Happy Jack, who finished 14th by 19 lengths behind upstart 80-1 winner Rich Strike in the Kentucky Derby, is expected to show marked improvement in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico this Saturday according to Doug O'Neill.
Like O'Neill's stable star Hot Rod Charlie, Happy Jack is also by 2013 Preakness winner Oxbow. Happy Jack “was slow into stride and passed only tiring foes” according to the Equibase KY Derby trouble line, but O'Neill is hoping the chestnut colt owned and bred by Calumet Farm can follow in the hoofprints of O'Neill-trained I'll Have Another, who won the Preakness in 2012 following a victory in the Run for the Roses.
“Happy Jack ran 14th in the Derby, but it wasn't a horrible race, he came out of it in good shape and he's so fit,” said O'Neill.
“We thought off the heels of that, shortening up a bit, his sire having won the Preakness (in 2013), the winner of the Derby not running, along with a couple of the other top three-year-olds, it was the right decision.
“It's still going to be a tough race, but it's a good opportunity and we'll see what happens. We're putting the blinkers back on him and Tyler Gaffalione is going to ride him.”
Happy Jack remains at Churchill Downs and will ship to Pimlico from there.
Addressing Happy Jack's slow Derby start, O'Neill wasn't sure how it happened, saying, “He walked right in (to the starting gate) like he always does, and Raffy (jockey Rafael Bejarano) said about 30 seconds later you could tell something wasn't right.
“They were trying to make adjustments and his tail was stuck in the back door, so they opened it up and backed him out.
“That would be a bit painful and I don't know how much it effected the end result, but it wasn't a great way to start the day.”
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