mr. big news | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mr. Big News ‘Really Strong’ In Final Work For Preakness Stakes

Allied Racing Stable's Kentucky Derby (Grade I) third-place finisher Mr. Big News finalized his major preparation for the $1 million Preakness Stakes (GI) on Saturday, Oct. 3 with a half-mile move in :50.40 Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

Mr. Big News, a last minute entry in the $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, worked with regular exercise rider Tony Camacho in the saddle through splits of :13.20 and :25.40 with a five-furlong gallop out of 1:03.20, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols.

“He left the pole really strong, which is how he was working before the Derby,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “We only wanted an easy work and I told Tony to go in :49 or :50 and gallop out well. He's been fit after just running in the Derby and it's been very promising how strong he's acting in his works after the race.”

Mr. Big News, a bay colt by Giant's Causeway, earned an automatic spot into the Preakness by winning Oaklawn's $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes on April 11. The two-time winner is scheduled to ship to Pimlico on Tuesday.

Chester Thomas' Allied Racing Stable will attempt to get one of their other stable stars, Mr. Money, back on track Saturday in the $100,000 Ack Ack (GIII). Mr. Money, who is co-owned by Spendthrift Farm, is a four-time Grade III winner but has not won since July 2019.

“The good news is we know how much he likes this track at Churchill,” Calhoun said. “He had some things not go his way so far this year. I don't think he liked the surface at Oaklawn (in the April 11 Oaklawn Mile) and race at Keeneland (a 6 ½-furlong allowance on July 12) didn't really suit him either.”

The complete field for the Ack Ack in order of post position (with jockey, trainer and morning line oddsd): Warrior's Charge (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 9-5); Bourbon Calling (Brian Hernandez Jr., Ian Wilkes, 12-1); Proverb (Adam Beschizza, Richard Baltas, 30-1); American Anthem (James Graham, Mike Maker, 5-1); Mr. Money (Gabriel Saez, Calhoun, 6-1); Pioneer Spirit (David Cohen, Robertino Diodoro, 12-1); Alkhaatam (Declan Cannon, Danny Peitz, 20-1); Ebben (Corey Lanerie, Steve Margolis, 5-1); Bankit (Ricardo Santana Jr., Steve Asmussen, 10-1); Thirstforlife (Chris Landeros, Wes Hawley, 30-1); Dinar (Rafael Bejarano, Cherie DeVaux, 30-1); Home Base (Joe Rocco Jr., Mike Tomlinson, 30-1); and Everfast (Julien Leparoux, Jack Sisterson 10-1).

Saturday's Ack Ack is carded as Race 9 with a post time of 4:53 p.m. (all times Eastern). The 10-race program has a first post of 12:45 p.m. The Ack Ack could serve as a prep for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile (GI), which will be run six weeks later on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

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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.”

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Mr. Big News ‘Definitely’ Aiming For Preakness; Pegasus Winner Pneumatic Training Forwardly At Saratoga

Trainer Bret Calhoun termed Allied Racing's Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Mr. Big News “probable” for the Preakness Stakes but that a final decision likely will be made after the colt works later this week.

“Right now he came out of the Derby well; we're definitely pointing that direction,” Calhoun said at Churchill.

Mr. Big News rallied from 10th to finish third in the Kentucky Derby, 3 1/4 total lengths behind victorious Authentic and two lengths behind heavy favorite Tiz the Law. The Giant's Causeway colt earned a free spot in the Preakness Stakes by virtue of winning Oaklawn Park's $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes at 46-1 odds, almost identical to his Derby odds. In between those races, Mr. Big News was sixth in Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes won by Preakness candidate Art Collector.

Calhoun said the Preakness decision will be almost solely made on “just how he's doing,” not on the other horses showing up.

“I want him to be coming into the Derby just like he came into the Derby,” he said. “If he's going that good, we'll run. Who else is running really doesn't have a big bearing. We're getting to the end of the 3-year-old races, so my options are either run him there, go to the turf or back off. I really don't want to run him against older horses at this point in time. So if he's doing really, really well, like he was coming into the Derby, we'll definitely run in the Preakness.”

Of the Derby, Calhoun said, “At the three-eighths pole I got pretty excited. I thought he might win the whole thing. I knew they were going pretty fast in front him, and I thought they might back up to him. He was moving pretty good to them. But the 1-2 finishers are very, very good horses and when they straightened up, they went on and we didn't close the gap very much from there.”

Two years after they finished a very close third in the Preakness with Tenfold, owner Ron Winchell and trainer Steve Asmussen will be back in the 1 3/16-mile classic with Pneumatic. Tenfold closed out of a fog that obscured the view of much of the 2018 Preakness, coming up three-quarters of a length shy of Kentucky Derby winner Justify, who went on to take the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown.

Pneumatic worked five-eighths of a mile Sunday over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track in 1:01 2/5. The Uncle Mo colt will remain there with assistant trainer Scott Blasi until shipping to Pimlico.

“He's training really well,” Asmussen said. “Obviously we were encouraged with his Pegasus. We thought it was his strongest race to date. It appears the Derby participants have come out in good order, and the Preakness ought to be a great race.”

Pneumatic won his first two starts at Oaklawn Park, then was third in Churchill Downs' Matt Winn Stakes (G2) won by the highly regarded Maxfield. After a fourth in the revamped Belmont Stakes, eight weeks later he captured Monmouth Park's Aug. 15 Pegasus. Now he'll have seven weeks before the Preakness.

“We made a conscious decision, because of how well he ran in the Pegasus from the timing after the Belmont to the Pegasus, to try to follow a similar plan that he responded to,” Asmussen said, “(having) nothing but respect for how good of a race it's going to be.”

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