Preakness 2024: 7 new shooters are possible for Pimlico

Photo: Scott Serio / Eclipse Sportswire & Ron Flatter

Muth and Imagination will ship to Pimlico for the May 18 running of the 149th Preakness Stakes, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert confirmed Saturday night.

Muth, owned by Zedan Racing Stables, most recently captured the March 30 running of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby (G1), in which Saturday’s Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan finished third. Imagination, owned by a partnership led by SF Racing, finished second behind Stronghold on April 6 in the Santa Anita Derby (G1).

Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan may not go to Preakness.

Baffert has saddled eight Preakness winners, including Triple Crown champions American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018 as well as National Treasure last year.

Muth, a son of Good Magic, and Imagination, a son of Into Mischief, breezed in company at Santa Anita on Saturday, each timed at 1:11.40 for six furlongs.

The Baffert trainees tentatively are scheduled to ship from Southern California to Baltimore on May 14.

Lukas may send Seize the Grey

Seize the Grey will be “strongly, strongly" considered for the Preakness, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said following his triumph in the Pat Day Mile (G2) on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (G1) undercard.

Jaime Torres was aboard for Seize the Grey’s 1 1/4-length victory at 9-1 odds over favored Nash.

“I think the 680 people will want to vote for that,” Lukas joked about Myracehorse, Seize the Grey’s owner that provides the opportunity for investors to buy fractional ownership in horses with the goal of being in the sport’s biggest races.

“My vote will be the one that counts, but I’ll vote with them,” Lukas said. “We have nothing to lose. He earned his way to run in the Preakness. He’s qualified for it. He’s nominated for it. So why wouldn’t we give those people that opportunity? That’s what we’re getting paid for, to make that many people happy.

“If he pulls up well and everything is good tomorrow and the next day, we’ll strongly, strongly consider the Preakness.”

Lukas has won the Preakness six times, most recently in 2013 with Calumet Farm’s Oxbow.

Brown considers Tuscan Gold

Trainer Chad Brown ruled out the Preakness for Sierra Leone, who rallied to finish second by a nose in the Derby. However, he said the 1 3/16-mile classic could be an option for Tuscan Gold, the third-place finisher in the Louisiana Derby (G2) in his third career start off of a maiden race.

“I’m going to take a look at that horse training up until the Peter Pan (G3),” Brown said of Saturday’s $200,000, 1 1/8-mile race at the Belmont at the Big A meet. “See how the race comes up, see where he draws, because it’s likely to be a big field, I’m hearing. Keep an eye on that Preakness, and sort of go from there.”

Brown has won the Preakness twice, in his 2017 debut with Cloud Computing and in 2022 with Early Voting. Neither horse raced in the Kentucky Derby. He nearly won a third last year with Blazing Sevens coming a head shy of wearing down triumphant National Treasure.

Informed Patriot may be entered

Trainer Steve Asmussen said via text that he is considering the Preakness for Informed Patriot, who earned a fees-paid spot in the race by winning Oaklawn’s April 20 running of the Bathhouse Row Stakes.

Owned by Kirk and Judy Robison, Informed Patriot finished fifth in the Arkansas Derby (G1), in which Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan was third. The winner that day was likely Preakness favorite Muth, trained by Bob Baffert.

Asmussen won the Preakness in 2007 with horse of the year Curlin and in 2009 with horse of the year Rachel Alexandra.

Reid may send Uncle Heavy

Butch Reid-trained Uncle Heavy is under consideration for the Preakness.

Owned by Michael Milam and LC Racing, the son of Social Inclusion captured the Withers (G3) before finishing fifth April 6 in the Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct.

Copper Tax may use win-and-in invite

Copper Tax, trained by Laurel Park-based Gary Capuano for Rose Petal Stables, is possible for the Preakness.

Copper Tax earned an automatic berth to the race by virtue of his three-quarter-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio on April 20 at Laurel.

Capuano, who ran third in the 1997 Preakness with Kentucky Derby runner-up Captain Bodgit, said that while a decision will be made in the coming days, Mystik Dan’s upset of top choices Fierceness and Sierra Leone may play a factor.

“It might thin the (Preakness) field out a little bit. We’ll see how it is in the next few days and see how things shake out,” Capuano said. “The door’s not closed yet. It actually opened up a little bit.

“Baffert is going to come with a couple real good horses, and he’ll be the factor in there, obviously. The Derby winner, he got a great trip. He put himself in a good position. (Copper Tax) is in good shape. Everything looks good with him. We’re still a little bit up in the air trying to figure things out.”

Bought for just $45,000 as a yearling in 2022, Copper Tax has run 10 times with seven wins, four in stakes, including back-to-back victories in the Tesio and March 23 in the Private Terms, each going two turns at Laurel, where he also captured the seven-furlong James F. Lewis III last fall.

Copper Tax has yet to breeze back since the Tesio. His workout was delayed over the weekend by rainy weather.

“I did let him stretch his legs and gallop on pretty strong (Saturday), and he loved it out there,” Capuano said. “He’s doing good. We’ll see how this week goes, how the weather and the track holds up and how much I can do with him between now and probably the end of the week and go from there.”

2024 Preakness Stakes G1

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