Advertisement

Trainer Says He Probably Won’t Run Demons Begone in Preakness

Share

Phil Hauswald, the 29-year-old trainer of Kentucky Derby favorite Demons Begone, who had to pull up Saturday because of bleeding, will not rush the colt’s return.

“I don’t think that this necessarily means that this horse is a bleeder,” Hauswald said. “I’ve been around horses that have been bleeders and I’ve been around a lot that haven’t, and this horse had never given any indication. A lot of times you relate stress or excitedness with bleeding (but) this horse couldn’t have acted any better. He never turned a hair in the paddock, was good in the post parade, he sure looked like he was behaving himself well. All of us know what a quiet horse he is. He would have been the last horse that I would have ever anticipated bleeding.

“A whole lot smarter people than me have done survey after survey to try to figure out what causes bleeding. Most of the time, it’s some type of stress. But I can’t feel that this horse ran enough to put himself in any stress.”

Advertisement

Hauswald indicated that he would not run Demons Begone in the May 16 Preakness at Pimlico.

“I would never rush this horse back into something until I was absolutely comfortable that he was OK,” he said. “Two weeks is not very long.”

Advertisement