Recapturetheglory Confirms For Preakness 133

CONNECTIONS WON ’88 MIDDLE JEWEL WITH RISEN STAR

     BALTIMORE, 05-07-08---Saying “we’re there to win”, co-owner Ronnie Lamarque announced this afternoon that Recapturetheglory, who finished fifth to Big Brown in last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby is confirmed for next Saturday’s $1 million Preakness® Stakes (Grade I) at Pimlico Race Course.

      “First of all we know that we belong,” said Lamarque from New Orleans. “Of the 33,000 horses that were foaled three years ago, twenty of them made it to the Derby and we beat fifteen of them. Big Brown is a bear but we’re not going to run in it to run second. We’re there to win and we believe it is a speed favoring racetrack. I’ll look at all the other entrants. They don’t scare me at all and I believe our horse definitely belongs and we feel like the Preakness is our kind of race.”

     With assistant trainer Lara Van Deren up, fifth-place Kentucky Derby finisher Recapturetheglory jogged a mile and galloped a mile before the renovation break Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs. The confirmed frontrunner won the Illinois Derby (Grade II) and has finished in the money six times in seven career starts. E.T. Baird will have the riding assignment.

     “Right now he’s doing very, very well,” said Lamarque, who co-owns the son of Cherokee Run with trainer Louis Roussel. “The colt is in Kentucky and in very wonderful hands of Lara. We wouldn’t be considering Baltimore if we didn’t think we had a contender. I don’t want to go with a pretender. I hope everyone who is entering, their horse better be at the top of their game. He looks better today than he did before the Derby. He came out of the race, I thought he would be lethargic. Now we getting ready for the Preakness and I pray to God they know what they getting into. They are going against Big Bad Leroy Brown. We’re ready to go against him. You never know what’s going to go on in the ring because we’re not afraid.”

     Lamarque and trainer Roussel are no strangers to the Preakness. They combined to take the 1988 renewal with Risen Star, a horse who finished third in the Derby two weeks earlier. On the Pimlico cupola during the presentation of the Woodlawn Vase, Lamarque was permitted to sing his ode to Risen Star on national television. He later did it with WMAR-TV sports director Scott Garceau.

     “Twenty years ago my life was centered around a horse named Risen Star. He was magnificent and he brought another meaning to us in New Orleans and especially Louie,” added Lamarque. “It was a great way for me to write words to a song that went with a race horse. Recapturetheglory is a different kind of horse. I’m twenty years my senior. I’m laid back somewhat now. I have a young son, he’s eleven and I’m now more walking with my lord savior than I was then. I was a terror, now I’m a little more confined. If I get in the winners’ circle you never know if you’re going to hear a song from me so don’t turn off the television you just never know.”

     Recapturetheglory will be leaving Louisville Friday evening and arriving at Pimlico Saturday morning.

     Trainer Kenny McPeek informed Pimlico racing secretary Georganne Hale this morning that Racecar Rhapsody, fourth in the Lexington Stakes (Grade II) at Keeneland on April 19 in his most recent start, is headed to the Preakness. A Kentucky-bred son of Tale of the Cat out of the A.P. Indy mare Reflect the Music, Racecar Rhapsody has compiled a record of 6-1-1-1 with earnings of $148,391. Racecar Rhapsody opened 2008 with a fourth-place finish in the Lane’s End Stakes (Grade II) at Turfway Park on March 22.

     “The horse is training really well,” McPeek said. “We kind of feel like we might be running for second money with Big Brown being as impressive as he’s been but you never know.” 

     Robby Albarado, who has ridden the colt in six of his starts, will have the mount as he shoots for his second consecutive Preakness victory. He piloted Curlin to victory in last year’s Preakness.

     The Preakness starter list now stands at nine-Big Brown; Recapturetheglory; Behindatthebar; Giant Moon; Kentucky Bear; Racecar Rhapsody; Stevil; Tres Borrachos and Yankee Bravo along with three other potential runners.

     At 4:28 p.m., the first Preakness horse arrived at the Pimlico stakes barn when Kentucky Bear completed his 539-mile trip from Lexington via van and was to be bedded down into Stall 9. The son of Mr. Greeley finished third in the Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) at Keeneland on April 12. The Reade Baker trainee will work at Pimlico Saturday immediately following the renovation break.

     “He is very versatile and can do anything,” Baker said. “He has natural speed and is not crazy. I think that bodes very for the Preakness.”

     Assistant trainer-exercise rider Cassie Garcia indicated Kentucky Bear will either jog or walk the shedow Thursday morning.

     With Michelle Nevin up, IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr.’s Big Brown jogged a mile alongside a pony Wednesday morning shortly before 7 o’clock at Churchill Downs. Trainer Rick Dutrow, feeling much better after being under the weather since the weekend, liked what he saw and said Big Brown would gallop in the morning. The two weeks between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness continues to be Dutrow’s biggest concern.

     “Coming back in two weeks, he is stacked up against it,” Dutrow said. “He’s not a robot. He has run fast races and fast numbers and two weeks is not ideal timing. You need time to regroup, and we haven’t got that kind of time.”           

     The fact Big Brown has scared off practically all but one of his Derby rivals is fine with Dutrow.

     “We only have two weeks. There is nothing I can do,” Dutrow said. “I just have to hope that he stays good. There is no serious training involved. There is not a whole lot that depends on me. He has come out of the race good, eaten every oat since he has run. I just have to decide if I am going to give him a little breeze or not before his next race.”           

     Kent Desormeaux, who has ridden Big Brown to his past three victories, will ride in the Preakness. It will be Desormeaux’s 11th mount in the race he won in 1998 with Real Quiet.

     With Andy Durnin up and trainer Beau Greely looking on from the grandstand, third-place Arkansas Derby (Grade II) finisher Tres Borrachos worked five furlongs in :59.60 Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs. The work, the second fastest of 30 at the distance in the morning over a fast track, was accomplished after the morning renovation break.            

     “It looked like he didn’t get out of a gallop,” Greely said. “He went beautiful. I will breeze him next Tuesday, probably an easy half, and then ship to Pimlico on Wednesday. I think the Preakness will probably suit this horse better than the Derby would have. The turns are a little tighter and it looks like it carries speed.”

     Tyler Baze, who rode Tres Borrachos in the Arkansas Derby, will retain the mount in the Preakness. Tres Borrachos would be Greely’s second Preakness starter. He saddled Borrego in the 2004 Preakness to a seventh-place finish after running 10th in the Kentucky Derby two weeks earlier.

     At Belmont Park, Giant Moon drilled five-furlongs with exercise rider Caesar Correa in 1:01.40 for trainer Richard Schosberg, the sixth fastest work of the morning at the Long Island oval. 

     “He did exactly what we wanted,” Schosberg said. “We’re right on schedule. Caesar said he did exactly what we wanted.”

     Ramon Dominguez, who won a pair of riding titles at Pimlico in 2001, has the call on the son of Giant’s Causeway. The colt won the first four races of his career including two stakes races with Dominguez aboard. Giant Moon finished fourth in the Wood Memorial (Grade I) on April 5.

     Stevil, fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) in his most recent start,  galloped a mile Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs under Megan Smillie. It was the first day back at the track for the Nick Zito trainee since working a half-mile in :48.60 on Monday. John Velazquez, who made his Preakness riding debut last year when he piloted Circular Quay to a fifth-place finish, will have the mount on Stevil according to Zito.

     “John has ridden for me a lot of times,” Zito said. “In fact, he worked Strike the Gold for me at Saratoga when he was a little 18-year-old apprentice.”

     Stevil is scheduled to work again early next week and then ship to Baltimore on Tuesday.

     Yankee Bravo is scheduled to work tomorrow at Hollywood Park.

     Others still considering Maryland’s signature race are Harlem Rocker, Riley Tucker and Macho Again.
 

-MJC-