River Thames ‘Happy’ in First Visit to Track at Pimlico
Sandman Obliges Adoring Fans with Majestic Pose at Pimlico
Baffert: Break is Going to be Important for Goal Oriented
Preakness Newsfeed: Preakness@isctv.com

BALTIMORE – Twelve days after circumstances well beyond his control hurt Journalism’s chances in the Kentucky Derby (G1), trainer Michael McCarthy was upbeat Thursday morning about how the son of Curlin will perform in the 150th Preakness Stakes (G1) Saturday at Pimlico.

A chain-reaction bumping incident that took place immediately after the gates opened impacted Journalism, the 3-1 favorite, and left him farther behind the pacesetters than McCarthy had hoped. Jockey Umberto Rispoli was able to move the colt into a contending position in the second turn, but Journalism ended up second to Sovereignty by 1½ lengths.

While Sovereignty is skipping the Preakness, Journalism is at Pimlico and is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the field of nine. After the colt galloped 1 1/8 miles over the wet track Thursday morning, McCarthy said Journalism is showing him positive signs.

“I have a lot of confidence in my horse,” McCarthy said. “He's coming back in two weeks. Sometimes with good horses, it's a lot harder to tell when they're not on top of their game, because they can handle it. They handle these things so easily. We'll see on Saturday, but my gut tells me we're in for good things.”

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 was purchased as a yearling at Fasig Tipton’s 2023 Saratoga Sale for $825,000. He has a 4-1-1 record from six career starts.

The runner-up finish in the Derby ended a four-race winning streak. He earned his qualifying points for the Derby with wins in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and the San Felipe (G2). McCarthy said that a turning point in the colt’s development from a talented prospect into a Triple Crown series-caliber runner took place in mid-December.

“After the Los Alamitos Futurity, he really started to train with a lot more, I guess, integrity,” McCarthy said. “He was just really starting to kind of use himself properly and things were coming a lot easier to him. When they're good like that, they can take a little more training than the average racehorse. He's been very textbook since the summer of ’24.”

Rispoli, who regularly rides for McCarthy, was up for the Los Alamitos Futurity and has been aboard ever since.

“He's a very good rider,” McCarthy said. “He's accomplished all over the world. He's a very tactical guy. He does his homework. Those are all the kind of things I like.”

Four years ago, McCarthy won his Preakness debut with Rombauer, a lower-profile colt who had not run in the Kentucky Derby. McCarthy had a quiet week leading up to the race. Things are different for him this year as he prepares a colt who will be the favorite in the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Like he did at Churchill Downs, McCarthy talks with a media gaggle after Journalism trains.

“I think it's a great spot to be in,” he said. “I would have liked to have been talking to you guys with a Derby win under my belt, but it's a tough race to win. Any of these Triple Crown races, they're not easy to win. So, we've brought a horse here who seems like he's good enough to get the job done on Saturday.”

McCarthy said that Journalism showed he could handle a muddy track in Louisville, which he might have to travel over again at the end of a wet week in Maryland. And McCarthy said the colt can deal with what might develop into a quick early pace with several speedy horses in the lineup.

“I wouldn't say there's more impetus to get to the lead,” he said. “I would say the way he has placed himself in his races, he can lay close and be effective. I’d just like a clean break this week. That's all.”

River Thames ‘Happy’ in First Visit to Track at Pimlico

WinStar Farm LLC, CHC Inc., Pantofel Stable LLC and Wachtel Stable’s River Thames visited the sealed, sloppy racetrack at Pimlico Race Course Thursday, on the son of Maclean’s Music’s first morning of training following his arrival from New York.

River Thames, who is trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, galloped once around the historic oval in preparation for a start in Saturday’s 150th Preakness Stakes (G1) while under the watchful eye of foreman Juan Aguayo

“It was a routine mile gallop. We’re just trying to keep him happy for the race, essentially,” exercise rider Nick Merritt said.

River Thames, who is rated third on the morning line at 9-2, convinced his exercise rider that he was indeed happy during his morning gallop for the 1 3/16-mile Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

“It’s amazing. I thank Todd every day for giving me the opportunity to ride horses like this,” Merritt said. “I’m on Cloud 9 all the time.”

River Thames, who will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. in the Preakness, is coming off a third-place finish in the April 8 Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland, beaten three-quarters of a length by victorious Burnham Square. In his previous start at Gulfstream Park, the New York-bred colt held a lead into deep stretch before settling for second, beaten a neck by Sovereignty, who went on to capture the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs.

Pletcher withheld River Thames from the Kentucky Derby in favor of targeting the Preakness.

Sandman Obliges Adoring Fans with Majestic Pose at Pimlico

The only horse Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse has on the grounds at Pimlico Race Course is Sandman, who will seek to bounce back from a subpar Kentucky Derby (G1) effort in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes (G1).

While waiting for Sandman to head out for his Thursday morning exercise, Casse was holed up in his office at the Pimlico Stakes Barn watching his other horses train in New York, Kentucky and Florida.

His main focus, though, is on the big gray in the stall right next to the office, waiting patiently to go to the track. Sandman got his second look at Pimlico just after 8:30 Thursday morning with Shane Tripp on board.

“He was more comfortable today,” Tripp, also an assistant to Casse, said after the 1 ¼-mile gallop. “He was looking around yesterday. The track was a little drier than it was (Wednesday). There was a lot of water on top of it yesterday and kind of had a glare that he was looking at.”

Sandman is owned by DJ Stable LLC, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables. Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez will ride Sandman for the first time on Saturday. Jose Ortiz, who has been the pilot for the last two starts, including the seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1), has opted to ride Clever Again in the Preakness.

Sandman, a son of Tapit, won the Arkansas Derby (G1) after finishing third in the Rebel Stakes (G2) and second in the Southwest Stakes, all at Oaklawn Park.

“His races have been so good,” Casse said, adding he was throwing out the Kentucky Derby after Sandman did not take to the sloppy track. “He easily could have won the Southwest and the Rebel. The confidence level is as high as you can have it with any horse.”

Sandman is second at 4-1 on the Preakness morning line and will start from Post 7 in the field of nine.

Casse has taken to leading Sandman around the Stakes Barn and has stopped him when there has been a group of people – Pimlico conducts morning tours – looking at the Preakness horses and hoping to get a picture.

Sandman obliges, sticking his neck out and posing like an equine runway model.

“My belief has always been that anybody that loves racing is a friend of mine,” Casse said. “I try to share them whenever I can. You can’t do it with every horse; there are a lot you would not try it with. With him, it doesn’t matter. He is a showoff. He keeps us all chill.”

Casse said that Sandman will jog on Friday morning at 8:30 after the track-renovation break.

Baffert: Break is Going to be Important for Goal Oriented

Like everyone else running a horse in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes (G1), Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert knows the 1 3/16-mile race goes through the imposing Journalism.

The runner-up and beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby (G1) is the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the Preakness and has looked the part all week in and around the Stakes Barn at Pimlico Race Course.

“Journalism, definitely the horse to beat,” Baffert said Thursday morning. “That is the whole thing. He has proven it. If he brings his ‘A’ game, he is going to be tough. We need luck.”

Baffert, of course, will do all he can to deprive Journalism, and seven other horses entered in the 150th running of the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. He is pinning his Preakness hopes on a colt named 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, Goal Oriented is rated at 6-1 on the morning line.

He will start from the rail post position with jockey Flavien Prat up..

The Preakness will be just the third start for the son of Not This Time. He won his first two outs.

“We have come here with the goods and we come here with not the goods,” Baffert, who has won the Preakness a record eight times, said.

Whether or not Goal Oriented has the Preakness “goods” that Baffert covets remains to be seen.

“He has handled everything we have thrown at him,” Baffert said. “He is a big, strong horse. This is a tough group; the break is going to be so important for him.”

Goal Oriented went to the track at 8:30 Thursday with exercise rider Humberto Gomez aboard, He was led to the track on the foggy morning by Baffert’s assistant Jimmy Barnes, who was on the pony.

“We just backed him up and galloped a little bit,” said Baffert, who reported that he would probably paddock school Goal Oriented either Thursday or Friday. “He is ready. We won’t do much Friday.”

Replacing Daughter Saffie on Heart of Honor Not an Option for Osborne

British-based Preakness Stakes (G1) contender Heart of Honor had another morning of jogging and galloping at Pimlico Race Course Thursday, going out to the track to train after the 8:30 a.m. track maintenance break. “So far so good,” said trainer Jamie Osborne. “He looked bright out there.”

Heart of Honor will be the Lambourn-based Osborne’s second horse to run on dirt in America, following Toast of New York’s defeat by a nose to Bayern in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita.

As gut-wrenching defeats by mere inches in multi-million-dollar races go, however, that ranks behind Heart of Honor’s loss by a nose to Admire Daytona in Dubai’s UAE Derby (G2) April 5.

While the Breeders’ Cup Classic, then worth $5 million, was worth twice as much as the $2.5 million UAE Derby, there was an important difference: Osborne’s 23-year-old daughter, Saffie, rides Heart of Honor. She also is the first female rider to win a race at Dubai’s showcase Meydan Racecourse.

“The first was painful,” Osborne, at Pimlico, said of Toast of New York’s Breeders’ Cup defeat. “But I think the UAE Derby was more painful, even though the two races obviously don’t have the same sort of prestige. Yeah, for Saffie, it was really tough. I think it brings a whole different dimension to what I’m doing when you’ve got your own child doing the riding. It would have been elating, but it wasn’t. But she’s 23 years old, she’s going to get plenty more chances. But it was a tough one to swallow.”

Said Jim Bryce, who owns the British-bred Toast of Honor with his wife, Claire: “History could have been made with father and daughter on board. I was more sorry for them than for ourselves. It did feel unlucky, because five yards before the line, we’d been in front, and five yards after the line. It was just a bob.”

Saffie Osborne was scheduled to fly in from England on Thursday and to be at the track Friday. She will attempt to join Julie Krone (winner of the 1993 Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair) as the only female riders to win a U.S. Triple Crown race.

Her dad never considered putting a big-name American jockey aboard for the 150th Preakness.

“I’ve gotten used to her being our rider now,” Jamie Osborne said. “I suppose for everybody, we’re fresh faces around here, and it looks very different, doesn’t it? An Englishman with a G.B.-foaled horse ridden by his youngest child. OK, fine, it’s different. Yeah, I mean I enjoy working with her. It’s kind of given me a new enthusiasm. I’ve been doing this 25 years. Unless you’re producing very good horses every year, it’s easy to lose your enthusiasm. I think since she’s come along, yeah, she makes me feel a little bit younger.

“People have said, ‘You’re coming to America. Why don’t you use somebody who has experience at the track, more experience than her on dirt?’ But for us, that’s not an option,” he added. “Jim and Claire Bryce, they’re very good friends. They’ve known Saffie for many years; they’ve seen her grow up. She’s part of the team. So for us, there was never a consideration to let anyone else ride him. She knows the horse.”

Before he ran on dirt for the first time in the U.S., Toast of New York finished sixth on grass in the Belmont Derby Invitational (G1) and second in the Pacific Classic (G1) over Del Mar’s then-Polytrack surface.

“We were running out of options for him, so we thought, ‘Let’s give him a go on the dirt,’” Osborne said. “It nearly worked.”

He’ll find out Saturday if giving Heart of Honor a go at history in the Preakness Stakes works out.

‘Late Starter’ Gosger Ready to Join Triple Crown in Progress

If not for a number of minor setbacks as a 2-year-old, trainer Brendan Walsh said Gosger might have made the starting gate for the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1).

Instead, Walsh was forced to tap on the brakes with the colt and wait for Saturday’s 150th Preakness (G1), the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

“I kind of had in mind that he was working like a horse that might have been a potential Derby-type horse," Walsh said of the 3-year-old son of Nyquist. "We've always liked the horse.”

Walsh said Gosger arrived at his barn about this time a year ago. But one issue after another delayed his racing debut until December.

“A couple of little issues last year, nothing major," Walsh said. "But we had to give him some time, so he was a late starter."

After finishing second in his debut, Gosger didn't race again until Feb. 15, when he broke his maiden at Gulfstream Park. A two-length victory in Keeneland's Lexington Stakes (G3) followed and served as a springboard for the Preakness.

“He's a horse that's still growing, still maturing, and I don't think he's quite there yet," Walsh said.

Gosger, who has had a different rider in each of his first three races, is to be ridden by yet another new jockey, Luis Saez, Saturday.

Gosger took a couple of leisurely laps, jogging and galloping, in the opposite direction around the sealed, sloppy Pimlico oval Thursday morning. Walsh said he planned to paddock school the colt later on Thursday and gate school him Friday morning.

Lukas Seeking Eighth Win from 49 Preakness Starters

As he has done many times through the years, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas handled a couple of assignments Thursday morning at Pimlico: training his horses and talking at the annual Alibi Breakfast.

Lukas, a few months shy of his 90th birthday, has six horses entered in this weekend’s stakes, including American Promise, his record

49th starter in the Preakness Stakes. Lukas picked up his seventh Preakness win last year with Seize the Grey and a victory this year would put him in a tie with Bob Baffert at the top of the standings.

Since saddling Codex for a win the 1980 Preakness, Lukas has compiled a 28-20-20 record in 163 starts at Pimlico, according to Equibase. All but two of those starts have been in stakes, where he has a record of 27-19-20. Lukas has won 11 Pimlico stakes at least once.

BC Stables’ American Promise had a difficult trip in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and ended up 16th, beaten 38½ lengths by Sovereignty. Lukas said his Virginia Derby winner never really had a chance to run in the Derby and is giving him another try in the 150th Preakness. American Promise was out on the track for his daily exercise early Thursday.

“He had a really good morning again,” Lukas said. “He went out there and galloped a mile and a half or a little more, probably. The track had a lot of moisture in it, but he seems like he gets over it really well. I'm not worried about that part of it at all.”

Lukas said the trip around Churchill Downs, where he was stopped twice by traffic issues, did not take much out of the massive son of Triple Crown winner Justify.

“His energy level is excellent. He's filled up,” he said. “You know, these race horse tuck up and look a little stressed. He shows none of that and his energy level is really good.”

Mena ‘Really Excited’ about First Triple Crown Ride aboard Pay Billy

In his 10th full season of riding since coming to the U.S. from his native Chile, 32-year-old jockey Raul Mena will make his Triple Crown debut aboard RKTN Racing’s Pay Billy in Saturday’s 150th Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course.

Mena has been Pay Billy’s regular rider, up for the last five of his eight career starts since mid-December, four of them wins. Each of the last two have come in two-turn stakes at Laurel Park – the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms March 22 and 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio April 19, in which Pay Billy earned an automatic Preakness berth.

“He broke his maiden with me at six furlongs [Dec. 15], and from the beginning, he has been showing a lot of talent. Then he won the allowance race and he won a couple of stakes,” Mena said. “He has been showing a lot of talent, but I’m still waiting to make him run really, really fast to see how fast he can run. He’s always trying to prove [himself] with that quality of horses and let’s see what he can do in the [Preakness]. It’s going to be tough, but I’m optimistic about what he can do running against those kind of horses.”

Before attending Thursday’s traditional Alibi Breakfast along with trainer Mike Gorham, Mena stopped by Barn D adjacent to the main Pimlico Stakes Barn to visit Pay Billy, who had a walk day after galloping 1 ½ miles over the main track Wednesday. Gorham vanned Pay Billy from Delaware Park Tuesday afternoon along with 3-year-old filly Moon Cache for Friday’s George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan (G2) and 3-year-old colt Chipotle for Saturday’s Chick Lang.

“He’s really not too friendly. He likes to bite,” Mena said. “But he’s doing good and we get along good. We like each other.”

Pay Billy is the best horse Mena, a winner of 423 races from 3,892 starters since 2015, has ridden over his career but not his only good 3-year-old. In fact, it was Omaha Omaha – whose managing partner, Nate Nelson, holds the same position for Pay Billy in a different ownership group – that was lining up to be his first runner in a Triple Crown race.

Omaha Omaha ran second in the Jerome and third in the Withers and Virginia Derby before trying the Wood Memorial (G2) in an effort to secure enough points to make the Kentucky Derby (G1) field. Those dreams ended after a ninth-place finish, but two weeks later Pay Billy took the Tesio and landed the connections in Baltimore.

“We almost get the horse for the Kentucky Derby. He had some points but, unfortunately, he didn’t run as good in the Wood Memorial,” Mena said. “After that with Pay Billy we are bringing in a different horse and it’s very exciting. We are very lucky. It’s very hard to get a good 3-year-old and to have two of the same generation is a very special moment for me.”

Introduced to the horses by his father, Mena got his first racetrack job as a groom at age 14. He started riding in Chile and overcame serious injuries from a 2011 spill to come to the U.S. where he won his first race Dec. 18, 2015 on Flash Jak at Gulfstream Park. Mentored by retired Hall of Fame jockey and countryman Jose Santos after arriving stateside, Mena has spent winters in Florida and New York and currently rides the Mid-Atlantic circuit.

Mena is coming off a career year having earned $1,827,767 in purses in 2024 after establishing personal bests of 68 wins in 2019 and 597 starters in 2021. Named on one horse Thursday night at Penn National, he is no stranger to the Pimlico course.

“I spent my second season in the United States at Pimlico,” Mena said. “All these years I’ve been at Delaware [Park] and before that I was in Tampa. I’m happy to be back here.”

Mena is one of four Preakness rookies riding in the race, along with Maryland native Nik Juarez (American Promise), Saffie Osborne (Heart of Honor) and Umberto Rispoli (Journalism). Mena will also be aboard Moon Cache and Chipotle for Gorham.

“I’m feeling really good. I’m feeling really excited about this opportunity. I’m happy to be here and enjoy this moment. I hope to enjoy it from now to the moment of the race,” Mena said of the Preakness. “This is the biggest race of my whole career in the United States. It’s a Grade 1, Triple Crown race. I don’t realize yet the sensation of all the crowd and all the people. It’s a very special moment for me.”

Pay Billy drew Post 5 in a field of nine and is rated at 20-1 on the morning line. Gorham anticipated giving Pay Billy another walk day Friday.

“We’ve kind of done all the work and usually I like to ease them into a race a couple days before,” Gorham said. “He had a strong gallop [Wednesday] so that should set him up pretty good. Hopefully, he’s ready to go.”

Clever Again Gallops, Schools for Graded-Stakes Debut in Preakness

Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith’s Clever Again, attempting to win Saturday’s Preakness (G1) in his fourth career start, had a routine mile gallop Thursday morning. He later schooled in the paddock during Pimlico’s second race.

Jose Ortiz has the mount for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Ortiz won the 2022 Preakness on Early Voting, holding off favored Epicenter and thereby denying Asmussen a third Preakness victory. Asmussen won the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown in 2007 with Curlin and two years later with the filly Rachel Alexandra, both voted Horse of the Year and enshrined in racing’s Hall of Fame.

Ortiz was aboard in Clever Again’s two starts this year: front-running wins at Oaklawn Park by 3 1/4 lengths in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race and the $200,000 Hot Springs stakes at a two-turn mile. The son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah made one start at 2, finishing second by a head at 4 1/2 furlongs during Keeneland’s April meet.193