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After Troubled Trip In Kentucky Derby, Midnight Bourbon To Wheel Back In Preakness

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen confirmed Thursday morning that Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon will run in the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course May 15.

Asmussen, via text from Texas, also confirmed that Irad Ortiz Jr., the defending three-time Eclipse Award champion, will ride the son of Tiznow in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Winchell Thoroughbreds is seeking its first victory in a Triple Crown race in the family's many decades in horse racing, while Asmussen won the Preakness in 2007 with two-time Horse of the Year Curlin and two years later with the filly and Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. Winchell Thoroughbreds did finish third with Tenfold, just three-quarters of a length behind eventual Triple Crown hero Justify in the foggy 2018 Preakness. Tenfold went on to win the 2019 Pimlico Special (G3).

Midnight Bourbon closed from well back to finish sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) after breaking slowly and taking him out of his up-close running style.

“We didn't think he got the opportunity that he deserved after he missed the break and his back end went out from underneath him,” said David Fiske, the longtime racing and bloodstock manager for the late Verne Winchell and subsequently for Verne's son Ron Winchell. “He got jostled around by the horses on either side of him, then lost some ground. He was pretty wide on the second turn; I think eventually he ran 52 or 56 feet farther than the winner. So that would have put him a little closer. And speed seemed to be lethal on Saturday. There weren't a whole lot of horses that were closing on the front-runners. Then the fact that it took two handlers to get him back to the barn to give him a bath, it didn't seem to take that much out of him. So we thought we'd give it a try.”

Midnight Bourbon visited Churchill Downs' starting gate for routine schooling Thursday, followed by a controlled gallop.

“The horse is doing great,” said Scott Blasi, the assistant trainer who oversees Asmussen's Churchill Downs operation. “I don't think he did a lot of running early (in the Derby), so he seems to have come out of the race pretty fresh.”

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Brown: Crowded Trade Needs ‘To Step Up’ For Preakness Start

Four years after securing his first victory in a Triple Crown race in the Preakness Stakes (G1), trainer Chad Brown is aiming Crowded Trade for Pimlico Race Course's signature event on May 15.

Cloud Computing, a 13-1 long shot co-owned by Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence, won the 2017 Preakness by a head over Classic Empire. Klaravich is the sole owner of Crowded Trade, who has been on course for the Preakness since finishing third in the Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct on April 3.

Brown said Wednesday by phone from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. that Crowded Trade is scheduled to work this weekend, probably on Saturday, weather permitting.

“Assuming he works well, I'm planning on coming to Pimlico and trying the Preakness,” Brown said.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano is booked to ride the colt in the Preakness.

Brown's only other Preakness starter was Good Magic, who ended up fourth in a tight finish of the memorably fog-shrouded 2018 running won by eventual Triple Crown champion Justify.

Crowded Trade is a work in progress for Brown, the four-time Eclipse champion trainer. After breaking his maiden by six furlongs Jan. 28 at Aqueduct, the son of More Than Ready finished second by a nose to Weyburn in the Gotham (G3) before going on to the Wood.

“He's got to step up off his last race and prove he can get the distance,” Brown said. “In both of his last starts, as we have stretched him out, he has come up a little short through the stretch. He makes a good move and he sort of hung a little bit both starts. The distance is definitely a question mark, but he seems like a horse that's improving.”

Although Crowded Trade had enough qualifying points to make it into the field, Brown opted to skip the 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby (G1) and wait for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.

“We specifically sat out the Derby to try to give him a little bit more time in between starts and try a slightly shorter distance than the Derby,” Brown said. “As of right now, we're still following that thought process to give it a try.”

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Cordmaker Returns To Pimlico Special For Third Straight Year

Hillwood Stable's multiple stakes winner Cordmaker, third in each of the past two years, is headed for a third straight trip to the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) May 14 at Pimlico Race Course.

Trainer Rodney Jenkins said Monday that plans call for the gelded 6-year-old son of two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin to make his 29th career start in the 1 3/16-mile Special on the undercard of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2).

“We're going to give it a shot. He's run great the past two years,” Jenkins said. “We're going to give it a chance to see if we can be something besides third this time.”

Bred in Maryland by the late Bob Manfuso and trainer Katy Voss, Cordmaker was beaten two necks when third behind Tenfold and You're To Blame in the 2019 Special. Harpers First Ride was a two-length winner in 2020 when the race was delayed from mid-May to early October amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Cordmaker a half-length behind runner-up Owendale.

Last year's Special came during a career-long winless drought for Cordmaker of 10 races spanning more than 17 months. Second or third in six of those starts, all of them in stakes, he returned to the winner's circle with a front-running one-length triumph in the 1 1/8-mile Harrison E. Johnson Memorial March 13 at Laurel Park.

“It had to be good for him because it got him more confidence. He ran a really nice race,” Jenkins said. “We hope between that and the way he's been training that he's up to this.”

Cordmaker has breezed twice since the Johnson, both times bullet five-furlong moves at Pimlico. He went in 1:00.20 April 18, the fastest of 33 horses, and returned to go in 59.40 seconds April 27, the best of 15 horses.

“He's doing really well. The horse is probably has never done better in his life than he's doing now,” Jenkins said. “He seems to be interested in everything. We took him to Pimlico to work him and he worked good there, so I hope he runs as good as he's training.”

Purchased for $150,000 as yearling in 2016, Cordmaker has nine wins, four seconds and six thirds with purse earnings of $588,640. He won the Jennings for Maryland-bred/sired horses as a 3-year-old in 2018 and the Johnson and Polynesian at Laurel and DTHA Governors Day Handicap in 2019 at Delaware Park.

The Pimlico Special for 3-year-olds and up was created in 1937 by Alfred Vanderbilt, the master of Sagamore Farm, as the first major stakes in the United States set up as an invitational, and was won by Triple Crown champion War Admiral. The following year, War Admiral was upset by Seabiscuit in what Sports Illustrated has called the “Race of the Century.”

Revived in 1988 by the late Maryland Jockey Club president Frank J. De Francis, the Special's illustrious roster of winners also includes Triple Crown winners Whirlaway, Citation and Assault and modern-day Horses of the Year Criminal Type, Cigar, Skip Away, Mineshaft and Invasor.

A total of 16 stakes, 10 graded, worth $3.25 million in purses will be contested over Preakness weekend, May 14-15, at Pimlico, highlighted by the 146th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

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Baffert Tabs Mike Smith To Ride Concert Tour In 146th Preakness Stakes

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said Tuesday morning that the time was right for Gary and Mary West's Concert Tour to jump onto the Triple Crown trail in the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 15 at Pimlico Race Course.

“We figure, this is the race,” Baffert said by phone from Santa Anita. “The Derby is run. A lot of horses, they went through a lot to get here. He's sort of a fresh horse. In the Rebel, he looked so good.”

Concert Tour, who captured the March 13 Rebel (G2) at Oaklawn by 4 ¼ lengths, was withdrawn from consideration for last Saturday's Kentucky Derby (G1) after finishing third as the 3-10 favorite in the Arkansas Derby (G1) on April 10. Baffert made the decision to point the son of Street Sense to the Preakness instead and he confirmed this week that the colt will indeed compete in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. Concert Tour is scheduled to clash with stablemate Medina Spirit, who gave Baffert his record seventh Kentucky Derby success with a gutsy front-running victory at Churchill Downs.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Concert Tour for the first time in the Preakness.

Since the Arkansas Derby, Concert Tour has worked twice at Churchill Downs. Baffert watched him breeze five furlongs in 1:00.60 Sunday morning and decided he should stay on course for the Preakness. Concert Tour will work again this weekend before shipping to Baltimore early next week.

Baffert said that he made changes in strategy after Medina Spirit was second as the favorite in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 3. Putting the colt on the lead in the Derby led to his triumph. Meanwhile, he's had to fine-tune his approach with Concert Tour.

“We're getting to know these horses,” Baffert said. “He's lightly raced, but we've learned a lot about him. So we make adjustments and here we are.

“We know what we need to do, just like Medina Spirit. You get beat and you figure it out,” he added. “You learn more from your losses: what a horse likes, what he doesn't like. Did I have him ready? I make notes and figure out what's wrong. Three weeks just wasn't enough to really feel comfortable to go in there and Gary West really didn't feel comfortable running in the Derby after a race like that.”

Baffert said he spoke with Gary West after Concert Tour's Sunday morning workout and they decided to continue with the plan to run at Pimlico.

“He asked me, 'Did he work well enough to run in the Preakness?'” Baffert said. “I said, 'Yes, he did. He worked well.'”

Once that question was answered, the Wests did not hesitate to make plans for the Preakness.

“That's why they are in the business and that's why they want to try for it,” Baffert said. “If you can run in the Preakness and win the Preakness, it's a very exciting race.”

Concert Tour entered the Arkansas Derby unbeaten in three starts and a top candidate to be among the Kentucky Derby favorites. He faltered, though, forcing to Baffert to change his schedule.

“We'll find out. Let's see how good he is,” Baffert said. “Maybe he's good or maybe not as good as we thought he was. We're going to find out next week.”

Zedan Racing's Medina Spirit could resume training Wednesday at Churchill Downs as the 3-year-old colt prepares for the Preakness Stakes. Medina Spirit had his third scheduled walk day Tuesday after his 12-1 upset Derby victory.

Jimmy Barnes, Baffert's top assistant who is overseeing the training of Medina Spirit and the stable's other horses at Churchill Downs, said Concert Tour returned to the track Tuesday morning after a day off following Sunday's five-furlong workout.

“Concert Tour jogged. Medina walked again today. We'll talk to Bob and see if he wants to go another day or jog him tomorrow or something,” Barnes said. “Everyone is very healthy. I couldn't be happier with them.”

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