Wed, 05/15/2019 - 17:16

Servis trying to look ahead with Maximum Security

Barbara D. Livingston
Jockey Luis Saez and trainer Jason Servis (center) wait for the stewards' decision following the Kentucky Derby. Maximum Security, ridden by Saez, crossed the wire first, but was disqualified to 17th for interference.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – On a sunny, albeit chilly Wednesday morning at Monmouth Park, trainer Jason Servis was trying to conduct business as usual, accompanying multiple sets of horses to and from his barn to the track.

Work has been the best way for Servis to deal with the still stinging sensation of having been the trainer of the first horse to get disqualified from winning the Kentucky Derby due to an ontrack incident in the 145-year history of the race.

“Turn the page,” Servis, who has more than 60 horses based at Monmouth, said Wednesday.

Wed, 05/15/2019 - 14:39

Omaha Beach staying in Kentucky a bit longer after throat surgery

Barbara D. Livingston
Omaha Beach is currently at WinStar Farm in Kentucky.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Omaha Beach, the favorite for the Kentucky Derby prior to being scratched, will remain in Kentucky longer than expected due to irritation and inflammation following minor throat surgery for an entrapped epiglottis.

Trainer Richard Mandella said Wednesday that the postponed return to California is “no big deal” but that Omaha Beach would remain at WinStar Farm in Kentucky until his throat heals.

Wed, 05/15/2019 - 12:26

Preakness Stakes: Romans taking a shot with longshot Everfast

Ronnie Betor
Preakness longshot Everfast was ninth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

BALTIMORE – A surprise 13th horse for the Preakness was revealed Wednesday morning at Pimlico when trainer Dale Romans entered Everfast in the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

Everfast, owned by Calumet Farm, surely will be one of the longest shots in the Preakness field after most recently finishing fifth by 10 1/4 lengths in the Pat Day Mile on Kentucky Derby Day. Joel Rosario will ride.

Wed, 05/15/2019 - 12:06

Owners just couldn't part with Preakness contender Bourbon War

Ronnie Betor
The Preakness will mark the first time Bourbon War is equipped with blinkers in a race.

Michael McMahon and Jamie Hill were destined to keep the Tapit colt who eventually became Preakness contender Bourbon War.

McMahon and Hill race under the banner Bourbon Lane and pinhook under the banner Spruce Lane. Bourbon War, the first foal out of the Grade 1 winner My Conquestadory, was purchased as a yearling for $410,000, with the idea of pinhooking him the following September.

At the Keeneland auction, he failed to meet his reserve of $550,000 as the bidding stopped at $525,000.

Wed, 05/15/2019 - 11:56

Bodexpress trying to buck history as maiden in Preakness

Barbara D. Livingston
Bodexpress has three second-place finishes from six career starts.

Last year, the undefeated Justify came into the Triple Crown looking to buck the “curse of Apollo” and became the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby without having raced as a juvenile since 1882. This year, a far less accomplished horse, the maiden Bodexpress, is looking to overthrow another century-plus of precedent.

Wed, 05/15/2019 - 11:36

War of Will looks to find fame on his own terms

Barbara D. Livingston
War of Will is one of just four Kentucky Derby contenders that will run in the Preakness.

Mark Casse said all winter that people would be talking about the colt he trains, War of Will, after the Kentucky Derby.

Casse was right, but not in way he meant and hoped.

War of Will has become the most famous eighth-place Derby finisher during the two weeks between Derby and Preakness.

Casse, owner Gary Barber, and jockey Tyler Gaffalione dreamed of War of Will draped with a blanket of Derby roses. Instead, the Derby first-place finisher Maximum Security was draped all over War of Will at the five-sixteenths pole.

Wed, 05/15/2019 - 11:20

Longer distance helps Pimlico Special draw large field

Debra A. Roma
Pimlico plans to close the north end of the grandstand due to structural issues.

BALTIMORE – The Pimlico Special has been a 1 3/16-mile race since War Admiral won the first running in 1937. This year, the distance has been increased to 1 1/4 miles.

Pimlico is a one-mile track, and Friday’s race will start at the very top of the stretch. Longtime track officials believe it will be the first time a 1 1/4-mile race has been held at Pimlico since the late 1980s. The track record of 2:01 4/5 for the distance was set in 1988 by Manzotti.

Wed, 05/15/2019 - 09:46

Dispute over future of Pimlico overshadows gains by Maryland racing

Barbara D. Livingston
The north grandstand at Pimlico will be closed for this year's Preakness after an engineering firm deemed the structure unsafe.

This Saturday, television viewers of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore will see something not often, if ever, seen at the track on the day of its biggest race, the second leg of the Triple Crown. Nearly half of the grandstand at Pimlico will be empty.

Wed, 05/15/2019 - 09:16

Tiller gets off to hot start at meet

Michael Burns
Pink Lloyd paid $3.10 in winning the Jacques Cartier at Woodbine on Saturday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Robert Tiller has gotten off to a fast start at the Woodbine meet, thanks to the popular champion Pink Lloyd and two offspring of the hot Ontario sire Souper Speedy – Ari Gold Speedwagn and Ciuri.

Through Sunday, Tiller had won with 9 of 25 starters, or a 36 percent win clip.

“That’s not going to last,” Tiller said. “We’re running out of horses to run. We have a lot of 2-year-olds. I didn’t see this coming, and I’m very pleased with the way things have gone.”

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 16:48

Market King arrives at Pimlico for Preakness

Jim Dunleavy
Market King arrives at Pimlico on Tuesday afternoon for an intended start in the Preakness.

BALTIMORE – Market King arrived at Pimlico Race Course at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday for his intended start in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, accompanied by Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, his staff, and Lukas’s pony.

Lukas said the van left Churchill Downs at 5 a.m. and that the drive was uneventful.

"It was a real good trip," Lukas said. "There was no traffic. He ate on the way and didn't turn a hair."