Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said Friday that he is nearly as confident that the Boundary colt will win the Preakness on Saturday as he was before his dominating win in the Kentucky Derby.
“I think that it’s our race to lose,” Dutrow said. “I think that he is the best horse in the race and I think if he breaks with the field, he’ll win the race.”
However, Dutrow said a few times that a clean break from the gate is essential and noted that War Emblem’s chances of sweeping the Triple Crown in 2002 were wiped out when he fell to his knees leaving the gate in the Belmont Stakes.
“When you come out of the gate and the horse stumbles pretty bad, right away horses are in front of them then, and you’ve got a lot of things that you have to deal with,” Dutrow said. “So the break, in my opinion, is the only issue we have to worry about.”
Since Dutrow does not see any speed in the race, he figures that if Big Brown breaks with the field he will be galloping on the lead going down the backstretch.
“It’s all about the break for us,” he said. “If he breaks clean, things will be right there for him. If he wants the lead or wants to sit off it, whatever.”
Still, Dutrow acknowledged that his confidence level is not the same since the Preakness comes up so quickly after the Derby.
“It’s a little bit different because of the training,” Dutrow said. “He was training like clockwork going into the Derby; it was great. Now, he seems like he’s the same horse; it’s all good, but you never know because you don’t have the breezes. No one can tell me how he is going to run (Saturday). He looks like he’s going to run his race, but two weeks is a question mark.
“I don’t see it being a question mark as to where he’s supposed to get beat, but I just can’t feel as confident tomorrow as I did with the Derby. He had a great post for the Derby. He trained like clockwork for it. I really liked him in that race.
“I’m not saying that if he (regresses) some tomorrow that somebody is going to beat him. I don’t see that that’s going to happen. I feel very confident tomorrow with him.”
Big Brown went to the track at 8:30 a.m. Friday and jogged once around the muddy course under exercise rider Michelle Nevin. Dutrow decided not to breeze Big Brown in the two weeks between the Derby and the Preakness. When the track was fast, Big Brown was allowed to gallop. When the track was wet, he was limited to a jog.
Dutrow said he plans to give the colt a short blowout in the stretch Saturday morning. He said it’s a tactic he uses on occasion when a horse misses a workout or races are spaced close together
“I just feel that it will help him tomorrow,” Dutrow said. “That’s all. I like doing it when the opportunity arises and this is a perfect opportunity to try it.”
New padded glue-on shoes were put on Big Brown Wednesday afternoon. Dutrow said he had not planned to change shoes before the Preakness, but went along with the recommendation of Ian McKinlay, who specializes in working with horses who have quarter cracks in their hoofs. Big Brown had problems with quarter cracks during the fall and winter, but his feet have been fine for three months.
“Ian was here and said `Rick, I think you should change them for the race.’ So, I said, `well, go ahead.’” Dutrow said. “He’s an expert at what he does. I didn’t want to take a chance and shoe him up front because anything can happen. I left it up to Ian because he knows what he’s doing and that’s how we played it.”
BEHINDATTHEBAR – The Lexington Stakes (G2) winner was scratched from the Preakness Friday morning after it was discovered that he had a foot bruise.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said he first noticed that the colt might have an issue when he was warming up for his daily 6 a.m. gallop at Belmont Park.
“The way he went this morning, he was a little bit off on his left front,” Pletcher said. “It appears that he’s got a foot bruise in the inside corner of his left front hoof. It’s unfortunate timing.”
Pletcher said the problem might disappear in a few days.
“I would expect that it could possibly be resolved by the beginning of next week,” he said. “Sometimes foot abscesses or bruises can be tricky, but hopefully that won’t be the case and it will be quickly resolved.
Source: By Preakness Release
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