Preakness 2023: Coffeewithchris might be Salzman’s ticket out

Baltimore

Ask about the early pace in Saturday’s running of Preakness 2023, and two names rise from the past performances. National Treasure, who gets blinkers from trainer Bob Baffert, and Coffeewithchris, the local horse who ...

Well, that’s just the point. Who?

“We’re here,” owner-trainer John Salzman Jr. said. “We’re stabled in Maryland. This horse has done everything I’ve asked of him. And I know people don’t want to hear it, but he’s had a couple of excuses.”

Oh, yes. Those two recent defeats. It was appropriate that Salzman said that in a Wednesday morning interview at the Alibi Breakfast, the annual chicken-and-waffles get-together that is a celebration of the classic race and Maryland racing. If Coffeewithchris were to pull off what morning-line maker Keith Fuestle said would be a 20-1 upset, he would be the first Maryland-bred horse to win the Preakness since Deputed Testamony 40 years ago.

The Ride On Curlin gelding seemed to be getting better since he was paired in late December with jockey Jaime Rodríguez. After a maiden-breaking win more than a year ago came five forgettable losses with four other riders. Once Rodríguez came aboard, Coffeewithchris won the Heft and the Miracle Wood, a pair of $100,000 winter stakes at Laurel Park.

Then came a competitive second to Hayes Strike two months ago in the Private Terms, a race in which Coffeewithchris drew widest.

“He was in the 8 hole,” Salzman said. “Going into the first turn at Laurel, it breaks right into the turn, and he was on the outside. So he was like four or five wide. It makes you use him a little more than you had to. The second turn he was three wide, and he still made a big run and finished second.”

With two firsts and two seconds in four stakes as a 3-year-old, Coffeewithchris inspired bigger dreams for Salzman and his partners Fred Wasserloos and Anthony Geruso. They put up $3,000 to make the gelding a late nominee for the Triple Crown.

But then came April 15. In the 12th race of what clearly had become a busy career, Coffeewithchris faded to finish 2 1/2 lengths up the track in fifth in the Federico Tesio, a win-and-you’re-in qualifier for the Preakness.

“In the Tesio we went from one extreme to the other. We were in the 1 hole. From the 1 hole, you have to go,” Salzman said. “We didn’t have any choice but to be on the lead, and it’s just tough to get a horse to go a mile-and-an-eighth on the lead. He never quit. He didn’t give up. He got beat two lengths. I almost let those two lengths cost me from trying this.”

Since Coffeewithchris did not get the free entry that went with a Tesio victory, it cost Salzman, Wasserloos and Geruso another $30,000 in fees to take a shot in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.

“So $30,000 is a lot of money to me,” Salzman said. “I had to come up with the $30,000. I spoke with the owners and had some help, and here we are.”

Coffeewithchris has not made Salzman a rich man, but so far he has been a good investment, earning $225,600 off a 12: 3-3-2 record. He was bred by National Thoroughbred Racing Association president Tom Rooney, the former Florida Congressman whose family owns the Pittsburgh Steelers. All he cost Salzman at a regional yearling sale 1 1/2 years ago was $2,000.

Salzman, 59, comes from a hard-working family that is steeped in Maryland racing. His wife feeds his horses, about a dozen of them. His father still works the barns. His brother is fighting to survive cancer. Thinking of the loyalty and long hours contributed by his barn staff, Salzman got emotional speaking to the crowd at Wednesday’s breakfast.

“That’s the story to the success. My wife, my veterinarian, my exercise rider. Excuse me,” he said, fighting back tears as he put down the microphone.

There is no place like home for Salzman, who said he would have preferred to keep training Coffeewithchris at Laurel Park, 28 miles south of Pimlico. It has been his family’s professional home and then some for 44 years. He has lived the decades of questions about the future of both tracks, especially as the owners from 1/ST Racing and the Maryland state government have been unable to execute a long-term plan to rebuild crumbling Pimlico and to fix up Laurel.

“I don’t think Pimlico is going to be a great place for year-round racing,” Salzman said. “I don’t see people coming to Pimlico to enjoy their day where at Laurel, you’re between Baltimore and Washington. There’s train tracks there. They could put a train station. I think Laurel could definitely be the place to have it.”

That would be the same Laurel Park where the condition of the main track deteriorated twice in the last three seasons, forcing closures and emergency repairs. Those problems and what he saw as a wrong turn into stricter and more costly regulation from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act has made Salzman rethink his dedication to racing.

“I am completely at a loss with the new rules,” Salzman said. “I have no clue what I can do and what I can’t do. It’s scary. They’re threatening you if something happens. The game has really changed, and it’s sad. It really is sad. I’m looking for a good reason to retire, and winning the Preakness might be it.

Oh, the name Coffeewithchris. Yes, there is a story. And a message.

“The horse is named after the track superintendent,” he said, meaning Chris Bosley of the Maryland Jockey Club. “Coffeewithchris was like a joke. We were supposed to have coffee with Chris to express our opinions on the racetrack. I wouldn’t know Chris if he walked up to me right now.”

In spite of the difficulties at Laurel, Salzman said it should not be considered a lost cause.

“I think the racetrack can be fixed,” he said. “It used to be one of the best training surfaces in the country. I would run over it day and night, and our turf course has come around. It’s gotten a lot better at Laurel. I’m not here to knock anybody. I just think with the right help, Laurel’s track is fine.”

Still, it was impossible for Salzman to forget about the recent experience of horsemen and track management being at odds and forcing a suspension of racing last month until the two sides could agree on an assessment of the track at Laurel.

Even so, the Preakness could provide him the biggest moment of his career if Coffeewithchris were to pull off the upset, complete with a $990,000 first prize. If it were a gate-to-wire victory, Salzman might not look back.

“It’s going to be a life-changing experience if I can get lucky enough to win it,” he said. “I’ve got a lot to think about. I’ve been doing it a long time, and it might be a good time to call it quits. You know what I mean? Maybe I’ll do better than Tom Brady. Maybe I’ll just go out a champion.”