Dixie, Gallorette highlight Preakness undercard

Hall of Fame trainers Shug McGaughey and D. Wayne Lukas will have four of the

nine starters in Saturday's Preakness at Pimlico, but they will also be active

an hour beforehand when they saddle a total of three older horses in the Grade

2, $300,000

Dixie. The 1 1/8-mile grass test, the traditional feature preceding the

middle jewel of the Triple Crown, is the richest and most prestigious of the

seven Preakness undercard stakes.

Despite being a non-stakes winner, the McGaughey-trained Imagining figures to

be among the leading Dixie choices. The five-year-old, who did not debut until

July of his three-year-old year, has finished first or second in nine career

outings, including an impressive 3 1/2-length romp against third-level allowance

foes at Keeneland April 13. The Giant's Causeway horse has some stakes

experience having finished a close second in the 2011 Hollywood Derby, but he

was sidelined for more than eight months after finishing a dull fifth as the

favorite in the Nijinsky at Woodbine last July.

Lukas will be represented by Optimizer, who wheels back on two weeks' rest

after winning the race for second behind Horse of the Year Wise Dan in the

Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs. The English Channel colt, who

was unplaced in all three classics last season, has won three Grade 3 events on

grass, two of which came on soft ground.

Skyring, the other Lukas entry, has lacked consistency during his turf stakes

career. His one shining moment thus far came on Preakness Day 2012, when he

gamely fought back to take the James W. Murphy by a neck going a mile.

Two horses entering the Dixie in solid form are Swift Warrior and Willcox

Inn. The former went two-for-two over the winter taking Grade 3 events at Sam

Houston and Tampa Bay Downs, but hasn't raced in three months. Willcox Inn, who

hasn't won a stakes since his sophomore season, was a solid second last time in

the Mervin H. Muniz Jr. Memorial Handicap at Fair Grounds in late March.

Todd Pletcher will saddle multiple Grade 3 winner Doubles Partner, who was

fourth in the Muniz and second in the Tampa Bay behind Swift Warrior in his last

two starts. Other graded stakes veterans in the field include Howe Great, Humble

and Hungry, Two Months Rent and Forte de Marmi.

Samitar, a classic winner in Ireland prior to her importation last summer, is

the likely favorite in the Grade 3, $150,000

Gallorette

Handicap over 1 1/16 miles on the turf. The Chad Brown filly captured the

Garden City at Belmont in her second U.S. appearance, but is attempting to

reverse a three-race losing skid in the Gallorette. Samitar dropped her first

two starts of the year to the star filly Centre Court, finishing second in the

Honey Fox at Gulfstream and third in the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland.

Also exiting the Jenny Wiley is Old Tune, the star Brazilian mare who

captured the Endeavour and Hillsborough in her first two starts on the

continent. The Pletcher-trained five-year-old showed speed in both of those

tilts at Tampa Bay Downs, but that kind of early foot was completely absent at

Keeneland where she stayed near the back of the field throughout.

Others of note are Grade 3 vixens Hard Not to Like and Silver Screamer;

Embarr, who is a perfect three-for-three over the Pimlico turf; and the

Endeavour runner-up Appealing Cat, who enters off a solid turf allowance win at

Keeneland.

The only other grass stakes on the Preakness card is the $100,000

James W.

Murphy, a one-mile test for three-year-olds that for many years was run as

the Woodlawn.

Notacatbutallama, a two-time overnight stakes winner on grass in New York

last fall for Pletcher, will break from the rail in his first outing since

January. Others likely to garner support are the stakes-placed China Holiday,

Special Skills, Shining Copper, Redwood Kitten and Red Wings.

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