throughout and bested the rest. YOU'RERIGHT AGAIN chased between horses then off the rail on the turn and outside a rival into the stretch, angled to the inside in midstretch and picked up the show. POUR ON THE COLE four wide early, chased outside then three deep on the turn and into the stretch and was outfinished for third. EL TIGRE TERRIBLE five wide early, angled in and pressed the pace outside the winner, stalked in midstretch and weakened. ZERO DOWN stalked a bit off the rail, came out leaving the turn and three deep into the stretch and also weakened. KENZLEE'S GOV chased between horses then a bit off the rail leaving the turn and into the stretch and had little left for the drive. HOT SOCKS chased between rivals then steadied as the rein broke into the turn, went up four wide then dropped back leaving the turn and was eased in the stretch.

AWESOME AMANDA stalked outside, bid four wide on the turn and into the stretch, gained the advantage in upper stretch, drifted in some and won clear under urging. HANSEN TALE BLUES dueled between horses, put a head in front on the turn, fought back into the stretch, continued along the inside in the final furlong and held second. SWEETENER had good early speed and dueled three deep then between foes on the turn, continued three wide into the stretch and was outfinished for the place. OSTERIA a step slow to begin, chased inside, came out into the stretch and weakened. CAT'S DESIRE bobbled and was a bit slow into stride, chased outside a rival then three deep leaving the backstretch, continued alongside a foe on the turn and three wide into the stretch and also weakened. CHASING MOMENTS also broke a bit slowly, chased just off the rail then between foes leaving the backstretch, angled in leaving the turn and also weakened. LADY BEYONCE dropped back off the rail early, angled in some on the turn and failed to menace. MISS OMNIPOTENT had good early speed and angled in, dueled inside, fought back on the turn and weakened in thee drive.

MORGAN S. had speed inside then inched away on the backstretch, set the pace along the rail and held on gamely under urging. PSYCHO DAR four wide early, stalked three deep, continued outside on the turn and three wide into the stretch and finished willingly three deep on the line. PRODIGAL SON had speed between foes then stalked a bit off the rail, came out some in the stretch and also went on gamely between the top pair late. JOE JACKSON saved ground stalking the pace, came out for room in midstretch and lacked the needed rally. TEACHER'S TREASURE stalked between horses then a bit off the rail leaving the turn, continued off the inside into the stretch and could not offer the necessary response. HOLLYWOOD DANCER chased three deep then outside on the turn, came three wide into the stretch and could not summon the needed late kick. SIR EDDIE broke out some and slowly, angled in and saved ground off the pace, waited off heels in midstretch then went through close quarters between horses but lacked the needed rally. A SALUTE TO LT DAN chased between horses, steadied in tight off heels nearing the quarter pole, angled in entering the stretch and weakened.

FAST COTTON went up inside to gain the lead, set the pace a bit off the rail, angled in on the turn, fought off the bid of the runner-up under urging in midstretch and won clear under a long hold late. MARKET SENTIMENT stalked outside a rival then off the rail, bid outside the winner in upper stretch, could not match that one in the final furlong but was clearly second best. AYACARA (GB) allowed to settle off the rail, came four wide into the stretch and picked up the show. UNION REBEL chased outside a rival then off the rail leaving the backstretch, went three deep on the turn and into the stretch and weakened. CURLY'S MARK angled in and stalked inside, continued along the rail on the turn and in the stretch and also weakened. HONEYMOONZ OVER had speed between horses then stalked just off the rail, was between rivals again leaving the backstretch and into the turn, fell back just off the inside leaving the turn and had little left for the stretch.

HOLLY HUNDY chased outside a rival then between foes into and on the turn, swung three deep into the stretch, was four wide nearing midstretch, bid outside the leader under urging in midstretch, took the lead approaching the sixteenth pole and won clear. CAVERNNDCHIPMUNKS (FR) saved ground stalking the pace, came out into the stretch, was between foes through much of the final furlong and edged a rival for the place. DEVILS DANCE stalked inside then a bit off the rail, continued outside a foe leaving the turn, was between horses in midstretch and was edged for second. MUTHHILA (IRE) angled in and dueled outside a rival, led again into the stretch, inched away in upper stretch, fought back in midstretch and was outfinished late for a minor award. SHES ALL WOMAN chased off the rail then three deep into the turn, angled in leaving the turn then swung three wide into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. VELVET QUEEN stalked three deep early then outside a rival, continued three wide on the turn and into the stretch and could not offer the necessary response. SQUARE PEGGY angled in and dueled inside, put a head in front on the turn, fought back into the stretch and weakened in the final furlong. RED BUNTING (IRE) broke a bit slowly, settled off the pace inside, came out some in the stretch and did not rally.

A DIME FOR ME stalked four wide early then outside a rival into the turn, bid alongside the runner-up on the turn and into the stretch to gain the advantage nearing midstretch and inched away late under urging. AND COUNTING sped to the early lead and angled in, set a pressured pace a bit off the rail then between foes, inched away into the turn, fought back inside the winner on the turn and in the stretch but could not quite match that one late. VELLA stalked between horses then outside a rival, continued between foes leaving the turn and into the stretch, found the rail in the drive and bested the others. CHARLOTTE LOUISE stalked early then bid from the inside a half mile out, tracked the leaders leaving the turn, swung three deep into the stretch and weakened some in the final furlong. DADDYS REAL DIVA saved ground stalking the pace throughout and weakened in the drive. SURE ANGEL chased outside then alongside a rival on the turn, came three wide into the stretch and lacked a further response. GOLDEN NECKLACE settled off the inside chasing the pace, continued off the rail on the turn and three wide into the stretch and weakened. WILHELMINA'S GIRL broke a bit slowly, saved ground off the pace, cut the corner into the stretch and was not a threat. FIRST STREET also a bit slow to begin, settled just off the rail to the stretch and gave way.