Aikenite, Pleasant Prince continue Preakness preparations

AIKENITE (Yes It's True) tuned up for an anticipated run in Saturday's

Preakness S. (G1) with a five-furlong, in-company move in 1:01 2/5 on Sunday at

Churchill Downs.

With exercise rider Kevin Willey up, Aikenite came on to the fast track a

little after 6:30 a.m. (EDT) and then went about his business with

workmate Megaholtz (Action This Day). Fractions for the work were :12 3/5, :25

1/5, :37 3/5 and :49 2/5,

with a six-furlong gallop-out time of 1:15. The move was the ninth fastest of 19

at the distance.

"He broke off a couple lengths behind Megaholtz and they finished on even

terms," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "It was a good work, typical of how he works

and he had a solid gallop out. He will walk tomorrow and go back to the track

Tuesday."

Aikenite earned his shot at the Preakness with a runner-up finish to

Preakness candidate HURRICANE IKE (Graeme Hall) in the Derby Trial (G3) on

April 24.

Pleasant Prince missed by inches in the Florida Derby (Melissa Wirth/Horsephotos.com) Also working out on Sunday in preparation for the Preakness was Derby Trial third PLEASANT PRINCE (Indy King), who breezed five furlongs in :59 on Keeneland's Polytrack for trainer Wesley Ward. "He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13 3/5," owner/breeder Ken Ramsey said. "He worked with two stablemates in front of him. He went past both of them before he got to the wire. Julien Leparoux came from Churchill Downs to work him and pronounced him fit for the Preakness." Though he didn't get in to the field, Pleasant Prince became an instant Kentucky Derby candidate while finishing second in the Florida Derby (G1), a nose behind eventual Kentucky Derby runner-up Ice Box (Pulpit). Ramsey said Ward told him that but for "a doggone eyelash" he was beaten by Ice Box at Gulfstream Park, Pleasant Prince could well have turned out to be his long-awaited Kentucky Derby winner. "It changed the path that we took, and it certainly changed the path that Ice Box took," Ramsey said. "After Ice Box ran as well as he did (in the Kentucky Derby), and according to the chart he was checked three separate times, he may have well been the best horse had he gotten a clear trip. I think that kind of flatters our horse, because he was in a virtual dead-heat in the Florida Derby." A few minutes after Aikenite completed his work, Kentucky Derby (G1) hero SUPER SAVER (Maria's Mon) came out under Willey. He stood in the Churchill starting gate and galloped 1 1/8 miles. "He was well behaved at the gate," Pletcher said. "He was calm, cool and collected. He is very professional and has always been that way. It is a huge edge when you have a horse with talent that also has the proper mind-set."

Super Saver is scheduled to work a half-mile in

preparation for the Preakness on Monday morning at 8:30 after the renovation break.

Jockey Calvin Borel, who scored his third Derby win on Super Saver, is slated to

be aboard.

Super Saver is scheduled to ship to Pimlico on Wednesday, and Pletcher

expects to be in Baltimore for the post-position draw that day.

Stablemate MISSION IMPAZIBLE (Unbridled's Song) remains a possibility for the

Preakness. In a report on his Facebook page, written in the first person as if

he had pounded on the keyboard himself, the Louisiana Derby (G2) winner rated

his chances of running in the Preakness at 60 percent. Pletcher said that

Mission Impazible, who finished ninth in the Derby, will breeze at Churchill

Monday with a decision on his Preakness future expected to be made on Tuesday.

In addition to Super Saver, four other horses with designs on Saturday's

Preakness are scheduled to work Monday morning at Churchill Downs.

Mission Impazible has a 60 percent chance of running in the Preakness (Harold Roth/Horsephotos.com) Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who has won the Preakness five times, is going to work DUBLIN (Afleet Alex) and NORTHERN GIANT (Giant's Causeway). Both colts galloped under Arielle Witkowski before the renovation break on Sunday. Lukas has not confirmed a rider for Northern Giant for the Preakness but has tabbed Garrett Gomez to replace Terry Thompson on Dublin, who finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby. Gomez will work Dublin in the morning. "If Peyton Manning is available, you are not going to leave him in the locker room," Lukas explained the jockey change. Hurricane Ike is scheduled to work seven furlongs with Preakness rider Robby Albarado aboard after the renovation break. The dark bay galloped 1 1/2 miles on Sunday. "It will be kind of a stamina drill," trainer John Sadler said.

Sadler is expected to be on hand to supervise the dark bay's move and was

forced to find a new jockey for Hurricane Ike in the Preakness after Borel rode

him to victory in the Derby Trial.

"I knew when they hit the wire (in the Derby) that I had lost Calvin," Sadler

said. "It didn't take me long to know our jock was not going to take off the

Derby winner."

YAWANNA TWIST (Yonaguska), second in the Illinois Derby (G3)

and Gotham S. (G3) in his past two starts, galloped 1 1/2 miles under Michelle Nevin after the renovation break Sunday prior to a scheduled Monday work.

"(Trainer) Rick (Dutrow) is usually a five or six (furlong) guy," Nevin said

about the distance of the scheduled Monday work.

Joe Deegan is expected to be

aboard for the work after the morning renovation break.

"If all is well, we'll probably be there,'' said James Riccio, managing

partner of Steel Your Face Stables, of going to the Preakness. "If he likes the

track and gets the trip, he'll be in the hunt."

In other Preakness news:

Lucky's Preakness status will be decided Monday (Rickelle Nelson/Horsephotos.com) Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert continued to prepare sixth-place Kentucky Derby finisher LOOKIN AT LUCKY (Smart Strike) in Louisville, Kentucky, for a possible trip to Pimlico for the Preakness. Lookin at Lucky galloped 1 1/2 miles after the renovation break with Peter Hutton up. "I just want to see how he's doing," Baffert said. "If he is still doing well like he did today and how he is this afternoon, I have to let people know so they can plan. "I'd say there is a very good chance, unless I see something this afternoon that changes my mind," he added. Baffert has yet to commit the beaten Kentucky Derby favorite to the Preakness, but a decision on his Preakness status is expected Monday. "I'm going to wait until (Monday) to make the decision, but right now he's getting stronger every day," Baffert said. "I'm leaning toward it, but I'm just not sure. Everybody is trying to nail me down, but I don't want to say yes today, because I've been known to change my mind quite often. I'm sort of being wishy-washy about it, but I'd rather wait and see how he is on Monday. Today, I liked what I saw."

If Lookin at Lucky does run in the Preakness, he will be ridden by Martin

Garcia. Gomez rode the colt in all nine of his career starts, but Baffert said

it was time for a switch that might produce some better karma for the talented

colt, who manages to find trouble -- in victory and defeat.

Baffert was critical of how Gomez rode the colt in a third-place finish in

the Santa Anita Derby (G1), but kept him on the colt for the Kentucky Derby.

Lookin at Lucky drew the rail in the 20-horse Derby and was bounced around a

couple of times in the first run through the stretch. He made a huge move in the

second turn to get into a contending position, but could not sustain the rally

and finished sixth.

"I talked with Garrett a few days ago," Baffert said. "I told him that we've

just been having such bad luck and I wasn't sure if I was going to run, so I

wanted to give him a chance to find another mount. And if I did run, I was maybe

going to replace him only just to change our luck.

"He was good about it because we're good friends. I wanted to try something

different one time and see. Maybe we'll draw better or do something. I'm just

trying to change our luck."

Even if Baffert doesn't go to the Preakness with Lookin at Lucky, he's

already got a possible contender for the June 5 Belmont S. (G1) residing in his

shedrow following Saturday's Lone Star Derby (G3). Game on Dude (Awesome Again) cruised to a 4

1/2-length victory in that 8 1/2-furlong test at Lone Star Park, marking himself

as a possible Belmont contender.

"I knew I was going to get my fourth Derby win," Baffert quipped Sunday morning. "I just didn't know it would be the Lone Star Derby

(G3). I got it at

the wrong track."

Game on Dude was a three-length maiden winner earlier this season at

Gulfstream Park, but could do better than seventh when making his stakes bow in

the Florida Derby, the ran a distant fifth in the Derby Trial over a

muddy Churchill track.

"He could be a Belmont horse," Baffert said of Game On Dude. "We will look

seriously at it with him. We bought him three days before the Florida Derby and he was just green in

there. We ran him here in the Derby Trial and he hated the mud."

Game on Dude, who prepped at Churchill before his Texas triumph, is

headed back to Baffert's home base in Southern California.

Preakness preparations continued Sunday morning under the Twin Spires for three other Pimlico-bound

colts.

Kentucky Derby third PADDY O'PRADO (El Prado [Ire]) galloped 1 1/2 miles

after the renovation break while FIRST DUDE (Stephen Got Even) walked the

shedrow following Saturday's bullet five-eighths work of 1:00 3/5. The Blue

Grass third, who like Paddy O'Prado is trained by Dale Romans, is in jeopardy of

being bumped from the Preakness field that is limited to 14 starters, pending

the Preakness decisions for Mission Impazible and Yawanna Twist.

In the event that the 15 horses currently under consideration for the

Preakness are entered Wednesday, First Dude would be the horse excluded from the

field.

Jackson Bend is scheduled to work Monday (Lauren Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com) JACKSON BEND (Hear No Evil) galloped 1 1/2 miles before the renovation break under Stacy Prior for trainer Nick Zito. Zito, who saddled Louis Quatorze for victory in the 1996 Preakness, said a final decision is likely to be made Monday following a workout at Churchill Downs. "We'll do a little something tomorrow, maybe blow him out a little bit," Zito said Sunday. "Then I'll talk to Bob (principal owner LaPenta) and we'll see what he wants to do." Grade 2 winner CARACORTADO (Cat Dreams) looked "really good" to trainer Mike Machowsky Sunday morning after working seven furlongs at Santa Anita in 1:24 3/5 the previous morning. Machowsky's homebred, who was forced to sit out the Kentucky Derby due to a lack of graded-stakes earnings, is scheduled to ship to Baltimore via Kentucky on Wednesday. The 44-year-old trainer is encouraged by the success California-based horses have enjoyed after shipping east this year. "The racetrack at Santa Anita is a great surface to train on," said Machowsky of the synthetic Pro-Ride surface. "Horses seem to stay really fit."

The California-bred gelding, whom Machowsky owns in partnership with Blahut

Racing LLC, has also performed well on synthetic surfaces in the afternoon, but

he will not be uninitiated on a traditional dirt surface when he goes to post in

the Preakness. The chestnut broke his maiden over the dirt track at Fairplex in

his debut last September.

"He has no wasted motion. He's a clean-moving horse. I think that's the

reason I think he'll run well on any surface," Machowsky said.

Southern California journeyman Paul Atkinson, who has ridden Caracortado in

all seven of his starts will have the return mount.

Trainer Derek Ryan will try the same tactic he utilized a year ago with

Preakness third-place finisher Musket Man (Yonguska), opting to van SCHOOLYARD

DREAMS (Stephen Got Even) from Monmouth Park on the morning of the race. The bay

colt, who finished ahead of Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver when second in the

Tampa Bay Derby (G3) before being left in Eskendereya's wake in the Wood

Memorial (G1), galloped 1 3/4 miles at Monmouth Sunday.

"He's doing great," Ryan said. "Everything is good to go. We decided to come

down the morning of the race last year, and that seemed to work out well. "It's

only a two and a half-hour drive."

Schoolyard Dreams ran fourth in the Wood Memorial behind a victorious

Eskendereya, falling short of making the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field that is

decided. The way he's been working lately, that may have been a blessing in

disguise.

"He probably should have been second, but the rider went for a hole that

really wasn't there," Ryan said. "Our plan was just to win the Tampa Derby and

go right to Churchill, but we got that tough beat (a nose loss to Odysseus

[Malibu Moon]) and that sort of threw a splinter in the works and we had to

re-route to the Wood."

Trainer Anthony Dutrow said Sunday he will likely decide the Preakness status

of Louisiana Derby runner-up A LITTLE WARM (Stormin Fever) on Monday.

"I'm going to Delaware Park tomorrow to see how everything is,'' said the

52-year-old Dutrow, eldest of three sons of the late Maryland trainer Dick

Dutrow. "I'll make a decision tomorrow morning with what I'm going to do with

him."

A Little Warm would be the first starter in the middle jewel of the Triple

Crown for Dutrow, whose younger brother Richard saddled Kentucky Derby winner

Big Brown for a Preakness victory in 2008.