Preakness notes: Bargain-priced Mugatu could bring big return

Christopher Britton, who has dabbled in Thoroughbred ownership for the last 14 years, wasn’t necessarily looking to buy a Preakness Stakes prospect when he asked bloodstock agent Dan Preiss to purchase a horse for his Average Joe Racing Stables.

“We didn’t have that big of a budget,” Britton said. “We told our bloodstock agent, ‘Find us as nice a one as you can get for $15,000 at the OBS sale.’ ”

“We got with each other, the owners, and bounced some names around. It came down to Mugatu, which some people liked because they liked that Zoolander movie,” Britton recalled, “and there were a couple of us who like Mr. Blojangles, because he was by Blofeld. Mugatu ended up winning the shake, you could say.”

Mugatu, named after Zoolander villain Jacobim Mugatu, would go on to graduate impressively in his fifth career start in a mile-and-70-yard maiden special weight race on Tapeta at Gulfstream Park by 3 1/4 lengths Nov. 18. He went winless in five subsequent starts at Gulfstream and Turfway before closing from last in a 10-horse field to finish fifth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass over Keeneland’s main track behind Sierra Leone, Just a Touch, Epic Ride and Dornoch, all of whom went on to run in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (G1). Seize the Grey, who finished seventh in the Blue Grass, went on to win the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the Derby undercard. Because of defections, Mugatu was on the bubble to make the Kentucky Derby field.

“At first, we didn’t want to get our hopes up because we were third alternate, Britton said. “Then Seize the Grey went ahead and dropped out and went to the Pat Day Mile, which was good for them because they won it. Then Encino scratches, and we were sitting here on Tuesday thinking it could be a reality. It didn’t happen.”

Britton has worked 17 years at Union Home Mortgage in greater Cleveland, Ohio, where Bill Cosgrove, who operates Lea Farms, is chief executive officer. Lea Farms’s Power Squeeze, who captured the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), finished sixth in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks (G1).

“I sort of got him into the racing game about four years ago. There were a few horses we did together, but he’s on a different playing field than we are, so he’s sort of done his own thing and has had pretty good success,” Britton said. “He had one in the Oaks, and if we could have drawn into the Derby, that would have been real neat.”

Britton and Mugatu’s trainer Jeff Engler have been longtime friends since playing ball together in their hometown, Westchester, Ohio.

Preakness isn't ruled out for Tesio winner Copper Tax

Rose Petal Stable’s Copper Tax remains under consideration for the Preakness as his connections continue to formulate a plan for the multiple-stakes winner’s next start.

Copper Tax earned an automatic berth in the $2 million Preakness by virtue of his 3/4-length victory in the $125,000 Federico Tesio going 1 1/8 miles April 20 at Laurel Park. The Preakness is contested at 1 3/16 miles.

Trained by Laurel-based Gary Capuano, Copper Tax has put together back-to-back stakes wins around two turns, beginning with the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms on March 23 over his home track. He also won a pair of stakes at 2, and seven of 10 career starts.

“Right now we do not know. We’ve been meeting with (Capuano) to discuss what the best opportunities are for us, whether we want to run him in the Preakness or another race that day or looking at what’s coming up on the horizon,” Rose Petal’s Chris Loso said. “We’re still just kind of feeling it out.

“Everything’s open right now. We’re just waiting to see what horses are entering the race and what’s going to be the best opportunity for Copper Tax to do well,” he added. “It’s not just about going into a race like the Preakness just because it’s a big race. You want to make sure that the horse you have in there is there to do well. We want to make sure we give him the best opportunity possible to perform well. We are weighing every option.”

Copper Tax was stepped on leaving the gate, lost a shoe and raced well off a speedy track bias when he was sixth in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen (G2) Dec. 2 at Aqueduct, a race where subsequent graded-stakes winners Dornoch and Sierra Leone ran 1-2. Sierra Leone came back to be beaten by a nose by Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

“His leg had gotten clipped coming out of the gate and so he didn’t have the greatest run,” Loso said. “I think it’s a testament that he’s a good horse. It’s a matter of what’s the best race for him and how he can perform.”

Copper Tax was ridden in each of his last two races by J.G. Torrealba, a five-pound apprentice who won the riding title at Laurel’s recently concluded spring meet. The son of Grade 2 winner Copper Bullet has yet to breeze back since the Tesio.

“Right after the race I saw the horse and he’s just as focused and he was really well-settled, so there’s no concerns with his physical abilities or his state of mind,” Loso said. “He’s focused. He’s all business.”

Other Preakness runners

Trainer Butch Reid informed Pimlico racing office officials Wednesday afternoon that Uncle Heavy will be entered in the Preakness. The son of Social Inclusion, who is owned by Michael Milliam and LC Racing, won the Withers Stakes (G3) before finishing fifth in the April 6 Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct.

At Churchill Downs, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said his two Preakness Stakes horses, Pat Day Mile winner Seize the Grey and Kentucky Derby 17th-place finisher Just Steel, resumed training early Wednesday morning, along with his Black-Eyed Susan (G2) hopeful Lemon Muffin, who finished eighth in the Kentucky Oaks after winning the Honeybee (G3) at Oaklawn Park. The three were scheduled to leave Louisville very early Monday morning for an afternoon arrival at Pimlico.