Taj Mahal Sparkles in Final Tuneup for 151st Preakness

Undefeated back-to-back stakes winner Taj Mahal passed his last big test before the 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) with a sharp five-furlong breeze Saturday morning over the main track at Laurel Park, where the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown will be run May 16. Working in company with 5-year-old stakes-winning gelding Regalo at 6:15 a.m., Taj Mahal cruised through splits of :12 1/5, :24 1/5, :36 2/5 and :48 leading his workmate throughout and pulling away effortlessly down the lane, hitting the wire in 1:00.20 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12 4/5, according to Laurel clockers. Exercise rider Alex Beitia was aboard Taj Mahal. "I feel great. We got it out of the way," Laurel-based trainer Brittany Russell said. "He went well and it looks like he's cooled out well. He's really happy, so that's kind of all you can ask." Russell's husband, six-time Laurel leading rider Sheldon Russell, has been aboard Taj Mahal each of his three starts, all wins at Laurel, and will ride again in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. He was up on Regalo Saturday, giving him a rare glimpse of what other jockeys have seen so far. "It looked good from where I was sitting," Sheldon Russell said. "He's coming off a bit of a layoff, but Regalo is a good work horse." Taj Mahal went solo in his May 2 breeze at Laurel, going five furlongs in a bullet 1:00.40 in his first piece of work since an 8 ¼-length romp in the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio April 18 at Laurel that earned him an automatic berth in the Preakness. Brittany Russell felt the Nyquist colt would benefit from some company this week. "I told Sheldon, 'You're basically working this horse so just keep him in range to keep Taj focused.' We did that before. He just wants to be too aggressive early on in his breeze. He's a speed horse. That's how he runs and that's how he likes to work, so it went just as I expected," she said. "Regalo is coming off a bit of a layoff so he's not tuned up 100 percent, but he's a good horse and a good work horse." Beitia, who works afternoons as a valet in Laurel's jockey room, has been Taj Mahal's regular morning partner since capturing his Feb. 6 unveiling in a six-furlong maiden special weight. Taj Mahal returned just 15 days later with a determined front-running head triumph in the one-mile Miracle Wood. "[He was] steady, in hand, happy [and] galloped out good. We're keeping it really simple," Brittany Russell said. "Alex knows this horse. He's breezed him pretty much every time. Sheldon breezed him before he broke his maiden to get to know him and everything, but Alex sits on him every day, so it makes sense. He knows him best." Owned in a partnership led by SF Racing, Taj Mahal is scheduled to have a walk day Sunday and jog Monday to open Preakness week, though Russell is ready to call an audible, if necessary. "We just want to keep it simple and keep him happy," she said. "I'm going to play the weather over the next couple days. We're supposed to get some rain. He'll probably walk tomorrow and jog Monday [but] I'll look at him in the morning. If he's jumping out of his skin, he'll go to the track. I kind of play it as I see it." The Hell We Did's Breeze Initially Interrupted The Hell We Did, trained by Todd Fincher for Peacock Family Stable, had its final planned breeze initially interrupted by a riderless horse. He went to the main track at 7:45 a.m. after the first renovation break with exercise rider Christian Olmo, who had begun the work when he had to pull up on the backstretch due to a riderless horse on the track. They turned back and were able to start again, striding through the lane and was credited with a five-furlong time of 1:01.40, the second fastest of nine five-furlong breezes of the morning recorded by Laurel clockers. "I don't think the horse was loose, I just think the rider was off and holding on," said Fincher, who arrived in Maryland Friday evening. "Sometimes it's not meant to be. Things happen for a reason. It's not anything he did wrong. It's just circumstance." The Hell We Did, a last-out second in the April 11 Lexington (G3) at Keeneland, appeared unbothered as he was bathed and then led around the shedrow of Barn 17, where he has taken up residence since arriving from Kentucky April 28. "He's good. He's smart. He's everything you'd want," Fincher said. "He's gentle, easy, no problem to do anything." Out of the Desert God mare Rose's Desert, The Hell We Did is a younger half-brother to Senor Buscador, winner of the 2024 Saudi Cup (G1) and earner of more than $12.9 million in purses. "His mama's been phenomenal. I trained her her whole career, too. She was a New Mexico-bred," Fincher said. "They're all different. She's had several foals and I wouldn't say two of them are alike. They all can run, that's the only thing, but they're all different personalities." Ortiz Jr. to Seek First Preakness Win on Silent Tactic Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Silent Tactic's sporadic foot issue has been doing better and better, each day increasing the likelihood of John Oxley's colt running in the 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16 at Laurel Park, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said. The fact that Casse has enlisted five-time Eclipse Award winner Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride Silent Tactic indicates how serious they are about the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. Casse scratched Silent Tactic three days before the Kentucky Derby (G1) when a foot bruise flared up, though by Derby Day he said the foot was fine. The winner of Oaklawn Park's Feb. 6 Southwest (G3) worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds Friday morning at Churchill Downs. "He looks great this morning," Casse said by phone Saturday. "I want to see how he trains the next day or so. Irad is going to ride him. Right now, I'd say it's a 'go.' Like I said yesterday, we're closer to going than we were the day before. And I'd say the same today: we're closer today. I'm starting to look for travel plans." Casse, who won the 2019 Preakness with War of Will, said that if all continues well the $500,000 OBS April 2025 2-year-old purchase will ship from Kentucky to Maryland on Tuesday. Ortiz is seeking his first Preakness victory after being second on Blazing Sevens in 2023 and Midnight Bourbon in 2021. Napoleon Solo Sitting on 'Go' Following Breeze Gold Square LLC's Napolean Solo got in his final prep for the 151st Preakness (G1) Saturday morning on the training track at Belmont Park, covering a half-mile in 48.06 seconds. The Champagne Stakes (G1) winner will ship from New York to Laurel Park on Sunday morning to prepare for the May 16 Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, trainer Chad Summers said. Napolean Solo has worked four times since finishing fifth, beaten 2 ¾ lengths three-quarters after setting the pace in the Wood Memorial (G2) April 4 at Aqueduct. "He's been sitting on 'go' for a little while, so we just wanted to kind of slow him down a little bit this morning," Summers said. "Emily Ellingwood gets on him every day, does a great job with him, and she was aboard for the work this morning. We took him out right before the track closed. When it was quiet, nobody else was on the track, about 10:15 this morning. He went :48, galloped out in a minute and change: 1:13, 1: 26, galloped out a mile in 1:41. I think we've done all the work we can to get him fit, to get him happy, feeling good, and we'll find out if we're right next Saturday." Summers noted that the work, fourth-fastest of 51 at the distance, was nothing special for the gray Liam's Map colt: "Forty-eight is very slow for him. He worked 1:10 last week, so :48 is just a drop in the bucket for him. Paco Lopez, who was up for the Wood, will ride in the Preakness. Napolean Solo, named by owner Al Gold for the main character in the 1960s television show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. opened his career with a 5¼-length score in a maiden special weight race Aug. 8 at Saratoga. He stayed perfect, leading from gate to wire, in the Champagne Oct. 4 at Aqueduct. He was a well-beaten fifth in his 2026 debut in the Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park Feb. 28. Bull by the Horns on Course for Preakness after Gulfstream Work Peachtree Stable and Mark Corrado's Bull by the Horns is on course for a start in the 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) following a four-furlong workout in 47.84 seconds in company Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park. The Saffie Joseph Jr. trainee had been entered in Saturday afternoon's Peter Pan (G3) at Aqueduct but was scratched in favor of running in the May 16 Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown at Laurel Park. "It was enough to get plenty out of the work. He went 47-and-4, out in a minute-and-change, so it was a productive work," Joseph said. "All is set to give the Preakness a try." The son of Essential Quality is coming off an impressive last-to-first stretch drive to win the 1 1/16-mile Rushaway Stakes over Turfway Park's all-weather surface March 21. A rider for the Preakness has not been confirmed, while Joseph considers his options. Bull by the Horns is scheduled to ship from Gulfstream to Laurel Monday. Joseph expects to arrive Thursday. Englehart Pleased with Pretty Boy Miah's Work Trainer Jeremiah Englehart liked what he saw Saturday morning during Preakness (G1) candidate Pretty Boy Miah's half-mile work in :49.04 over the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. It was the 12th fastest breeze of 42 recorded at the distance. Englehart said the Beau Liam gelding galloped out six furlongs in 1:15 following the timed work at 6 on a brisk morning in upstate New York. It was Pretty Boy Miah's first breeze since he prevailed by 3¾ lengths in an allowance race at Aqueduct April 25. As of Saturday afternoon, Pretty Boy Miah is outside the limit of 14 horses that can go to the gate for the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park May 16. "That was kind of what we wanted to see from him," Englehart said. "All systems are 'go' if he's able to get in. If he's not able to get in, we'll probably still maybe circle the Sir Barton or something like that, but we want to give him a chance." The 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton for 3-year-old non-winners of an open sweepstakes, named for the first Triple Crown winner, is run on the Preakness undercard. The Preakness program will be drawn Monday. Englehart said that jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., who has been aboard for the speedy Kentucky-bred's back-to-back victories, will ride him again at Laurel. After Pretty Boy Miah broke his maiden by 6 ½ lengths at Aqueduct March 29, Englehart thought he might run him back in a first-level allowance race on the Kentucky Derby (G1) program at Churchill Downs. "Then this race came up [at Aqueduct] where he became eligible for the auction maiden allowance condition, because he started in a maiden auction allowance, even though he broke his maiden in an open maiden," Englehart said. Following a sharp work over the Belmont Park training track April 10 -- his exercise rider told Englehart he was "ready" -- the trip to Kentucky was scuttled. "I was kind of waiting for May 2," Englehart said, "but I just figured, he just seems like he's doing so well we might as well take a shot and see if this race goes and if it does, and we'll run at Aqueduct and see what we've got after that." The convincing win in his first try at one mile encouraged Englehart to take aim at the Preakness. Crupper Being Kept 'Under Control' Robert Zoellner's homebred Crupper, who earned an automatic spot in the 14-horse Preakness Stakes (G1) thanks to winning the April 18 Bathhouse Row at Oaklawn Park, had a walk day Saturday after getting in a "two-minute lick" for six furlongs in his 1 1/2-mile gallop Friday morning at Churchill Downs' satellite Trackside training center. Crupper breezed five furlongs in 59.80 seconds May 1, fastest of seven horses. "We had our more serious work last week," trainer Donnie Von Hemel said. "This week, we're just looking to keep him under control, to where he's not getting too high. He got a good blow in, anyway. It looks like he came back out of it well, eating up well." Von Hemel said Crupper will resume training Sunday morning. "We're still working on logistics, but I'd like to train Tuesday morning and then go," he said of vanning to Laurel. "Then I can walk Wednesday there and train Thursday and Friday." The trainer said he'll fly to Maryland on Tuesday. Junior Alvarado, who rode Crupper in the Bathhouse Row, has the Preakness mount. Alvarado, who won last year's Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) on Horse of the Year Sovereignty, is seeking his first Preakness victory. Von Hemel has had one prior Preakness starter, finishing seventh in 1995 with Our Gatsby. NOTES: Ocelli -- who when third at 70-1 odds became the first maiden to hit the board in the Kentucky Derby (G1) since at least 1937 -- jogged and galloped at Churchill Downs on Saturday morning. Trainer Whit Beckman said Ocelli will train Sunday morning before shipping to Maryland. He said he'll have a walk day Monday at Laurel before resuming training Tuesday. Beckman said he'll fly to Maryland Monday afternoon. Tyler Gaffalione, aboard Ocelli for the first time in the Derby, has the return mount. Gaffalione won the 2019 Preakness on War of Will. Trainer Dallas Stewart reported that Corona de Oro, third in the Lexington, came out of Friday's work at Churchill in good order and, as long as no unexpected horses are entered Monday that would knock Corona de Oro out of the race, he'll ship to Maryland Tuesday. Hall of Famer John Velazquez, winner of the 2023 Preakness on National Treasure, has the mount. Chip Honcho, winner of the Gun Runner and runner-up in the Risen Star (G2) runner-up who was fifth in the Louisiana Derby (G2) this winter at Fair Grounds, is scheduled to work Sunday morning at Churchill and ship to Maryland Monday, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said via text. Jose Ortiz, who was in the saddle when Chip Honcho won his maiden race, will be back aboard for the Preakness.