Hard Spun to continue rivalry with Street Sense in Preakness

Hard Spun to continue rivalry with Street Sense in

Preakness

Trainer Larry Jones and HARD SPUN (Danzig) hope to turn the tables on trainer

Carl Nafzger and Kentucky Derby (G1) hero STREET SENSE (Street Cry [Ire]) in the

$1 million Preakness S. (G1), the second leg of the Triple Crown on May 19 at

Pimlico.

"We may have to do something different here if we are going to spoil his

Triple Crown," Jones said. "I like Carl a lot but I don't intend for him to have

the Triple Crown."

Hard Spun, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, left Churchill Downs Monday morning

and will prepare for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness at Delaware Park before shipping

into the Preakness stakes barn next Wednesday, May 16. In late April, Jones

considered skipping the Derby and pointing Hard Spun to the Preakness.

"We just felt like the way this horse had trained on surfaces similar to

Pimlico, we were not expecting to handle the Churchill surface as well as he

did, as it has a tendency to get a little cuppy," Jones said. "Even the rain the

other day helped us out on that. We just know Pimlico is a track that doesn't

have the cuppiness to it, the only surface this horse showed he didn't favor,

plus he's got a good turn, a good pace factor and a good cruising speed and I

know that horses that get on the front end in the Preakness generally can do

better than the ones that do at Churchill Downs."

Mario Pino, the winningest rider in Maryland, will retain the mount on Hard

Spun in the 132nd running of the Preakness. Pino has had two previous Preakness

mounts: Escambia Bay (seventh, 1981) and Menacing Dennis (10th, 2002).

"He rode the picture perfect ride that's supposed to win the Derby," Jones

said. "Twenty horse field, you figure the horse that's coming off the pace the

way Street Sense did has got to be hindered by traffic, somewhere, sometime and

being on the front end where we were, we figured we'd get the trip we needed.

That's one reason we opted to be there, plus that's my horse, he's got that high

cruising speed to set out there and do that. We thought we did everything it

took to win the race. At least Calvin (winning jockey Calvin Borel) had to come

around Pino. He didn't come through on the rail on him. Calvin had the perfect

trip. I'm glad if anybody win it, they did. They're good people. They're good

hard workers. You can't root against them except if you're the horse who runs

second."

Three other Derby starters, including morning-line favorite CURLIN (Smart

Strike), are under consideration for the Preakness. Curlin had a troubled trip

but still rallied for third in the Derby.

"This horse is owned by a group of people and we will not be making any

decisions about what we'll do next until I sit down with them," trainer Steve

Asmussen said. "We certainly are not going to make any decision until the horse

goes back to the track. That could be Wednesday and it will not be until

Thursday that we will meet and decide how we are going to move forward."

Also contemplating a run in the Preakness are SEDGEFIELD (Smart Strike), the

surprising fifth-place finisher, and TEUFLESBERG (Johannesburg), who forced the

early pace before fading to 17th.

"We are going to walk him a couple more days," said Sedgefield's conditioner

Darrin Miller. "He ran very hard last Saturday and came out of the race fine.

We're still not sure about the Preakness. We're just taking one day at a time

for now. I thought Street Sense's performance was outstanding, a really great

performance."

"We're thinking about it. It is still very possible," said Teuflesberg's

co-owner and trainer Jamie Sanders, a longtime assistant to Nick Zito. "Louis

Quatorze finished 16th in the Derby and came back two weeks later to equal the

track record in winning the Preakness. Pimlico is suited for the type of running

style he likes and the shorter distance of the race is better as well."

The Preakness could include Zito and a couple of new shooters from D. Wayne

Lukas and Todd Pletcher. Zito, who trained Louis Quatorze and has saddled 17

Preakness starters, is considering Withers S. (G3) runner-up C P WEST (Came

Home). Lukas, a five-time winner of Maryland's marquee event, will start either

Derby Trial S. winner FLYING FIRST CLASS (Perfect Mandate) or Lexington S. (G2)

runner-up STARBASE (Tale of the Cat). Pletcher, the three-time Eclipse Award

winner for outstanding trainer, likely will run KING OF THE ROXY

(Littleexpectations), who most recently finished second in the Santa Anita Derby

(G1).

Trainer Mark Shuman confirmed that XCHANGER (Exchange Rate), a 4 3/4-length

winner of the April 21 Federico Tesio S. at Pimlico, will run. Xchanger worked

six furlongs in 1:13 at Fair Hill on Derby Day. It will mark the second

consecutive year that a horse from the Fair Hill Training Center in northeast

Maryland will compete. A rider has yet to be announced.

"Everything's a go," Shuman said. "I'm just trying to keep a fresh horse. I'm

tentatively scheduling a work for five-eighths on Saturday morning. I was very

impressed with the performance of Street Sense in the Kentucky Derby but it

didn't look easy for anybody in that race. I'm glad we were where we were. If

you have to meet horses like that in these big races, you want to get a chance

when they're coming off big efforts."

A decision on Fair Hill-based CHELOKEE (Cherokee Run) will be made by the end

of the week, according to trainer Michael Matz. The dark bay colt most recently

finished third, beaten two lengths, in the March 31 Florida Derby (G1) at

Gulfstream Park. Chelokee worked five furlongs on Monday beneath regular

exercise rider Peter Brette, according to the Pimlico press office.

"He went really well," Matz said. "We'll walk tomorrow and he'll jog on

Wednesday. I thought Carl's horse ran pretty good. I guess he ran better than

good. We are still undecided on the Preakness and maybe we'll go in the Barbaro

(S. on the Preakness undercard)."

Matz trained Barbaro, last year's Kentucky Derby winner who suffered

life-threatening injuries in the Preakness and had to be euthanized in January.

In December, the Maryland Jockey Club announced that it had changed the name of

the Sir Barton S. to the Barbaro S. The 1 1/16-mile test for three-year-olds is

one of eight added money races on the Preakness program.

SLEW'S TIZZY (Tiznow), who galloped to a 3 1/2-length victory in the April 21

Lexington at Keeneland, will skip the Preakness and instead run in Saturday's

$300,000 Lone Star Derby (G3), trainer Greg Fox said.

"I've gone over everything with the owner and we've decided that the Texas

route is the better way to go," Fox said.

Fox said a good performance in the Lone Star Derby could send Slew's Tizzy to

the Belmont S. (G1) on June 9.