Lukas brings a 'fresh' Market King into the Preakness Stakes

Market King, the newest candidate for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, went out for a routine jog Monday at Churchill Downs as he resumed training following Saturday morning’s five-furlong workout in 1:00.40. That move, on top of one in 1:00.20 four days earlier, encouraged trainer D. Wayne Lukas to put Market King into the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, a race the Hall of Famer has captured six times, most recently in 2013 with Oxbow.

Jon Court, who, at 58, became the oldest jockey to ever ride in the Kentucky Derby when aboard Long Range Toddy, has the mount on the colt owned by Robert Baker and William Mack.

“He’s fresh and he’s doing well,” Lukas said of Market King. “Looking at the field, I think it’s a real competitive field, but I think it’s a doable deal. They’re only 3 once; they only get that opportunity one time. If you pass it up, the hill gets steeper in the fall without a doubt.

"If you like your horse, you give them a shot when they’re 3. But I think there’s about seven or eight of them in there taking a shot.”

Lukas, of course, has padded his Hall of Fame career by winning major races with horses that defy their odds.

“Last year we waltzed into town with a horse, I don’t know what they put him in the morning line, I think it was about 30-1,” he said of Bravazo, who went off at 15-1 odds and finished a half-length behind eventual Triple Crown winner Justify in the Preakness. “And Bravazo was one jump from beating Justify. It’s a horse race. You treat it like a horse race.

"It’s [trainer Bob] Baffert’s race to lose without a doubt [with Improbable], but he’s coming off a tough Derby and back in two weeks. But I saw him [Sunday] and he looked terrific, so I don’t think we’re going to get any breaks. He’s a very solid horse, but you can’t mail it in. You’ve got to go around there.”

Market King finished third in a division of Oaklawn Park’s Rebel Stakes (G2) won by Omaha Beach, the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby until being sidelined by a breathing obstruction. Market King subsequently finished 11th in Keeneland’s Blue Grass (GII).

“He struggled with the racetrack that day, I thought, and that was back quick for him,” Lukas said. “It was a quick turnaround for him with a van trip and a new track. It probably wasn’t a very good trainer’s decision on my part. But he trains so well here (at Churchill Downs), and I think this track plays more like Pimlico than Keeneland does by a long way.

"You always question one who hasn’t gone a mile and a quarter whether he’ll go a mile and three-sixteenths. But like I told Mr. Mack and Mr. Baker, if we’re going to find out, Pimlico is the place to find out, because horses do have a tendency to stay a little longer there.”

Lukas said Market King will van to Baltimore Tuesday, leaving Churchill Downs about 5 a.m.