They Want to See if Derby Winner Is Up to Challenge

As the field for the 125th running of the Preakness begins to take shape, two trainers--one who’ll run at Pimlico, one who won’t--are suggesting that Fusaichi Pegasus, the Kentucky Derby winner, won’t be able to mail in victories in the remaining Triple Crown races.

“I respect [Fusaichi Pegasus], but he’s definitely beatable,” said Joe Orseno, who’ll run Red Bullet on May 20 in the Preakness. “I can’t say he’s an iron horse. Not yet. We have to try him. He had a perfect trip in the Derby. My horse has enough talent. Now I have to get him to the race so that he’s at his best on Preakness day.”

Red Bullet was undefeated in three starts before Fusaichi Pegasus shipped to Aqueduct from Hollywood Park and beat Orseno’s colt by 4 1/4 lengths in the Wood Memorial on April 15.

“In the Wood, my horse was used up chasing the leader,” Orseno said. “I don’t run short horses, but when they turned for home, I was out of horse.”

Finishing third in the Wood was Aptitude, who ran second, beaten by 1 1/2 lengths, in the Derby. Red Bullet didn’t run in the Derby.

“My horse is better than Aptitude,” Orseno said. “The question is, how much better does he have to be to run with Fusaichi Pegasus?”

Aptitude will skip the Preakness and wait for the Triple Crown windup, the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 10.

“Unless we won the Derby, that was the plan all along,” said Bobby Frankel, who trains Aptitude.

It bothers Frankel that in some quarters Fusaichi Pegasus is already being fitted for the Triple Crown.

“The press is out to lunch,” Frankel said. “Both my horse and the winner had good trips in the Derby, but my horse lost some ground and the other horse saved ground on the golden rail. How can they say that the other horse won so easily?”

With Alex Solis committed to ride Aptitude in the Belmont, Orseno has replaced Solis with Jerry Bailey on Red Bullet in the Preakness. Orseno didn’t want to continue with Solis at Pimlico and then worry about finding a replacement for the Belmont. Bailey has ridden Red Bullet, having an allowance race with him at Gulfstream Park in February, before Solis took over for the colt’s last two races.

On Thursday, trainer Neil Drysdale said that Fusaichi Pegasus went from a possible to a probable for the Preakness. Drysdale never suggested that the Derby winner wouldn’t make the Preakness, but he wanted to watch his horse jog around the track at Churchill Downs the last two days before making a plane reservation. Fusaichi Pegasus will continue to train at Churchill and will be flown to Baltimore on Wednesday.

Counting the Derby winner, at least eight horses are expected to run. The others are Wheelaway, fifth in the Derby; Captain Steve, eighth; High Yield, 15th; Hal’s Hope, 16th; Red Bullet; Snuck In, who was second in the Arkansas Derby, and Hugh Heffner, second to Grey Memo in the Snow Chief Stakes for California-breds at Hollywood Park on April 30. Impeachment and More Than Ready, who were third and fourth in the Derby, are Preakness possibles.

Captain Steve, trained by Bob Baffert, winner of the Derby and the Preakness in 1997-98 with Silver Charm and Real Quiet, had cuts on a rear leg after Wheelaway, ridden by Richard Migliore, lugged in on him during the stretch run of the Derby. Baffert thought his horse might have finished fourth but for the incident.

Captain Steve’s jockey, Robby Albarado, didn’t claim foul, but the Churchill Downs stewards have dealt Migliore a five-day suspension that runs through May 19.

Horse Racing Notes

Apparently guided by the thinking that the cases weren’t properly presented the first time, the California Horse Racing Board has returned the clenbuterol charges against three trainers to administrative law judges for another look. The first time around, after lengthy hearings, trainers Paco Gonzalez, Darrell Vienna and Bruce Headley were held blameless after their horses tested positive for clenbuterol, a bronchial dilator that is not allowed under racing conditions. The racing board wants the original law judges to review their recommendations after considering additional evidence.