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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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Perform, Red Route One Tune Up For Preakness; Mage Arrives at Pimlico

Perform (Good Magic) tuned up for Saturday's GI Preakness S. with a half-mile drill in :48.09 (2/42) over the main track at Belmont Park Sunday.

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Perform worked just after the renovation break under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-60s, completing his exercise to the outside of his maiden workmate Weyhill Road (Quality Road).

McGaughey said the work was just what he hoped to see ahead of the colt's graded stakes debut.

“I was very pleased with the way he worked and they did exactly what I wanted,” said McGaughey. “I said to let them go in :25 and change [for the first quarter-mile] and let them finish up, and that's what they did. They galloped out good and I thought they were going along very easy.”

Perform, a maiden winner while making his two-turn debut at Tampa Bay Downs Mar. 11 in his sixth start, earned a spot in the Preakness with a late-running victory in the Federico Tesio S. at Laurel Apr. 15. Ridden by Feargal Lynch, who will return to ride in the Preakness, Perform stumbled at the break of the Tesio and rallied from as far as 10 lengths off the pace to roll home late and nail Ninetyprcentmaddie (Weigelia) at the wire by a head in a final time of 1:52.18. The effort was awarded a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I think he grew up in that race,” said McGaughey. “I'm very pleased with the way he's doing and I'm excited about going down there to see what happens.”

McGaughey said maturity and stretching out to two turns has made the difference for the improving Perform.

“As a 2-year-old, he didn't really train that way,” said McGaughey. “I thought he was a sprinter and I ran him on the Fourth of July weekend where he ran second. I was a little bit disappointed in his races after that. But I think the sprint races helped get him to the long races.”

McGaughey said the extra half-furlong will benefit Perform, who was supplemented to the Preakness for a fee of $150,000.

“I don't think it will hurt him,” McGaughey said of the 1 3/16-mile distance.

Perform is scheduled to ship to Pimlico Tuesday.

Also working for the Preakness Sunday, Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred Red Route One (Gun Runner) went a half-mile in :49.20 (19/39) at Churchill Downs for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Red Route One earned his first stakes victory in his last start, taking Oaklawn Park's Bath House Row to earn a fees-paid berth in the Preakness.

Stablemate Disarm (Gun Runner), coming off a fourth-place effort in the GI Kentucky Derby, galloped at Churchill Downs Sunday and is expected to work Monday.

Both colts are scheduled to ship to Maryland Tuesday.

Kentucky Derby hero Mage (Good Magic) arrived at Pimlico Sunday morning following an overnight van ride from Churchill Downs.

“We stopped for gas and we stopped to check [Mage's] water,” Gustavo Delgado, Jr., assistant trainer to his father, said. “We left when we did because we wanted to beat traffic. It was a good, smooth trip. He is a good traveler.”

After arriving at Pimlico at 6 a.m., Mage walked after exiting the van and laid down in his new stall for a bit. By 8:30, he was up and alert, checking out his new surroundings. The plan is for Mage to make his first appearance on the track early Monday morning.

Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) shipped down from trainer Chad Brown's Belmont base Sunday morning, while National Treasure (Quality Road) arrived at Pimlico Saturday evening for trainer Bob Baffert.

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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.

The post Preakness Update: Two Phil’s Out, Blazing Sevens, Perform and Chase the Chaos In appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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