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New shooters Departing, Govenor Charlie aim to rise to occasion
The lone loss was a third-place finish in the Louisiana Derby, a race in which the winner, Revolutionary, ran third in the Kentucky Derby, runner-up Mylute was fifth in the Derby and fourth-place finisher Golden Soul was second in the Derby. Stall had equated Departing's Louisiana Derby effort to a college player going to the NFL. Was Departing NFL material after the Louisiana Derby? "Definitely, and he showed it in the Illinois Derby," Stall said of a race Departing won by 3 1/4 lengths after breaking from the No. 13 post. "In retrospect, looking at how the horses performed coming out of the race, that was an NFL game. We handicapped the race coming in and looked at Revolutionary. He was not an (Aqueduct) inner track horse. You could throw that out the window. (Trainer) Todd (Pletcher) had him down in Florida for eight weeks. He was a dirt horse." Departing will be Stall's first Preakness starter since Terrain ran seventh in 2009, finishing eight lengths behind Rachel Alexandra. Like Departing, Terrain did not run in the Kentucky Derby. "It was a 20-horse field (for the Derby) and he had finished fourth in the Blue Grass," Stall said. "We had already made plans for the Preakness before Jess Jackson bought Rachel Alexandra." Stall has made a couple of trips back to Pimlico since the 2009 Preakness, winning the William Donald Schaefer in 2010 with Blame and repeating in 2011 with Apart. Blame's victory started a campaign that culminated with a triumph in the Breeders' Cup Classic over the wildly popular mare Zenyatta. On Saturday, Stall will be in a similar spot trying to knock off Kentucky Derby winner Orb. "I am sure all the riders will be keeping an eye on Orb," Stall said. (Trainer) Shug (McGaughey) said he wanted a target on his back and he's sure got one. This will probably be the shortest field for a Triple Crown race and the craziest races and weird things can happen in short fields." Orb will break from the No. 1 post position and sometime in the race, Joel Rosario on Orb may have to get off the rail. "There can't be any ushers out there tomorrow," Stall said with a laugh. Stall was asked what he would like to see from Departing in Preakness 138. "I want to see Brian have a handful of horse," Stall said. "There are three to five of them who figure to be in front early with us being behind them." Stall expects horses such as Goldencents and Itsmyluckyday to perform better Saturday than they did at Churchill Downs, as well as Will Take Charge, who had a troubled trip in the Kentucky Derby in his first race in seven weeks. And then there is Orb. "I know Orb will run his race and it is not like him to take a step back," Stall said. "We need to take a step forward. I am confident he (Departing) will run well. The rest of it is out of our control. Orb has found his level; now it is a matter of how high we can go." Departing will attempt to become the eighth gelding to win the Preakness. The two most recent geldings to prevail came 10 years apart, Prairie Bayou in 1993 and Funny Cide in 2003.
Govenor Charlie is a Mike Pegram homebred, a descendant of some of the owner-breeder's top runners, Hall of Famer Silverbulletday and Derby-Preakness winner Real Quiet. The colt was slow to develop and didn't make his debut until January 19. He broke his maiden in his second race, at a mile in mid-February and became a Derby prospect with a runaway victory in the Sunland Derby in March. "He was actually a surprise to us because he was this little bulldog-looking horse," Baffert said. "When I stretched him out that's when he really showed a big race and then he ran fast, broke the track record at Sunland. "And he's got that family, Silverbulletday. It's just champion, champion, champion. There are champions all over that pedigree. Yet, he doesn't look like her. He's got a lot of Storm Cat." Govenor Charlie's dam is Silverbulletway, an unraced daughter of Storm Cat and Silverbulletday. Midnight Lute was sired by Real Quiet out of the Dehere mare Candytuft. Orb, who won the Derby by 2 1/2 lengths, has trained well for the Preakness and is the even-money favorite in the morning line. Baffert was asked whether it was too early to anoint Orb a legitimate threat to sweep the Triple Crown. "He's got to get by this one. You can't get ahead of yourself," Baffert said. "I think it's a very competitive race. A lot of horses that didn't run well in the Derby come back and run well. I've seen that." Baffert said other Preakness runners have looked good to him and that he was impressed by Itsmyluckyday's appearance. Govenor Charlie, who will be ridden by Martin Garcia, drew post No. 8 and is 12-1 in the morning line. "I'm a longshot and I should be a longshot," Baffert said. "I think we're all thinking about what kind of horse Orb is. Is he a super horse? He's a very good horse. When you win five in a row, you're a really good horse. The way he does it, he doesn't have to be on the lead and that's a big difference. If he was a front-running horse, then it makes it tough." Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
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