Trainers say top 2 from Lexington are Preakness possibilities
Gosger and Bracket Buster both are possible for the Preakness after finishing one-two in Saturday’s Grade 3 Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland.
Although not committing to the 1 3/16-mile middle jewel of the Triple Crown, Gosger’s trainer Brendan Walsh and Bracket Buster’s trainer Vicki Oliver both said after the race that their colts earned consideration for the May 17 classic.
Keeneland: Gosger wins by 2 lengths in Lexington.
Gosger wore down front-running 25-1 shot Bracket Buster in the final sixteenth of a mile for a two-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Lexington. It was Gosger’s first start since winning a Gulfstream Park maiden special-weight race Feb. 15 in his second start.
Bracket Buster was making his first start at age 3. In his last race he finished fifth in Churchill Downs’ Oct. 27 Street Sense (G3). Fountain of Youth (G2) winner and Florida Derby (G1) runner-up Sovereignty, Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Tiztastic and Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Sandman were the first three finishers in the Street Sense.
“He’s still got a lot of maturing to do,” Walsh said of Gosger. “He’s still a little raw, but I love what I saw today. He was a little green, but he beat a couple of really nice horses. I think he’s a very nice horse in the making. We gave him a little time off after his maiden win, because I felt when I looked at him that he was doing a lot of growing. Even in the paddock today I was thinking he still has a bit of filling out to do.”
Asked about the Preakness five weeks later, Walsh said, “We’ll see how he comes out of this. There is a nice bit of spacing to it, and if he was doing well, we’d have to consider it, absolutely. I thought at the start he could potentially be a Kentucky Derby horse, but we brought him down to Florida and had a maiden race planned for him, and he got sick. ... He’s making us be patient, but he’s paying us back for it.”
Gosger is campaigned by the family of Harvey Clarke, the late breeder of 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another. Gosger’s second dam Arch’s Gal Edith is the mother of I’ll Have Another. Gosger’s sire is 2016 Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, who finished third in the Preakness.
Bracket Buster in his third start won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race Oct. 9 at Keeneland at 33-1 odds followed by the Oct. 27 Street Sense.
“I thought he ran really, really well,” Oliver said. “I wish we’d had a race in him before this race, but it was just the way it set up. We gave him a long break and just decided this was a better spot than the allowance race that was a big, huge field. We took our shot here, and it paid off.”
She said the Preakness would be a possibility.
“He’s always been in consideration for the 3-year-old stakes,” Oliver said. “That’s why we didn’t really push on him for the early, early 3-year-old races on the Derby trail. He’s a late, late May foal and needs a lot of time to develop, and that’s what we gave him. He’s run in very, very tough company, so he’s proved to everyone he can be a part of all of this. It’s just if we get the right trip and the right place, and hopefully we get lucky.”
Others being considered for the Preakness are Hill Road, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and Tampa Bay Derby (G3), and UAE Derby (G2) runner-up Heart Of Honor, who trainer Jamie Osborne said Saturday was “probable.”
Saturday’s Federico Tesio at Laurel Park and Bathhouse Row at Oaklawn are be win-and-you’re-in qualifiers for the Preakness, as long as the victors are eligible for the Triple Crown.