Owners' Faith in Shackleford Pays Off

Photo: NYRA

Preakness winner Shackleford galloped around Belmont Park’s 1 ½-mile main oval after the break this morning with owners Bill and Donna Cubbedge and Michael and Kim Lauffer looking on.

It was the owners’ willingness to put up the money to enter the Florida Derby on the heels of Shackleford’s disappointing outing in the Fountain of Youth that led to him being here, said trainer Dale Romans. He noted the colt’s second-place finish gave him enough graded stakes earnings to run in the Kentucky Derby, in which he finished fourth.

“You know, $15,000 isn’t chump change when a horse is coming off a 20-length loss,” said Romans. “If they had been a little hesitant, he probably wouldn’t have run. Training horses is all about the little decisions – there are so many you have to make in a horse’s career.”

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