Mi Preferido Is Questionable for Derby

Trainer Laz Barrera was hoping that Mi Preferido might give him a shot at winning the Kentucky Derby for the third time, but now the 3-year-old colt has only a marginal chance of starting in the 114th running of the race at Churchill Downs a week from today.

Barrera, speaking Friday from his home in Arcadia, said that Mi Preferido came out of the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park last Saturday with muscle soreness in both hips. Mi Preferido was shipped from Oaklawn to Churchill Downs after the race and Barrera will fly to Louisville Monday, confer with veterinarian Alex Harthill Tuesday and then decide on the horse’s Derby status.

“Right now, I’d say that his chances are 50-50 of running,” Barrera said.

The favorite in the Arkansas Derby, Mi Preferido broke awkwardly, contested the early lead with Notebook and then tired in the stretch, finishing fifth, 8 lengths behind the winning Proper Reality.

In his previous race, the Santa Anita Derby April 9, Mi Preferido unsuccessfully tried to run with Winning Colors early, and again lacked a finishing kick in the stretch, running third behind runner-up Lively One and Winning Colors, who was a 7 1/2-length winner.

It appeared that Mi Preferido was shortening his stride through the stretch of the Santa Anita Derby.

“He didn’t break right in either of those races, so after the Arkansas Derby I went back to his barn to see what might have caused it,” Barrera said. “He was sore on both hind sides. The pain was deep in the muscles, but when you pressed a finger down in that area, he acted like it was sore.”

Mi Preferido jogged three days ago here and still seemed sore. He is being treated with cortisone and muscle relaxers by Harthill. Mi Preferido won the first three races of his career, including last year’s Hollywood Juvenile and the San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita in January. He then had a rough trip while finishing fifth as the 4-5 favorite in the San Rafael, but he bounced back three weeks later to win the San Felipe Handicap.

Barrera said after the San Felipe that Mi Preferido would give him the best chance to win the Kentucky Derby since Affirmed, who in 1978 also became the last horse to sweep the Triple Crown. Barrera’s first Derby winner was Bold Forbes in 1976.

“I won’t run Mi Preferido unless he’s 100%,” Barrera said.

Firery Ensign, who ran a dull race at Keeneland in his last start, became a Derby dropout Friday. His defection reduces the list of definite Derby starters to 17.

Three of the 17--Cefis, Kingpost and Jim’s Orbit--are running in the $50,000, 1-mile Derby Trial on opening day at Churchill Downs today. The four other starters--Lover’s Trust, Frosty the Snowman, Morgan’s Levee and Pastourelles--are all eligible for the Triple Crown, and it’s possible that their handlers might consider the Derby if one of them won. Any more than 20 Derby starters and Churchill Downs must invoke the money rule, which gives preference to the 20 horses with the most earnings in important races.

The other definites are Private Terms, Winning Colors, Forty Niner, Regal Classic, Risen Star, Brian’s Time, Proper Reality, Lively One, Seeking the Gold, Granacus, Stalwars, Sea Trek, Purdue King and Intensive Command.

After Dynaformer finished seventh in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct last Saturday, trainer Wayne Lukas said that he wouldn’t run in the Derby. But there are reports out of New York that Joe Allen, the colt’s owner, would like to run and the horse may be shipped here. Dynaformer and Din’s Dancer would be in trouble on earnings if the trainers of 20 other horses wanted to run.

Horse Racing Notes

Surprisingly, Pastourelles has been made a 5-2 favorite for the Derby Trial, with Cefis at 3-1, Lover’s Trust at 4-1 and Kingpost at 5-1. Pastourelles has been running at the Fair Grounds, where he beat Risen Star in February before losing to the same colt twice, the second time when he was third in the Louisiana Derby.

As expected, Pat Day, who will ride Pastourelles in the Trial, announced that he would ride Forty Niner rather than Regal Classic in the Kentucky Derby. . . . Longshot Velvet Fog was scratched from the Trial. . . . Drouilly’s Boy, seventh after running on the lead early in Thursday’s Blue Grass at Keeneland, may run in the Twin Spires, a $50,000, 1 1/16-mile race at Churchill Downs on Derby day.