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Preakness 148 Contender Updates

It's been a quiet week on the Triple Crown front as all eight contenders continue to prepare for Saturday's $1.65 million GI Preakness S. at Pimlico. Following is a brief update on each as of Wednesday morning:

GI Kentucky Derby winner and 8-5 Preakness favorite Mage (Good Magic) galloped 1 1/2 miles over the Pimlico surface and playfully reared as he exited the track. “He was showing off. He was showing off a little bit,” said Gustavo Delgado, Jr., the assistant and son of trainer Gustavo Delgado. “He was just feeling good.” He continued: “It was the same routine since we got here. He looked better, had more energy. He wanted to do more. His exercise rider–J.J. Delgado–said he's doing good.”
'TDN Rising Star' and GIII Lexington S. winner First Mission (Street Sense) had an easy gallop. “We had a great morning,” said trainer Brad Cox. “He galloped a little further today than yesterday but was every bit as good as yesterday.” The colt is tabbed at 5-2 on the morning line.
National Treasure (Quality Road) had a “routine gallop,” per Jimmy Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert.
'TDN Rising Star' and GISW Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) galloped about 1 1/4 miles under exercise rider Peter Levia. “I think he is sitting on a big race,” said Jose Hernandez, assistant to Chad Brown. “I've got the same feeling with this one that I did with the others [winners Cloud Computing, 2017, and Early Voting, 2022]. This is a pretty nice horse to work with.”
Red Route One (Gun Runner) arrived Tuesday afternoon. “He settled in nice, jogged a mile this morning on the track, and seemed to do everything right,” said Darren Fleming, assistant to Steve Asmussen. “Relaxing now.” He will paddock school Thursday.
Perform (Good Magic) visited the Pimlico surface for the first time Wednesday morning. Just after he entered, a loose horse running the wrong direction passed close by. “It didn't really bother him, but he got buzzed pretty good,” said Anthony Hamilton, Shug McGaughey's assistant. “It was right as we got on the track. Obviously, it's not what you want, but [exercise rider] Noemi [Pauquet] did a great job. The horse was as professional as a horse could be in that situation. He is a feel-good horse and that woke him up a little bit. Then he went out and galloped a mile just like we wanted him to.” Perform was supplemented to the Preakness for a fee of $150,000.
Chase the Chaos (Astern {Aus}) arrived from Northern California late Tuesday. “He traveled about 16 hours, but it looks like he handled it good,” said trainer Ed Moger, Jr. “He cleaned up his food and he was pretty happy this morning.”
Local horse Coffeewithchris (Ride On Curlin) vanned to Pimlico from Laurel Park. “He's settled in. He's doing fine,” trainer John Salzman, Jr. said. “He's doing good. He's training perfectly. He's done everything I've asked of him. He's galloping, playing, and kicking, so at this point he's doing as good as he can do. If he goes forward a little bit I'm looking forward to him running a big race.”

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Mage Draws Post Three as 8-5 Preakness Favorite

GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) drew post three in the field of eight set to go in the $1.65-million GI Preakness S., to be held Saturday, May 20, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The second jewel of the Triple Crown drew only one starter from the Kentucky Derby, but it was the one who won the Derby and the only one with a chance for a Triple Crown. Mage was installed as the 8-5 favorite.

Gustavo Delgado, Jr., assistant to his father, Mage's trainer Gustavo Delgado, Sr., indicated before the draw that an outside post would be the team's ideal choice. Mage won the 18-horse Derby from post eight after lingering far back early and tipping about seven wide into the lane. Bred by Grandview Equine and owned by OGMA Investments, LLC, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing LLC, and CMNWLTH, Mage sports a 4-2-1-0 record and comes into the Preakness with earnings of $2,107,200. A $235,000 KEESEP yearling and $290,000 EASMAY 2-year-old, Mage first turned heads with a front-running sprint debut at Gulfstream Jan. 28 and qualified for the Derby by pushing champion Forte (Violence) within a length in the GI Curlin Florida Derby.

Mage will face seven new shooters in the 148th Preakness with Brad Cox's 'TDN Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense) second choice at 5-2. Cox, whose best finish in the May 6 Derby from his four starters was a fifth with Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), seeks his first Preakness win, but has a Derby to his name after Mandaloun (Into Mischief) was promoted to first in the 2021 edition. He also won the 2021 GI Belmont S. with Essential Quality (Tapit).

Other storylines of note to watch this year in the 1 3/16-mile Classic include Hall of Famer Bob Baffert's first Triple Crown starter–4-1 third choice National Treasure (Quality Road)–since Medina Spirit (Protonico)'s third in 2021. Baffert has a co-leading seven Preakness wins and seeks a record-breaking eighth. In addition, Chad Brown–who won last year with Early Voting (Gun Runner)–and Steve Asmussen both seek their third Preakness win. And finally, sophomore sire Good Magic has three of the starters in the eight-horse field. The Preakness is scheduled for 7:01 p.m. EDT as race 13 Saturday.

The entire field, from the rail out, with trainers, jockey assignments, and early odds is as follows:

#1 National Treasure (Quality Road) (Bob Baffert, John Velazquez, 4-1)

#2 Chase the Chaos (Astern {Aus}) (Ed Moger, Jr., Sheldon Russell, 50-1)

#3 Mage (Good Magic) (Gustavo Delgado, Sr., Javier Castellano, 8-5)

#4 Coffeewithchris (Ride On Curlin) (John Salzman, Jr., Jaime Rodriguez, 20-1)

#5 Red Route One (Gun Runner) (Steve Asmussen, Joel Rosario, 10-1)

#6 Perform (Good Magic) (Shug McGaughey, Feargal Lynch, 15-1)

#7 Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) (Chad Brown, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 6-1)

#8 First Mission (Street Sense) (Brad Cox, Luis Saez, 5-2)

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Preakness Contenders Get Acquainted With Pimlico

GI Kentucky Derby champion Mage (Good Magic) stretched his legs around Pimlico Race Course Monday morning in preparation for a start in Saturday's GI Preakness S.

The Gustavo Delgado-trained 3-year-old, who went to the track shortly after 8:30 a.m., jogged in the company of a pony once around the mile oval before galloping once around under exercise rider J.J. Delgado.

“He looked good, quiet, relaxed,” said Gustavo Delgado, Jr, his father's assistant. “There were only one, two, three horses on the track the same time he was. He was getting to know the track mainly.”

Rodeo Creek Racing LLC's Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) also got his first look at Pimlico Race Course Monday as he jogged once around with exercise rider Peter Leiva aboard.

“Just once around,” said Jose Hernandez, assistant to trainer Chad Brown. “He liked it out there; he was happy. He went out there, stood a little bit, looked around and was back in about 15 minutes. So far, so good,”

Bob Baffert's National Treasure (Quality Road) got a feel for the surface and a look around when he went out for his routine daily exercise at 6 a.m.

“It's our first day to hit the track,” said Jimmy Barnes, Baffert's long-time assistant. “We walked yesterday. Just galloped about a mile and quarter.”

Red Route One (Gun Runner), who earned a fees-paid spot by virtue of his win in Oaklawn's Bath House Row S., will be the sole representative for owner Ron Winchell and trainer Steve Asmussen in Saturday's Preakness S., with stablemate Disarm (Gun Runner) now pointing toward Saratoga's GI Travers S.

“Red Route One is a horse that ran decent in the preps leading up to the Kentucky Derby until the Arkansas Derby,” Asmussen said. “That didn't go his way that day. He rebounded with a nice win in the 'win-and-you're-in' Bath House. He is a horse that will appreciate more ground, (but) we're very concerned about the lack of pace that is obvious in the Preakness.”

At Churchill Downs Monday morning, First Mission (Street Sense) jogged once around the track on his first morning back training after working five-eighths of a mile Saturday in :59.20 in preparation for the Preakness. First Mission and trainer Brad Cox's other horses headed to Baltimore for Preakness Weekend were scheduled to leave Churchill Downs at 9 a.m. Monday.

Perform (Good Magic) continues to perform the way trainer Shug McGaughey wants the 3-year-old colt to as he heads into the Preakness. He had his final breeze Sunday, working a half-mile in :48.09, the second-fastest clocking of 42 works at the distance.

“I thought his work was excellent,” McGaughey said. “I thought it was the best I had ever seen him go. His work last Sunday (five furlongs in 1:00.56) was good, but this one was better.”

Bill Dory and Adam Ference's Preakness candidate Chase the Chaos (Astern {Aus}) came out of his final timed work in good shape, trainer Ed Moger, Jr. said and will ship from Northern California to Baltimore on Tuesday. Chase the Chaos worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 on Friday, walked Saturday and went back to the track Sunday.

“He couldn't be better,” Moger said.

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Preakness Update: Two Phil’s Out, Blazing Sevens, Perform and Chase the Chaos In

Two Phil's (Hard Spun), a game runner-up in the GI Kentucky Derby, will skip the May 20 GI Preakness S., according to a report from Jim O'Donnell in the Chicago Daily Herald.

“Too soon,” trainer Larry Rivelli told O'Donnell. “Phil came out of the Derby great. We shipped back to Chicago Sunday, but the Preakness is just 12 days away. That's just too soon.”

Two Phil's, coming off a win in the Mar. 25 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, was the only runner close to the hot pace to still be around at the wire in Saturday's Derby.

“I'm not a guy who celebrates [second-place finishes], but this was an exception,” said Rivelli told O'Donnell. “So much had to go right for us and all came so close to going perfect. And you have to give major credit to [Jareth] Loveberry for the ride.”

Two Phil's, winner of last year's GIII Street Sense S. at Churchill Downs, opened 2023 with a runner-up effort in the Jan. 21

GIII Lecomte S. and was second in the Feb. 18 GII Risen Star S. before earning his spot in the Derby with his win in the Jeff Ruby at Turfway Park in March.

While the connections of Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) have yet confirm the colt's participation in two weeks, trainers Chad Brown and Shug McGaughey have both thrown their respective hats into the Preakness arena. Brown confirmed that Rodeo Creek Racing's Blazing Sevens (Good Magic), third last out in the Apr. 21 GI Toyota Blue Grass S., will head to Baltimore following one more work at Belmont Saturday.

“If he comes out of the work good, we'll go down to Pimlico either Sunday or Monday,” Brown said Tuesday morning.

After missing the Derby in 2017 with Cloud Computing and again last year with Early Voting, Brown returned to take the second jewel in the U.S. Triple Crown and he hopes to do it again with last year's GI Champagne S. winner.

“[Blazing Sevens] is coming into the race fresh,” Brown said. “He is coming in with a full tank of gas. Off his most recent work I see him moving forward off the Blue Grass. The horse is as good as I have ever seen him. I needed to see the horse really move forward and to see him at his very best. That is what I am seeing.”

Also confirmed for the Preakness, Woodford Racing, Lane's End Farm, Phipps Stable, Ken Langone and Edward Hudson's Perform (Good Magic) has been supplemented for $150,000.

This represents the first Preakness runner for McGaughey since his Derby hero Orb was seen finishing fourth in the 2013 Preakness.

“It's been a while,” said McGaughey. “Just haven't had the horse.”

A winner at Tampa in March, Perform followed up with a victory in the Apr. 15 Federico Tesio S. at Laurel. The colt will be accompanied by Feargal Lynch, who was also aboard in the Tesio.

“Two turns have helped him a lot,” McGaughey said. “Things changed when we started going around two turns. If I didn't think he fit with these, I would not be running him. We will have to wait and see, but his last two races around two turns have been pretty good.”

Perform is scheduled to work at Belmont on Sunday.

Also confirmed to run Tuesday, Adam Ference and Bill Dory's Chase the Chaos (Astern {Aus}) received the green light from trainer Ed Moger Jr. Chase the Chaos earned an automatic fees-paid berth in the Preakness with his victory in the Feb. 11 El Camino Real Derby on his home track at Golden Gate Fields.

Moger said that Chase the Chaos, who will be his first Preakness starter, will work Saturday and ship to Baltimore on Tuesday.

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