Mr. Big News, third in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) Sept. 5, had his final major training session for the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico with a maintenance half-mile breeze in :50 2/5 Sept. 25 at Churchill Downs.
With exercise rider Tony Quinones aboard, Mr. Big News traveled through splits of :13 1/5 and :25 2/5 before finishing off his final quarter-mile in :25. Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols timed him galloping out five furlongs in 1:03 1/5.
“He left the pole really strong, which is how he was working before the Derby,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “We only wanted an easy work, and I told Tony to go in :49 or :50 and gallop out well. He’s been fit after just running in the Derby, and it’s been very promising how strong he’s acting in his works after the race.”
Mr. Big News will be the first Preakness starter for Calhoun and owner Chester Thomas’ Allied Racing Stable.
Gabriel Saez has the mount on the Giant's Causeway 3-year-old, who earned a fees-paid spot in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness by virtue of winning Oaklawn Park’s $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes at 46-1 odds April 11—though his connections say that is not the specific motive for pursuing the Preakness.
He came into the Kentucky Derby off a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) at Keeneland, won by Preakness contender Art Collector. But Mr. Big News’ subsequent strong training in the weeks leading up to the Derby convinced Calhoun and Thomas to swing for the fences, the result being a show finish behind Authentic and Tiz the Law .
Authentic is also pointed for the Preakness, though Tiz the Law is bypassing the race.
“I’m seeing what I saw going into the Derby,” Calhoun said. “He’s gotten sharper and stronger in his gallops every day since the Derby. I think that he’ll only get stronger, or he isn’t going to the Preakness.”
Asked about the potential field, which appears to be growing in the leadup to entries next week, he said: “I guess there are a lot of people out there taking a shot. I don’t know a lot about them and honestly don’t concern myself a lot with them. I obviously have upmost respect for Authentic, Thousand Words , and Art Collector. They’re very proven horses. There are a lot of other good horses going in there. But I’m pretty much just focused on my horse.”
He acknowledged that one or more of the horses jumping into the Preakness late could be like Mr. Big News heading into the Kentucky Derby.
“Yeah, obviously those horses are doing good,” Calhoun said. “They wouldn’t be putting them in there if they didn’t think they were doing well and thriving. There will be some horses that haven’t been on the Triple Crown trail earlier, that have shown up in other places and are starting to peak coming around toward the end of the year. You always have to be worried about those.”
“We’re going up there with the intent to win,” Thomas told Pimlico publicity Friday morning. “But it’s a tough game. It takes a lot of luck. … (But) we’re not going up there hoping to finish second or third. We’re going up there hoping to win."
Authentic and Thousand Words are scheduled to record their final works before the Preakness over this weekend at Churchill Downs.
Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who last week earned a milestone 9,000th victory, plans to run three horses in the Preakness: George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player , Winchell Thoroughbreds' Pneumatic, and Calumet Farm's Excession.
According to Pimlico publicity, only 15 wins from the trainer have come at Pimlico, but many of the victories have been in graded stakes, including the 2007 Preakness with two-time Horse of the Year Curlin and the 2009 Preakness with the filly Rachel Alexandra, another eventual Horse of the year.
Asmussen does not operate a stable in Maryland and typically only participates at Pimlico during the week of the Preakness.
Returning from a layoff for the trainer is Excession, who hasn't raced since he was second at 82-1 odds in Oaklawn Park's Rebel Stakes (G2). That March 14 race was won by Nadal, who before being injured was one of the top choices for the Kentucky Derby.
"He needed some time after the Rebel," Asmussen said of Excession. "He's been working well recently. His race against Nadal was very impressive. Just a weird year that he's allowed him to take a break and come back" for a Triple Crown race.
Pneumatic and Max Player are his more accomplished entrants.
