Preakness: More routine training comes from more horses

Baltimore

Some new faces showed up at Pimlico on Wednesday for Preakness 2023. But most of the attention was pointed again where it has been all week. At Kentucky Derby winner Mage.

“Same routine,” assistant trainer and co-owner Gustavo Delgado Jr. told reporters after another 1 1/2-mile gallop around the main track at Pimlico. “To me he looked better. More energy today. He wanted to do a little more.”

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Perhaps with an exclamation point. Mage reared up a bit as he left the track.

“He was showing off a little bit,” Delgado said. “He was just feeling good.”

About the only thing that altered Mage’s now-usual 8:30 a.m. EDT gallop was a horse who temporarily got loose. That brought training to a brief halt and delayed Mage’s entrance onto the racecourse.

“My dad (trainer Gustavo Delgado Sr.) was on the track,” the younger Delgado said. “He called me and said, ‘They got a loose horse.’ Then as soon as they went to catch him, he called me back and said, ‘We’re good to go.’ ”

It was another comfortably sunny morning Wednesday. Only a shower Tuesday night has broken the pattern of perfect weather at Pimlico this week. The elder Delgado said he was a bit worried about what the conditions might be as he prepared Mage to continue his pursuit of what would be the third Triple Crown in nine years.

“It’s better and better and better,” he said. “This weather is the best for the horse. It’s very good for me, too.”

The National Weather Service, however, forecast a 40-50 percent chance of showers Saturday.

Seven Preakness horses jogged or galloped Wednesday morning on the track where they will be racing 1 3/16 miles this weekend.

Red Route One, who won the Bath House Row Stakes last month at Oaklawn to qualify for the Preakness, got his first look at Pimlico on Wednesday.

“He shipped in very well yesterday. He jogged a mile (Wednesday). We let him settle in. I’m sure we’ll do a little more with him tomorrow,” said Darren Fleming, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. “We just need things to go his way (Saturday) and for him to get a good trip.”

Blazing Sevens, who could be Chad Brown’s third Preakness winner in seven years, returned to the track for a gallop a day after he jogged Tuesday.

“Blazing Sevens looked pretty good,” Brown’s assistant Baldo Hernández said. “He galloped once around about a mile-and-a-quarter. Galloped good. Feeling good. Feeling happy.”

Hernández said the routine would stay the same as it was last year for Early Voting. Like Blazing Sevens, he skipped the Derby even though he was eligible. Now Blazing Sevens will try to emulate Early Voting’s 2022 victory.

“We’ll do like last year with Early Voting,” Hernández said. “Same gallop. We’ll paddock school maybe today, maybe tomorrow.”

Under the watch of Bob Baffert’s assistant Jimmy Barnes, maiden winner National Treasure trained again Wednesday without the blinkers he will wear Saturday.

Chase the Chaos, First Mission and Perform also trained routinely.

The only Preakness horse who had not gotten onto the main track by Wednesday morning was potential frontrunner Coffeewithchris, who arrived around midday after taking the 28-mile ride from his home base at Laurel Park.