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| Staff Writer |
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The atmosphere at Pimlico Race Course on May 15 was dramatically altered by the news that Muth, the 8-5 morning-line favourite and winner of the Gr.1 Arkansas Derby, had been withdrawn from the third leg of the Triple Crown due to a fever.
Bob Baffert, a Hall of Fame trainer, informed Pimlico Race Course officials that the Good Magic colt had a temperature of 103 degrees upon arrival at Pimlico, leaving him with no choice but to scratch the horse. Typically, a healthy Thoroughbred's temperature ranges between 99-101 degrees.
"We are sick about this. The horse had been doing really well," Baffert said. "But we have to do what's right by the horse."
Muth and his fellow Preakness contender, Imagination, finished their last Preakness training sessions at Santa Anita Park before making the journey to Pimlico by plane and van. In Baltimore, they are being looked after by Jimmy Barnes, Baffert's assistant.
Meanwhile, the eight other Preakness entries continued with their usual routines on Wednesday morning.
"There's eight horses now, we can run our race and not worry about chasing the horse they call the favorite," said Ray Bryner, assistant trainer to Kenny McPeek.
Bryner, accompanied by Gr.1 Kentucky Derby victor Mystik Dan, led the way to the track just half an hour before Goldencents' colt became the morning-line favourite following the scratch of Muth. With retired jockey Robby Albarado, a regular exercise rider, on board, Mystik Dan took pleasure in the muddy surface, which he may encounter on Preakness day.
The Derby winner began his morning with a jog to the five-eighths pole before transitioning into a gallop. Albarado allowed Mystik Dan to increase his stride slightly as they reached the Preakness starting point at the three-sixteenths pole, then eased him down the backstretch, and finally encouraged him to open up again in the stretch.
"He feels good on all tracks, but there's something about (a muddy track) that he gets over it easier," Albarado said. "I'm not going to make a comparison, but Curlin was like that. On a muddy track...he got over it like glass, like an ice skater. It was different. This horse is similar getting over the same kind of way."
"He was very responsive when I needed him at the sixteenth pole," Albarado said. "I squeezed him a little bit to see if he was there, and he was there."
"What Robby and I call a 'happy gallop,'" Bryner said. "Three days out from a race we usually do it. Kenny called an audible and said let's do it today. It went very well."
The youngest son of Goldencents was the final of six Preakness contenders to take to the track on Wednesday. Just Steel, the runner-up in the Arkansas Derby, was the first to gallop under the guidance of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. An hour later, Lukas' other Preakness entry, Seize the Grey, also went out for his regular gallop.
Catching Freedom seemed much more at ease once given the opportunity to gallop on Wednesday. At the same time, Gr. 2 Louisiana Derby third-place finisher Tuscan Gold completed a 1 3/8-mile gallop over the Pimlico surface.
After Catching Freedom and Tuscan Gold finished their sessions, Uncle Heavy, the winner of the Gr.3 Withers Stakes , walked on and jogged a mile back to the wire before turning around and galloping a mile in his first training session at 'Old Hilltop.'
"He looked awesome," said trainer Butch Reid's wife and assistant trainer Virginia Reid. "He handled it so well. None of the things in the infield interfered, he didn't pay any attention. He's such a classy horse. He trained perfect."
Some of the late shippers that arrived overnight did not go to the track Wednesday morning.
Imagination, the winner of the Gr.2 San Felipe Stakes and runner-up in the Gr.1 Santa Anita Derby , stayed in the barn and walked under tack and rider in the shedrow.
Mugatu, who finished fifth in the Gr.1 Blue Grass Stakes, had a long day of travel on Tuesday. After leaving his stable at Belterra Park in Cincinnati, he rode to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., to pick up some travel partners before departing for Baltimore.
Originally scheduled to arrive at midnight, Mugatu arrived at the Pimlico backside at 4 a.m. Wednesday after being delayed by dense fog in the mountains. Following the late arrival, trainer Jeff Engler decided to walk the barn instead of jog on the track.
"He is on the muscle," Engler said of Mugatu's energy levels after a long trip. "He made the trip really well. He ate everything, even getting here at 4 a.m. I couldn't believe it, he ate everything."