Casse Hopes Sunny Skies Await Sandman Preakness Day
Baffert’s Key to Preakness Record is Saddling Best Horse

BALTIMORE – Eleven minutes into an interview session Wednesday morning outside the Stakes Barn at Pimlico, Michael McCarthy, trainer of Preakness Stakes (G1) morning line favorite Journalism, noticed that Bob Baffert had joined the scrum. McCarthy stepped back and pointed at the Hall of Fame trainer, who has saddled a record eight Preakness winners.

“There's Bob Baffert,” McCarthy said in mock seriousness. “Go for it. He's all yours.”

Baffert smiled and headed down the shedrow to where his Preakness contender, Goal Oriented, was being prepared for a bath after training.

No one walked away from McCarthy. Another moment or two later he continued talking about Journalism, who is favored at 8-5 for Saturday’s 150th Preakness after a runner-up finish as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 3.

Journalism shipped from Kentucky to Baltimore Tuesday and went out to the track at Pimlico shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday. McCarthy had him gallop a mile over the sealed, wet track.

“I think he was fine,” McCarthy said. “He's an easy read, you know. Galloping out there today, was just really controlled and just kind of having a look around. Certainly, we weren't looking for anything spectacular.”

Journalism, co-owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables 5 LLC, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith has a 4-1-1 record from six career starts. The son of Curlin was purchased as a yearling for $825,000. He earned his qualifying points for the Derby with wins in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and the San Felipe (G2).

In the Derby, Journalism and jockey Umberto Rispoli quickly had to deal with traffic issues when Baffert-trained Citizen Bull veered to his right coming out of the inside gate. McCarthy said the wet track at Churchill Downs – a condition that could be in play in the Preakness, too – was not a major factor in the outcome, second by 1 ½ lengths to Sovereignty.

“I thought his race was very, very good,” McCarthy said. “Pinched at the start. I wanted to be five lengths off the lead. At one point I’d say we were probably closer to 10. The horse seemed like he picked it up fine on his own from the half-mile pole. As I had said all week, if it came down to a muddy race track or a clean trip, I'd rather have a clean trip. I just didn't think the mud was going to be that big of an issue for him.”

Following the Derby disappointment, McCarthy headed back to his home and stable in California. He returned to Churchill Downs Sunday to check on the colt and confirmed that he could go on to the Preakness.

“I wanted to come back and just make sure he was kind of showing us all the signs that he was showing us before the Derby,” McCarthy said. “His attitude’s great. He’s been tearing the feed tub off the wall. Just the kind of little things you look for every day, and he was doing that. I just didn't want to commit without having laid my eyes on him first for a couple of days. My guys have been telling me all week how good he was doing. There's a lot of moving parts. There's multiple partners and things like that, so everybody needs to be kept abreast and on the same page.”

McCarthy said it is possible that the wet conditions in the Derby may have had an impact on the outcome, but it has not changed how he looks at the colt approaching the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

“I've lost zero confidence in him,” McCarthy said. “When he worked on Sunday prior to the Derby, I thought it would take an incredible effort to beat him, if the racetrack was like it was the Sunday prior. Mother Nature had different ideas, but I still think his effort was very, very good.”

Sovereignty’s connections opted to skip the Preakness and shipped the colt to upstate New York to prepare for the Belmont Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. McCarthy said it was possible that Journalism might go on to the Belmont June 7..

“I'd imagine, if he’d give a good account of himself here on Saturday,” McCarthy said. “He had three races in seven weeks as a 2-year-old. It didn't seem to bother him. Three races in five weeks is a little bit different but he's a hardy horse. He seems like he's got plenty of constitution, and a mile and a quarter, a mile and three-sixteenths and mile and a quarter again, doesn't seem like it's going to be an issue for him. It's in the back of our minds.”

Racing always gains when a rivalry develops, especially in the Triple Crown series. A Preakness victory would further enhance Journalism’s reputation and deepen interest in a showdown with Sovereignty.

“I thought the favoritism was certainly warranted and I don't think he disgraced himself on Derby Day,” McCarthy said. “Obviously, he's favored again here and deserves to be. I guess it would be nice to have a rematch at some point. Hopefully, Journalism stays healthy, Sovereignty stays healthy, and somewhere down the road we get to hook up. I think it would be great for the fans. Really be great for the sport.”

Casse Hopes Sunny Skies Await Sandman Preakness Day

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse isn’t asking for much as the 150th Preakness (G1) draws closer and closer.

Standing outside the Stakes Barn at Pimlico Race Course on a drizzly Wednesday morning, Casse had just one request for race day on Saturday: “Keep it dry, please.”

His popular gray colt Sandman, the 4-1 second choice on the Preakness morning line, struggled mightily when he ran on a sloppy track for the first in the Kentucky Derby (G1). He finished seventh.

“I am hoping we don’t have slop on Saturday,” Casse, who arrived in Baltimore Tuesday afternoon, said. “As a trainer, you get to this point – which we all know how hard it is to get here – and when you have a racetrack that helps others and hurts others, it’s frustrating. If your horse is not the best horse or he gets beat, I am fine with that. I just want a good racetrack.”

That is one thing Casse has no control over. After two days of rain and cloudy skies here, the forecast is encouraging for the weekend. Although the temperature could hover near 90 degrees Saturday, there is only a 24 percent chance of rain according to information from the Weather Channel.

In the Kentucky Derby, Sandman, who does his best running late, did not handle the kickback from the herd of horses in front of him.

“The issue in the Derby was 18 horses throwing mud at you,” Casse said. “If you are up close to the horses in front of you, the kickback is not as hard, but if you get about 10 yards behind and it hits you, it means something and it hurts. He never got comfortable.”

Casse said he is not convinced that Sandman, owned by D. J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stable, can’t handle an off track. His sire, Tapit, only raced on a sloppy track once in his six-race career and finished ninth in the 2004 Kentucky Derby.

Sandman got his first look at Pimlico just after 8:30 Wednesday and galloped 1 ¼ miles under Shane Tripp, who is Casse’s New York assistant.

“He just loped around out there,” Casse said. “I said to Shane, ‘You go out there and make sure he is happy and do whatever you want.’ I gave him no instructions. And he loped around easy. Tomorrow, it won’t be all new to him so he will be a little more aggressive. Right now, he is just getting his energy back.”

Sandman, who has won three of nine career starts, has one win in four tries this year. That came in the Arkansas Derby (G1) on March 29. He was ridden in last two starts by jockey Jose Ortiz. Ortiz has opted to ride Clever Again in the Preakness; Hall of Famer John Velazquez will ride Sandman in the Preakness.

“I think this is a good spot, the race sets up nice for us,” Casse said. “Everyone has to beat Journalism. There are some talented horses in here, but, without a doubt, the horse to beat is Journalism.”

Baffert’s Key to Preakness Record is Saddling Best Horse

There are no secrets that trainer Bob Baffert is keeping when it comes to his domination in the Preakness Stakes (G1). No other trainer has won the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course more times than Baffert.

He has hoisted the Preakness trophy eight times in his Hall of Fame career and is working on getting No. 9 this weekend. Baffert will saddle the lightly raced Goal Oriented in the 1 3/16-mile Classic.

Wednesday morning, Baffert was asked how he was able to win the Preakness a record number of times. The answer was easy enough.

“I had the best horse,” he said. “That is usually the best secret a trainer can have.”

Baffert’s Preakness winners are Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), Point Given (2001), War Emblem (2002), Lookin At Lucky (2010), American Pharoah (2015), Justify (2018) and National Treasure (2023). American Pharoah and Justify would go on to sweep the Triple Crown. Silver Charm, Real Quiet and War Emblem all won the Kentucky Derby (G1) and lost the Belmont Stakes (G1).

Baffert does not know how good Goal Oriented could be. After two starts, the son of Not This Time has checked all the boxes with a maiden win by 3 ¼ lengths and a front-running victory on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs by three quarters of a length on Kentucky Derby day.

Jumping right to the Preakness is a big ask, but Baffert has pushed all the right buttons more times than anyone when he brings a horse to Baltimore. Goal Oriented will be Baffert’s 27th Preakness starter.

Only Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, who will be saddling his record 49th Preakness runner Saturday with American Promise, has more.

Wednesday, Goal Oriented, owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan, got his first look at a sloppy strip at Pimlico.

He was ridden by exercise rider Humberto Gomez and galloped a mile. He arrived here on Tuesday afternoon from Louisville.

“He is a big, strong horse and I like that about him,” Baffert said. “But he is still figuring it out.”

Goal Oriented, who is 6-1 on the morning line, and jockey Flavien Prat will break from the rail in the Preakness. Baffert isn’t worried about the post.

“We’ve won from the rail twice here (American Pharoah and National Treasure),” Baffert said. “It’s not like the Kentucky Derby rail. It’s a different animal here.”

River Thames Arrives at Pimlico Late Wednesday Morning

WinStar Farm LLC, CHC Inc., Pantofel Stable LLC and Wachtel Stable’s River Thames arrived at Pimlico Race Course by van from New York late Wednesday morning.

The 3-year-old son of Maclean’s Music, who is ranked third at 9-2 on the morning line for Saturday’s 150th Preakness Stakes (G1), is scheduled for light training Thursday and Friday in preparation for his first start since finishing a close-up third in the April 8 Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, River Thames finishED second in his prior start in the Curlin Florida Derby (g1)at Gulfstream, beaten a neck by Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Sovereignty.

Irad Ortiz Jr. has the return mount on River Thames.

‘Easy’ Does It for Clever Again Heading into Preakness

There’s not a lot about the thoroughbred racing business that is easy. But easy is the word Darren Fleming, assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, uses repeatedly when discussing the stable’s Preakness Stakes (G1) contender Clever Again.

Fleming was at Oaklawn Park 10 years ago when trainer Bob Baffert sent American Pharoah from California to Arkansas for impressive scores in the Rebel Stakes (G2) by 6 1/2 lengths and Arkansas Derby G1) by eight lengths. Eight weeks later, American Pharoah had swept the Kentucky Derby (G1), Preakness and Belmont Stakes (G1) to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed (1978).

While Fleming admired American Pharoah remotely as a horseman, he is intimately involved with American Pharoah’s son Clever Again, who could be the horse to catch in the Saturday’s Preakness. Fleming was around Clever Again last spring at the Belmont-at-Saratoga meet and then all winter at Oaklawn. Those around American Pharoah always remarked on his good mind and great disposition, traits Fleming sees in Clever Again.

“They both have good minds, that’s the thing,” Fleming said. “I’ve loved this horse since Saratoga. He’s easy to get along with, does everything so easy, makes everything look easy. No matter what you asked him to do, he did it exactly the way you wanted him to do it. He doesn’t get anxious or excited. Nothing stresses him. Everything comes so easy. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t get anxious or excited, because everything he does is so easy for him.”

The Preakness will be only the fourth start for Clever Again. His two starts this year, which followed a 10-month layoff, were front-running victories at Oaklawn Park in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race and the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes at a two-turn mile. His team is banking on that good mind allowing Clever Again to settle right off the lead if another horse is intent on going to the front.

Fleming believes Clever Again’s No. 8 post in the nine-horse field, with all the other speed to the inside, should give jockey Jose Ortiz a tactical advantage. “Just play the break and decide what to do,” he said. “He has natural speed, too. Maybe they’ll be chasing him.”

Clever Again had a walk day Wednesday after vanning from Louisville to Baltimore Tuesday. He is scheduled to go to the track to gallop on Thursday.

“He shipped in good (Tuesday) night, ate everything,” Fleming said. “We just gave him an easy day off after a 12-hour van ride.”

Asmussen also has six other stakes horses for Pimlico’s Friday and Saturday cards. After Fleming oversaw their morning assignments, he served as the pony boy leading Preakness contender Sandman, the Arkansas Derby winner who finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby, to and from the track. Shane Tripp, assistant to Sandman trainer Mark Casse, grew up with Asmussen in Laredo, Texas, including working for Steve’s parents, Keith and Marilyn, at their Asmussen Horse Center.

“Steve and I grew up together,” Tripp said at Pimlico, where he’s also serving as Sandman’s exercise rider. “He was a year older than me. I’ve known him since I was like 6 years old and my parents were good friends with his parents. It was like family. And I’ve known Darren for over 30 years, because he’s been with Steve for a long time. When I needed a pony, Darren is a good friend, plus he’s right next door” in the Preakness barn. “That’s one thing I love about the racetrack, the camaraderie.”

“Only in racing,” said Terry Finley, whose West Point Thoroughbreds is a co-owner of Sandman. “I think that’s the cool thing. We’re all in the same locker room, which really doesn’t happen elsewhere, except in golf.”

Tripp was asked if Fleming got the $25 that a freelance pony person might typically get per horse. “Naw,” the Casse assistant said. “I just got to buy him dinner.”

Osborne ‘Happy to Roll the Dice’ with Heart of Honor in Preakness

If you’re curious how England’s Heart of Honor will handle American racing in Saturday’s 150th Preakness Stakes (G1), so is trainer Jamie Osborne.

The British trainer admits he does not know what to expect in the 1 3/16-mile Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course. It’s hard to assess how his colt, who has Kentucky breeding but was foaled in Britain, stacks up with some of the best U.S. 3-year-olds. Osborne doesn’t know how Heart of Honor will handle a wet track in a race, as is possible. Or in fact, how he’ll handle Pimlico Race Course’s dirt, wet or fast.

But it’s all part of a grand adventure that Heart of Honor put his peeps on when, on an unlucky head bob, he finished second by a nose in Dubai’s UAE Derby (G2) at Meydan Racecourse. That effort qualified Heart of Honor for the Kentucky Derby (G1), but Osborne opted to ship the colt back to his Lambourn stable in England before deciding to point for the Preakness and possibly on to New York’s Belmont Stakes (G1) three weeks later at Saratoga Race Course.

“Compared to most people here, we’re shooting in the dark,” said Osborne, whose 23-year-old daughter Saffie is Heart of Honor’s jockey. But we understand that. And we’re happy to roll that dice…. I’ve got wonderfully sporting owners who are happy for us to take this shot. And, yeah, we’re going to enjoy it. It is an adventure.”

Jim Bryce, who owns Heart of Honor with his wife, Claire, agreed: “I think the simple summary is you’re only a 3-year-old once, and we just thought, ‘Gotta give it shot.’ We’re realistic — in a bubble riding a wave, hoping the bubble won’t burst.”

Morning-long drizzle didn’t dampen the Heart of Honor team’s cheerful attitude after assistant Jimmy McCarthy took Heart of Honor out for the second morning of jogging and galloping at Pimlico. Asked how he thought the colt took to the surface, Osborne shook his head and said with a big smile and laugh, “God only knows. We come from a country that’s famous for its rain, but we haven’t had any for about eight weeks. We had to come here to find some.”

Osborne, who with the owners arrived from England Tuesday, did like how Heart of Honor looked after shipping from Dubai to England to Kentucky to go through quarantine and then vanning to Maryland, a schedule that can cause some horses to back off eating and lose weight.

“He looks great,” he said. “He did his last breeze 10 days out. So, it was not a perfect preparation, but I wanted to leave a little bit on him because he was going to have to come through a fair regime to get to this point. It’s a lot of traveling for the horse. But he’s pretty sensible. He’s a good eater. Jimmy reports that he hasn’t left an oat, and I think he looks very bright. He certainly doesn’t look like a horse that’s been doing all the traveling.”

Osborne purchased Heart of Honor, whose markings on his forehead loosely resemble a heart, for the owners for $172,341 at France’s Arqana 2-year-old sale last May.

After starting out with a second sprinting over Southwell’s synthetic surface, Heart of Honor’s next five races came on dirt at Meydan, with two allowance-level victories followed by a trio of seconds in the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (won by Japan’s next-out Saudi Derby (G1) winner Golden Vekoma), the Al Bastakiya (a head defeat) and the UAE Derby, whose winner, Japan’s Admire Daytona, wound up last in the Kentucky Derby.

So how does Heart of Honor fit in the field of nine that includes Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Journalism, the 8-5 favorite; Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Sandman, and lightly raced but promising horses such as Clever Again, River Thames, Goal Oriented and Gosger?

“I don’t know, you tell me,” Osborne said. “Of course, I’ve looked at the field. It’s sort of like reading Swahili to me. Obviously, he’s one of the best 3-year-olds in the Middle East in the winter. His form stacks up with the horse that won the Saudi Derby and we nearly won the UAE Derby. But how it relates to here, over dirt racing, I haven’t got a clue.

“I don’t think we can read anything from how Admire Daytona ran in the Derby,” he added. “He was good on the night in the UAE, and he clearly didn’t run his race (at Churchill Downs), for whatever reason. Maybe the track. I’d have been more disappointed if Admire Daytona had looked like he was running straight and finished 10th. Him finishing last in the Derby, it’s a non-event, really.”

Osborne takes no offense when asked why he’s in Baltimore with what will be the owners’ first American starter.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “The horse was bought by Jim and Claire Bryce to give them some entertainment in the Middle East last winter. We were struggling to compete with Godolphin on the grass. Godolphin doesn’t have much of a presence on the dirt in Dubai. So, we thought, ‘Why don’t we try and do something a little bit different and let’s buy a few dirt horses and see if we can go out there and compete?’ And that did happen. We had a good season with him out there.

“Clearly there’s nothing for this horse to run in Europe. I suspected we’d bring him home and give him a nice long break and then work back from next year’s Middle Eastern season. But he came back from Dubai just looking fantastic and bouncing. And I thought this horse doesn’t need a break right now. He still has more to give on this push.”

Concurred Jim Bryce: “We don’t know what to expect. It’s very hard to have any real comparisons, isn’t it? We know he’s a horse that’s still developing. Obviously, he took quite a step from his previous race to the UAE Derby. We’re hoping there’s a little bit more to come.”

Osborne said Saffie was riding in Great Britain Wednesday and is flying to Baltimore on Thursday.

Lukas: We ‘Stole’ the Preakness with Seize the Grey

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas asked a little bit more from BC Stables’ American Promise Wednesday morning and had him gallop 1 ¾ miles over the sealed, wet surface at Pimlico Race Course.

American Promise, who ended up 16th after a difficult trip in the Kentucky Derby (G1), is 15-1 on the morning line for the 150th Preakness. He will start from Post 3 in the field of nine with regular rider Nik Juarez aboard.

Lukas won the 1980 Preakness with Codex, his first Triple Crown starter. Last year, he became the oldest trainer at 88 to win a Triple Crown race when Seize the Grey pulled off the victory with a front-running trip over a wet track. Seize the Grey did not run in the Derby but prepped for the Preakness with a solid victory in the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the Derby program. It was an unconventional steppingstone to the Preakness, but one that Lukas said makes sense.

“From a trainer standpoint, of course it depends on horse you're dealing with, but I think ideally, a mile a couple weeks out is really a nice prep for this race,” Lukas said. “I think the Pat Day Mile, people will start picking up on it. (Charlie) Whittingham, Woody Stevens, the old Laz Barrera, they used to always put a mile into those horses before a major stake like this. And I did it quietly every year, too. But when he ran that impressive in the Pat Day Mile, I really felt like we had a hell of a shot here, and when the race was over, (Bob) Baffert looked at me and said, ‘You stole it.’ That's what we did. We just sent him. Stole the race.”

Lukas said that American Promise would gallop again Thursday morning and probably would have a lighter exercise Friday morning. Rain is in the forecast all week, and Lukas said that if the track is wet for the Preakness, he might trim American Promise’s blinkers so they don’t collect as much muddy kickback.

Pay Billy’s Trainer Mike Gorham Feeling Right at Home

While RKTN Racing’s 150th Preakness (G1) contender Pay Billy got his first look at the Pimlico Race Course racetrack on a soggy Wednesday morning, it was like déjà vu all over again for trainer Mike Gorham.

The 60-year-old Gorham grew up around the Boston area and began his training career on the New England circuit in 1985. A few years later, he moved to the Mid-Atlantic and got himself stalls at Pimlico.

When he pulled the van carrying Pay Billy, along with $300,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan (G2) filly Moon Cache and $150,000 Chick Lang contender Chipotle, onto the Pimlico backstretch just outside of Barn D, the memories came flooding back.

“When I first came to Pimlico in January of 1990 I was in the exact same stalls here. No kidding,” Gorham said Wednesday morning through a wide smile. “I knew I was going into this barn [this week]. When they told me I said, ‘Put me in that barn, that’s fine,’ and then when we got here it was the exact same stalls. It’s probably a little nicer now being one of the stakes barns, but how about that?”

Gorham sent Pay Billy out to the track at 7:30 Wednesday morning with his assistant trainer and exercise rider Aimee Hall aboard. Hall is a fellow New Englander who formerly trained there and at Delaware Park, where Gorham is based most of the year following winters at Laurel Park, near Pimlico.

“He galloped a mile and a half. Everything was good,” Gorham said. “He seemed to skip around there all right, finished up a little bit. We didn’t let him do too much. He doesn’t really need much from now on, just a little light training.”

Gorham said when Pay Billy goes out and what he does Thursday morning, like Wednesday, will depend on the weather.

“Nothing really bothers him. Whatever you want him to do, he’s good with,” Gorham said. “Like with all this different setting for him, he handled everything. He wasn’t really looking at anything. He just went out and did what he was asked.”

This will be the first graded-stakes attempt for Pay Billy, who enters the 1 3/16-mile Preakness off back-to-back stakes victories in the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms March 22 and 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio April 19, the latter earning him automatic entry. It is also the first Triple Crown starter for Gorham, who owns 1,443 career training victories.

Gorham has won six graded races, four of them with Mandy’s Gold including the 2002 Ruffian (G1) and 2003 Pimlico Breeders’ Cup Distaff Handicap (G3), now run as the Allaire du Pont Distaff. His most recent graded victory came with Adore the Gold in the 2007 Swale (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

Mandy’s Gold’s victory came on the eve of the 128th Preakness, a race and a weekend that are quite familiar to Gorham.

“I’ve been to a bunch of them. I don’t know exactly how many times, but I would say at least 25 times, either running a horse on the undercard or just as a fan, so I’ve been here quite a bit,” he said. “You always think about [winning a race like the Preakness] and you hope it happens, but for a lot of people it doesn’t. Hopefully it does happen.”

Pay Billy drew Post 5 in a field of nine and will have regular rider Raul Mena, up for the previous five starts, four of them wins, back aboard.

“I’m happy where we are, right in the middle post. I think there will be some speed to go, and if he can just tuck in behind them we’ll be in good shape,” Gorham said. “He’s got enough speed to be right up in contention. If he can just sit off a little bit, not too far back, that’d be perfect.”

Rated at 20-1 on the morning line, Pay Billy shares longest odds in the Preakness field with Lexington (G3) winner Gosger. Still, the son of beaten 2019 Preakness favorite Improbable figures to have plenty of local support.

“I guess people like the underdog story,” Gorham said, “where maybe the big names win all the big races and maybe some guy that doesn’t win those big races all the time shows they can do it, too.”

Gosger Shows ‘Great Energy’ During First Visit to Pimlico Track

Gosger visited the track for the first time Wednesday, galloping once around the sloppy Pimlico oval.

“He has great energy, so that's good,” said Rachel Wade, assistant to trainer Brendan Walsh. “He shipped really well (arriving early Tuesday morning), settled right in. He's happy and he looks great.”

Wade said the Harvey A. Clarke Racing Stable LLC's gray son of Nyquist will likely return to the track Thursday for another gallop.

“I'd say something similar tomorrow,” Wade said. “Maybe stand in the gate. He'll paddock school tomorrow, which is the plan right now.”

Gosger graduated in a mile maiden special weight event at Gulfstream Park in his second career start before scoring a two-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Lexington (G3) at Keeneland April 12.

Luis Saez is scheduled to ride Gosger for the first time Saturday.