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Mr. Big News Tunes Up for Preakness

Third-place GI Kentucky Derby finisher Mr. Big News (Giant’s Causeway) geared up for Pimlico’s Oct. 3 GI Preakness S. with a half-mile breeze in :48 4/5 (22/76) Friday at Churchill Downs. Regular exercise rider Tony Quinones was in irons.

“He was very sharp this morning,” said trainer Bret Calhoun. “I know it was cool. He went a little quicker than we wanted, but did it very easy, well within himself. He was full of energy, kind of what we wanted to see. It was what we wanted or better.”

Mr. Big News earned a free entry in the Preakness with his win in the Apr. 11 Oaklawn S. Calhoun said his charge will work again Saturday, Sept. 26, which will be his final breeze before the Preakness. If it goes smoothly, Mr. Big News will head to Baltimore for the 1 3/16-mile Classic.

“He’s a fit horse; he doesn’t need a lot,” Calhoun said of next week’s work. “I’m not looking for fitness. Just maintain what we’ve got and hold his edge.”

Owner Chester Thomas and Calhoun said the strong finish by Mr. Big News at the end of the Derby helped determine their colt’s Preakness path.

“The free ride in the Preakness was there,” said Calhoun, “but he needed to prove that he belonged with that group of horses.”

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Mr. BIg News ‘Full Of Energy’ In Workout Toward Preakness Stakes

Even though Kentucky Derby (G1) third-place finisher Mr. Big News earned a free roll in the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1) by virtue of winning Oaklawn Park's $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes, owner Chester Thomas and trainer Bret Calhoun said that has no bearing on their decision to run in Pimlico's famed 1 3/16-mile classic.

What does have bearing is a workout Mr. Big News had Friday at Churchill Downs, where he cruised a half-mile in 48 4/5 seconds under regular exercise rider Tony Quinones, registering the 22nd fastest of 76 works at the distance. Calhoun said he's seeing all the right signs.

“He was very sharp this morning,” he said. “I know it was cool. He went a little quicker than we wanted, but did it very easy, well within himself. He was full of energy, kind of what we wanted to see. It was what we wanted or better.

Calhoun said Mr. Big News will have a final workout on Saturday, Sept. 26. If all continues to go well, the Giant's Causeway colt will be heading to Baltimore. Yet to be determined is if he'll fly or van, he said.

“He's a fit horse; he doesn't need a lot,” Calhoun said of next week's work. “I'm not looking for fitness. Just maintain what we've got and hold his edge.”

Mr. Big News needed the sort of performance he displayed in the Kentucky Derby for his team to consider the Preakness.

“Absolutely,” Calhoun said. “The free ride in the Preakness was there, but he needed to prove that he belonged with that group of horses.”

Mr. Big News required four races before winning, then was fifth in the Fair Grounds' Risen Star (G2). The victory at 46-1 odds in the April 11 Oaklawn Stakes followed before Kentucky Derby aspirations were dashed — temporarily, as it turned out — by a disappointing sixth in Keeneland's rescheduled Toyota Blue Grass (G2) in July. Next on the agenda was to try grass, for which Mr. Big News is well-bred.

But rain left the Churchill Downs turf course too soft for Calhoun to feel they could get a true reading on the colt's affinity for the weeds. About the same time, it became clear that Churchill's new 20-stall starting gate would not be filled this Derby. And Calhoun loved how Mr. Big News was training.

As entry day for the Kentucky Derby approached, Thomas drew up a list of pros and cons on running.

“I had this long sales pitch I was going to give Bret,” Thomas said. “I didn't get very far into it when he said, 'Dude, you want to run in the Derby; we're going to run in the Derby.' I didn't even get to go through my list.”

“The closer we got to the Derby, knowing we could probably get in, I started really dialing in on the Derby in the back of my mind,” Calhoun said. “The weather forecast for Derby Week looked like more rain, so we thought the turf course would remain soft. And the horse was doing really, really good, and we knew he'd love the mile and a quarter.”

Off at 46-1, Mr. Big News was one of the longest shots in the Derby field of 15. He was in 10th early as Authentic was ripping off fractions of 22.91 seconds for the first quarter-mile, 46.41 for the half, 1:10.23 for six furlongs and 1:35.02 for the mile. Favored Tiz the Law hooked Authentic out of the turn for home but Authentic pulled clear lead, winning by 1 1/4 lengths, with Mr. Big News another two lengths back in third.

“There was no question in our mind that we'd be running for sure at the end of the race,” Thomas said of the Derby. “He made that move at the three-eighths pole, honestly, we thought we were going to win that thing for a second. Talk about a thrill. I'd like to say it was a cheap thrill, but it wasn't cheap because it's a lot of money to run in the Derby. But it was a heck of a thrill. But those horses dug in. Just give Authentic all the credit. I mean, what a horse. Those fractions, we're thinking we're sitting on a winner. I'm looking at those fractions and going, 'Yeah, yeah. All right! Time to go!' He made that move; it was so exciting. You never heard anyone scream louder for finishing third.

“So we're excited. This Preakness looks like it's going to shape up to be one of the tougher Preaknesses. And that's OK.”

The post Mr. BIg News ‘Full Of Energy’ In Workout Toward Preakness Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Calhoun: Derby Distance ‘Could Be A Great Equalizer’ For Last-Minute Entry Mr. Big News

Trainer Bret Calhoun announced late Monday that Mr. Big News, winner of the Oaklawn Stakes at 46-1 back in April, would be entered in the 146th Kentucky Derby. The 3-year-old son of Giant's Causeway hasn't run since finishing sixth in the G2 Blue Grass Stakes on July 11, and Calhoun had even been considering a switch to turf, since Mr. Big News is out of a daughter of Galileo.

“After the Blue Grass, I don't think we got quite the trip we wanted there, and it was a little bit disappointing,” Calhoun said. “So, I thought with his pedigree that maybe we should shift gears and try to make a top turf horse out of him, so we started pointing toward the (Grade 2) American Turf (1 1/16 miles on the grass at Churchill on the Kentucky Derby undercard).

“In the last week or so, we've gotten him over the turf course twice here (at Churchill), and its been very soft. We've had some rain, and its not drying out well. It looks like we're going to have some more rain and moisture throughout the week, so we felt like the turf course was going to be a little too soft for his liking. We started thinking about the Derby again, which had been in the back of our mind for the past month, knowing its probably not going to overfill. We really think he'll relish the mile and a quarter, he's training really well over the dirt here, so we decided to take a swing.

“Besides that, (owner) Chester Thomas has had a bad case of Derby fever the last few days!”

Bred in Kentucky by Don Alberto Stable, Mr. Big News was a $95,000 yearling purchase for Thomas' Allied Racing Stable at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall sale. The colt has won two of his seven starts and earned $168,553.

In Saturday's rescheduled Run for the Roses, Mr. Big News drew post position nine and has morning-line odds of 50-1. He'll be ridden by jockey Tyler Gaffalione in the 1 1/4-mile dirt classic.

“The distance is definitely a key factor; you can't run him too far,” Calhoun said. “He's always finishing big, he's always galloping out strong, so I think that could be an equalizer in here. Obviously there's some horses on paper that are more talented, but I think the distance could be a great equalizer.”

Thanks to the National Turfwriters and Broadcasters Association (NTWAB), which has assembled a group of pool reporters providing independent reporting to members unable to be on the Churchill Downs grounds this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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Max Player Works and Mr. Big News Added to Derby Line Up

George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbred Corp.’s Max Player (Honor Code) put in his final work ahead of Saturday’s GI Kentucky Derby with an easy half-mile in :49.80 (26/50) Monday morning at Churchill Downs. The colt put up splits of :12.40 and :24.40 and galloped out in 1:02.80.

“He’s continuing to do well,” Steve Asmussen, who has taken over training duties from Linda Rice, said. “I’m extremely excited about how he’s going to run in the Kentucky Derby. I love how he looks going over the racetrack. His attitude is really good. He came in with a really good attitude and was moving really well. That has stayed the same.”

Max Player won the GIII Withers S. for the New York-based Rice in February and is coming off third-place efforts in the June 20 GI Belmont S. and Aug. 8 GI Travers S. He will be making his first start for Asmussen in the Derby.

“The reason he is here is to give him time to acclimate to the track and the surroundings to hopefully make up the difference,” Asmussen said. “He’s been third to Tiz the Law in his last two races. That horse is the deserving favorite and a tall task. You only have one chance to run in the Derby and we just wanted to do everything we could to give him his best chance.”

Allied Racing Stable’s Mr. Big News (Giant’s Causeway) has been added to the field of Derby contenders. Fifth in the Feb. 15 GII Risen Star S., he won the Apr. 11 Oaklawn S. and is coming off a sixth-place effort in the July 11 GII Toyota Blue Grass S.

“I know we don’t have some of the numbers like Tiz the Law, Art Collector and Honor A. P., but this horse is improving,” said owner Chester Thomas. “I think he is absolutely going to love the distance and will make a big run late.”

Trained by Bret Calhoun, Mr. Big News will be ridden by Gabriel Saez in the Derby. He worked five furlongs in 1:04.40 (2/2) at Churchill Downs Sunday.

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