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Saturday’s Preakness Update: Trio of Breezers at Belmont

Trainer Chad Brown sent out Klaravich Stables' duo of Crowded Trade (More Than Ready) and Risk Taking (Medaglia d'Oro) to breeze in company Saturday, while Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher had Whisper Hill Farm's Unbridled Honor (Honor Code) work in company with older graded stakes winner Fearless (Ghostzapper) at Belmont Park in preparation for next Saturday's GI Preakness S.

Risk Taking, winner of the GIII Withers S. and seventh-place finisher in the GII Wood Memorial S., worked outside of narrow GIII Gotham S. second and Wood Memorial third Crowded Trade, through five-eighths in 1:01.76 on a main track rated fast at 8:45 a.m. with the pair finishing together at the wire. Risk Taking was scratched out of Saturday's GIII Peter Pan S. in favor of the second leg of the Triple Crown.

“I thought they breezed super. It was just what I wanted,” Brown said. “I got them in 1:01 and even out in 1:13 and change. I was real happy with it.”

Brown added of Risk Taking, “His last two works were the best we've seen.”

As for Crowded Trade, he said, “He's only raced three times. He's run three really credible races and he's going in the right direction. He's had six weeks between races and I could see him running a really big race on Saturday.”

Unbridled Honor, runner-up in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S., worked outside of Fearless on Belmont's dirt training track at 9:30 a.m. The pair covered a half-mile in :49.75 and out in 1:02.1 with a long gallop out through the turn.

“I thought both horses worked well to the wire,” Pletcher said. “Fearless was particularly strong on the gallop out and I thought Unbridled Honor did well. I was happy with both of them.”

As for Unbridled Honor, Pletcher added, “We weren't really thinking Derby at that time [in the Lexington]. We were hoping for a good performance, which we got. He finished up well and he continues to improve with each start. He had a good pace to run at that day. Hopefully, it will be a contested pace at Pimlico.”

Fearless, winner of the GII WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile S. and runner-up in the GII Oaklawn H., is being pointed to the GIII Pimlico Special S. May 14.

John and Diane Fradkin's homebred and El Camino Real Derby winner Rombauer (Twirling Candy), meanwhile, had his final timed workout in preparation for the Preakness Saturday morning, covering five furlongs in :59.80 seconds under jockey Flavien Prat at Santa Anita. “He worked in company, settled in a length behind the other horse, passed him coming to the eighth pole and went on about his business,” trainer Michael McCarthy said.

Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas has confirmed Ram (American Pharoah) as a starter for the Preakness. He won his second straight annexing an allowance on the GI Kentucky Derby undercard. “We realize he has to step forward to be effective,” Lukas said. “But when these horses are doing well, sometimes they'll step up and do what you want them to do. I always thought this horse had potential.”

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Chad Brown Pair, Unbridled Honor Post Belmont Park Drills For Preakness

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown sent out Klaravich Stables' duo of Crowded Trade and Risk Taking to breeze in company Saturday, while Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher had Whisper Hill Farm's Unbridled Honor work in company with older graded stakes winner Fearless at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., in preparation for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Preakness.

The Preakness, the second jewel of the Triple Crown, will be contested at 1 3/16-miles on Saturday, May 15 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

Risk Taking worked outside of Crowded Trade, both with exercise riders up, through five-eighths in 1:01.76 on a main track rated fast at 8:45 a.m. with the pair finishing together at the wire.

“I thought they breezed super. It was just what I wanted,” said Brown, who captured the 2017 Preakness with Cloud Computing, who was co-owned by Klaravich Stables with William H. Lawrence. “I got them in 1:01 and even out in 1:13 and change. I was real happy with it.”

A bay son of Medaglia d'Oro, Risk Taking was purchased for $240,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He graduated at third asking in a nine-furlong maiden special weight in December at Aqueduct Racetrack and captured the Grade 3 Withers at the same distance in February at the Big A.

Last out, Risk Taking failed to fire when seventh as the mutuel favorite in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3.

Brown said the opportunity to run two turns was a key factor in Risk Taking being scratched from today's Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, going a one-turn 1 1/8-miles on Big Sandy.

“It was a huge factor along with the distance of the race,” said Brown. “I think the longer the better for him. Both of his wins are around two turns and I didn't want to change anything.”

Brown said he is hoping the lackluster effort last out was due to kickback from a heavy Big A main track.

“It was a heavy dirt that day. He really resented it and I'm hoping that's why he ran uncharacteristically poor,” said Brown.

The veteran conditioner said he is buoyed by how Risk Taking has come out of the Wood Memorial.

“His last two works were the best we've seen,” said Brown.

Crowded Trade, a chestnut son of More Than Ready, has made all three career starts at the Big A. He won on debut in January sprinting six furlongs on the main track and followed with a narrow nose loss to Weyburn in the Grade 3 Gotham traveling a one-turn mile on March 6.

Crowded Trade, who was eighth at the half-mile call last out in the Wood Memorial, closed to finish third. Brown said he expects Crowded Trade to be more prominent in the Preakness.

“He just broke bad,” said Brown regarding the Wood Memorial. “He didn't get away good and lost position early. Hopefully, he gets out of the gate better this time.”

Brown said the lightly-raced Crowded Trade has every right to improve next Saturday.

“He's only raced three times. He's run three really credible races and he's going in the right direction,” said Brown. “He's had six weeks between races and I could see him running a really big race on Saturday.”

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will ride Crowded Trade in the Preakness, while Jose Ortiz has the call on Risk Taking.

Brown trainees will also be a factor on the Preakness undercard as Kuramata and Sacred Life will ship to Pimlico for the Grade 2, $250,000 Dinner Party, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for 3-year-olds and up. He will also be represented by Great Island and Flighty Lady in the Grade 3, $150,000 Gallorette at 1 1/16-miles on turf for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.

Unbridled Honor, a Kentucky homebred piloted by exercise rider Amelia Green, worked outside of Fearless, a 5-year-old son of Ghostzapper under exercise rider Hector Ramos, on Belmont's dirt training track at 9:30 a.m. The pair covered a half-mile in 49.75 and out in 1:02.1 with a long gallop out through the turn.

“I thought both horses worked well to the wire,” said Pletcher. “Fearless was particularly strong on the gallop out and I thought Unbridled Honor did well. I was happy with both of them.”

A grey son of Honor Code, Unbridled Honor graduated at third asking in a mile and forty yard maiden special weight on February 6 at Tampa Bay Downs. He followed with a closing fourth in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby in March ahead of a good second in the Grade 3 Lexington contested at 1 1/16-miles on a sloppy Keeneland main track on April 10.

Pletcher said he was pleased with the Lexington effort, which offered 20-8-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

“We weren't really thinking Derby at that time. We were hoping for a good performance, which we got,” said Pletcher. “He finished up well and he continues to improve with each start. He had a good pace to run at that day. Hopefully, it will be a contested pace at Pimlico.”

Luis Saez will have the call aboard Unbridled Honor in the Preakness and Pletcher said he expects another closing run.

“I think that's his running style so we'll hope for a good, solid pace upfront and come with a late run,” said Pletcher. “A wet track wouldn't be a problem.”

WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s Fearless is pointed to the Grade 3, $250,000 Pimlico Special at 1 3/16-miles on the main track on May 14. He made the grade in his seasonal debut in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile on February 27. Last out, Fearless finished a rail-running second to Silver State in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on April 17.

“It was a good effort in both of his races this year. He indicated this morning that he's maintaining his form,” said Pletcher.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will retain the mount.

The third jewel of the Triple Crown, the 153rd renewal of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, is slated for Saturday, June 5, as the centerpiece of the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

The festival, which kicks off on Thursday, June 3, will include 17 stakes races in total, with eight Grade 1 races to be contested on Belmont Stakes Day.

Only 13 horses in history have achieved Triple Crown glory by winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, affirming its status as one of the rarest accomplishments in all of sports.

For information and details on hospitality offerings, ticket packages and pricing, visit BelmontStakes.com. For full terms and conditions, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/tickets.

For comprehensive information on health and safety protocols in effect for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet, please visit: https://www.nyra.com/belmont/visit/plan-your-visit.

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Risk Taking, Unbridled Honor Added to Preakness

Next weekend's GI Preakness S. continues to take shape as GSW Risk Taking (Medaglia d'Oro) and Unbridled Honor (Honor Code) are expected to be added to the fray during Monday's draw at Pimlico.

Winner of the GIII Withers S. in February, Risk Taking had been initially tabbed to contest the nine-furlong GIII Peter Pan S. at Belmont Saturday, but has been rerouted to join his Klaravich Stables stablemate, Crowded Trade (More Than Ready), in the second jewel in the Triple Crown. Chad Brown trains the colt for Baltimore native Seth Klarman, who was the co-owner of Brown's 2017 Preakness winner Cloud Computing.

“After a couple of lengthy discussions with Mr. Klarman, we feel that this horse is better around two turns,” explained Brown. “That, along with the defections, it just seemed like a good opportunity to take a chance with the horse. I know he is the morning-line favorite for the Peter Pan and we are giving that up, but the reward is: if we are able to get lucky in this race and have him run the race of his life and potentially win or be right there, it's a huge purse. Along with that, it's a little better for him around two turns with the extra distance. Of course, it's a tougher race, but it just came down to a risk-and-reward situation and getting the opportunity to try him around two turns.”

The Preakness will be Risk Taking's first start since he finished seventh as the 2-1 favorite in the Apr. 3 GII Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. He broke his maiden at the Big A in December prior to his Withers score.

“Our optimism is really based on being able to confidently draw a line through the Wood,” Brown said. “If we do that, and if he was to move forward off his previous two races, another step forward, finishing strong at a mile and three-sixteenths, it could potentially put him in the trifecta or maybe better.”

Jose Ortiz will ride the Risk Taking in the Preakness.

Newly-minted Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher also confirmed Whisper Hill's Unbridled Honor will take aim at the Preakness, the only Classic which the 53-year-old has yet to win.

A narrow winner in his third career start going just over a mile at Tampa in February, the colt was fourth in the GII Tampa Bay Derby before a runner-up finish in the GIII Lexington S. at Keeneland Apr. 10.

“He's a horse that we've always had high hopes for,” Pletcher said Friday. “He's always trained really well and he's still sort of putting it all together in race situations. We thought he made a move forward in the Tampa Derby when he ran a sneaky-good fourth and was finishing arguably the best of anyone in the field. He came back and was second-best in the Lexington. That was another improving effort.”

The grey will be Pletcher's 10th Preakness runner and his first since Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming finished eighth in 2017. His best finish was a third with his first starter, Impeachment, in 2000.

Unbridled Honor will have his final Preakness work Saturday morning and is scheduled to ship from Belmont Park to Pimlico on Tuesday.

Pletcher indicated that the 1 3/16-mile race could provide an ideal scenario for the colt.

“We like the way he's training and if he could get a decent pace up front to run at, we feel that if he can take another step forward and he's in the mix,” Pletcher said.

Jockey Luis Saez will replace Julien Leparoux in the saddle for the Preakness, his first mount on the colt.

“We've had a lot of luck with Luis,” Pletcher said. “He's riding great and we're happy to have him.”

In related Preakness news, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas told Maryland Jockey Club racing officials Friday that Christina Baker and William Mack's Ram (American Pharoah) has not been ruled out and he expects a decision to be made Saturday.

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Brown Confirms Risk Taking Will Scratch From Peter Pan, Enter Preakness Stakes

In a late change of plans, the well-named colt Risk Taking will be entered Monday for the May 15 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course, trainer Chad Brown said Friday.

Rather than run in the one-turn 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan (G3) Saturday at Belmont Park, Risk Taking will join his Klaravich Stables stablemate, Crowded Trade, in the 1 3/16-mile $1 million Preakness. Baltimore native Seth Klarman is the proprietor of Klaravich Stables, which was the co-owner of Brown's 2017 Preakness winner Cloud Computing.

“After a couple of lengthy discussions with Mr. Klarman, we feel that this horse is better around two turns. That, along with the defections, it just seemed like a good opportunity to take a chance with the horse,” Brown said. “I know he is the morning-line favorite for the Peter Pan and we are giving that up, but the reward is: if we are able to get lucky in this race and have him run the race of his life and potentially win or be right there, it's a huge purse. Along with that, it's a little better for him around two turns with the extra distance. Of course, it's a tougher race, but it just came down to a risk-and-reward situation and getting the opportunity to try him around two turns.”

The Preakness will be Risk Taking's first start since he disappointed as the 2-1 favorite in the Wood Memorial (G2) on April 3 at Aqueduct. He was a well-beaten seventh of nine horses. Prior to the Wood, he broke his maiden on Dec. 13 and won the Withers (G3) on Feb. 6, both at 1 1/8 miles.

Jose Ortiz will ride the son of Medaglia d'Oro in the Preakness.

Brown plans to work Risk Taking and Crowded Trade on Saturday morning at Belmont Park.

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