Gargan Seeks Second Classic Win With Talkin

Winning the Belmont Stakes (G1) with Dornoch in 2024 was a monumental achievement for trainer Danny Gargan, not just because of the importance of a Triple Crown race win, but because it was held at his home track of Saratoga Race Course for the very first time while Belmont Park began its 3-year reconstruction. Two years later, Gargan will once again look to add a Triple Crown victory to his résumé away from the race's usual home when the May 16 $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1) moves to Laurel Park amid Pimlico Race Course being rebuilt. The colt presented for the challenge is Talkin. "I'm in this game to try and win the classic races," Gargan said. "I live in Saratoga and train at Saratoga most of the year. Obviously, winning the first Belmont at Saratoga was going to be the highlight of my career. But, believe me, you want to hold that trophy (the Woodlawn Vase). You want those Black-Eyed Susans." Winning the garland of Black-Eyed Susans also carries added weight for Gargan as his father, Dan Gargan, rode C.V. Whitney's Fish Wife to victory for trainer George Poole in the 1973 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G3), the Preakness' sister race. "I'd always like to win a big race where he won a big race," Gargan said. Luckily for that mission, Gargan has Talkin ready to contest the 1 3/16-mile distance in what appears to be career-best form. With exercise rider Priscilla Schaefer in the irons, Talkin put the final touches on his Preakness workload May 9 with a half-mile breeze in :47 4/5 outside of company, the fastest of 104 at the distance over the Keeneland main track. Schaefer also rode Dornoch in the mornings for Gargan. Gargan said his colt has thrived at Keeneland since moving up from Florida for the spring. Specifically, his training in the weeks since a third-place finish in the April 4 Blue Grass Stakes (G1) has been his best. "He's training phenomenal; it's the best he's trained all year," Gargan said. "He's more aggressive breezing. He used to be kind of a not very good work horse, and the last three weeks he's really been working tremendous. Today is the best work he's ever had in his life. … If we go (to the Preakness) and win it, I think it has a lot to do with bringing him here and training here. Horses really thrive here. "This is about as good as I've had a horse going into a Triple Crown race in my life. It just now boils down to if he's good enough to win one. We have him where we want him." Gargan certainly knows what it takes for a horse to win a Triple Crown race, and to do it with a son of Good Magic. Gargan has trained several graded-winning sons of the Hill 'n' Dale Farms stallion, the champion 2-year-old male in 2017, but says Talkin is the best he's had after Dornoch. "This horse has a really great mind and great demeanor about him," Gargan said. "He's got a beautiful stride, and he's got great movement. Even at the farm where we broke him—we had several there—and he was (rider) Nellie Breeden's favorite baby on the farm all winter. He's such a beautiful, fluid mover." Bred in Kentucky by Fifth Avenue Bloodstock, Talkin was a $600,000 purchase from the Indian Creek consignment at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, and now races for the partnership of Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Pine Racing Stables, Legendary Thoroughbreds, Belmar Racing and Breeding, and R. A. Hill Stable. Some of those partners also raced Dornoch. Gargan's early expectations seemed to be paying off with a debut win at Saratoga, where Further Ado finished third, and a runner-up finish behind fellow Preakness contender Napoleon Solo in the Champagne Stakes (G1). However, he emerged from a disappointing ninth-place finish in the Remsen Stakes (G2) with an illness that made it evident Kentucky Derby (G1) dreams were likely off the table. To gain some fitness, Gargan entered Talkin in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) and he finished fifth. He then ran in the Blue Grass at Keeneland, where was third, albeit a long distance behind runaway winner Further Ado. "We kind of knew going in (the Blue Grass) that the Derby probably wasn't in his cards; we were pointing to the Preakness all year," Gargan said. "We've done right by the horse and, hopefully, taking our time letting him develop into the horse he's turning into now pays off in the long run."