PREAKNESS : Summer Squall: Small Wonder

Summer Squall is a smallish wisp of a horse who is often dwarfed by his peers when it comes time to line up the competitors at the starting gate.

Nestled in the corner of Stall 31 at Pimlico’s Barn E, the diminutive horse hardly looks like he could have survived four races since mid-March, much less win half of them.

His size has done little to hamper his ability. A strong effort earned Summer Squall a second-place showing at the Kentucky Derby, and he enters Saturday’s Preakness never having finished worse than second.

Still, the doubts persist.

A reporter asked Summer Squall trainer Neil Howard if perhaps his horse might be worn out after such a strenuous spring schedule. The only one tired, Howard answered, was himself--tired of answering that question.

“He’s just a small horse,” Howard said. “I’d like to make him grow 10 feet by tomorrow for the newspaper people, but I just can’t do it. His mother was thin and his father was small. He’s really just a smaller horse than the other ones in the race.”

Summer Squall took a casual gallop Monday and was supposed to breeze through an easy five-eighths of a mile workout in around 1 minute, 2 seconds Tuesday. The horse didn’t cooperate.

Working on a fast track, Summer Squall covered the distance in 59 4/5 seconds, causing Howard to proclaim, “You’d have to walk the horse to do a 1:02.”

Howard would love to win the Preakness, but he’s just happy to get the chance. He felt the same way about the Derby, and the second-place finish made his day all the sweeter.

“There are a lot of guys who have been doing this much longer than I have who never had a horse they thought could run in the Kentucky Derby, much less finish fourth or third,” Howard said.

“I’m thrilled, and nobody can say anything to make me feel any differently. I want to win, sure, but to finish second against that type of competition is just great. I’m very happy with the way we came out of that race.”

Unbridled blasted through the final quarter in 24 2/5, as fast as any horse at the Derby since Secretariat in 1973. Taking that into consideration, Howard said he won’t change his strategy this time around.

“I don’t think we’ll make any major changes,” he said. “This horse is very handy because he can be kind of where he needs to be. That’s good, because if he was caught up in a duel up front last week, he might not have finished second.”

Summer Squall has come a long way since the start of the year, when Howard was forced to keep him under wraps in the stable after the horse was discovered to be bleeding profusely after his initial workouts in Florida.

Summer Squall didn’t get into competition until March 17--his first race since August, 1989--and then proceeded to undertake an ambitious schedule so he would be ready by Derby time.

Because horses are not allowed to use Lasix in New York, Summer Squall’s handlers have decided not to run him in the Belmont Stakes.