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New role for Lukas: Spoiler
By Jay Privman
Daily Racing Form
|  | | D. Wayne Lukas knows Fusaichi Pegasus is the favorite, but says the horse isn't a "windup toy" that just wins races. |
BALTIMORE -- With the usual fanfare, but without the usual swagger, D. Wayne Lukas established his beachhead on Thursday morning at Pimlico, preparing for what the trainer hopes will be a week of glory for his white bridles.
Lukas sent seven horses to Pimlico from Churchill Downs for racing next week. His two biggest guns are running Saturday and a week later in Pimlico's signature 1 3/16-mile races.
Lukas has Cat Thief in Saturday's $750,000 Pimlico Special for older horses, then seven days later will send out High Yield to try and knock off Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus in the 125th Preakness Stakes -- the $1 million second leg of the Triple Crown.
Lukas's horses were part of a large shipment that arrived here Thursday
after an early-morning flight from Louisville. Two vans were needed to bring
the horses from Baltimore-Washington Airport, with Lukas's horses alone
occupying one van.
In addition to Cat Thief and High Yield, Lukas also brought Magicalmysterycat to run in Thursday's $100,000 Miss
Preakness Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs. Cash Run will run in the $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8
miles next Friday.
Yes It's True is slated to run May 20 in the $200,000 Maryland Breeders' Cup Handicap, a six-furlong sprint for older horses that last year brought the infamous clash between Artax and a fan on the track.
Sun Cat and True Confidence are two more Lukas' 3-year-olds being pointed
for the $100,000 Sir Barton Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race that is on the
Preakness undercard.
Pat Day rides Cash Run, Cat Thief, High Yield, and Sun Cat. Lukas said
Derby-winning jockey Kent Desormeaux would be on Magicalmysterycat, True
Confidence and Yes It's True.
"I don't ride Desormeaux a lot, but I like riding guys who are in a zone," Lukas said.
After getting his horses safely tucked away in their stalls in the stakes
barn, Lukas admitted, humbly, that he was going into the Preakness in the
role of spoiler.
"I was impressed with Fusaichi Pegasus. I thought Neil (Drysdale) did a hell
of a job," Lukas said. "But let's face it, (Fusaichi Pegasus) is not a windup toy.
"He's a deserving favorite. You're probably crazy to pick against him. So,
we'll try to upset him."
Lukas has won the Derby four times, but he has needed 38 starters to do it,
a strike rate of 11 percent. His Preakness record is far more formidable. He
has won the race five times with 25 starters (20 percent), most recently
last year with Charismatic. Three of those victories have been while teamed
with Day, who will ride High Yield.
High Yield is attempting to bounce back from an uncharacteristically dull
performance in the Derby, in which he finished 15th of 19. He has raced 13
times. The only two times High Yield has finished worse than third were at
Churchill Downs.
"I hate to use that as an excuse, because that's where the Breeders' Cup
is," Lukas said. "I went over to that race Saturday with absolute
confidence. The only time I've been that confident before in the Derby was
with Winning Colors. I really don't have an answer for what happened. He
never got into the Derby like he should have."
In addition to High Yield, other Preakness runners now at Pimlico are Red
Bullet, who was sent here by van on Thursday from Belmont Park, and Hal's
Hope, who came here by van on Wednesday from Churchill Downs.
Harold Rose, the owner and trainer of Hal's Hope, said his colt "shipped
fine."
"He jogged and galloped about a mile and a half this morning," Rose said.
Rose said that a cut Hal's Hope suffered to the back of his right front
ankle was healing.
"I don't think it will bother him," Rose said. "He bruised the bulb of the heel. There's a little gash in the heel, but he didn't take the quarter off."
Meanwhile, at Churchill Downs, Fusaichi Pegasus trotted for the second
consecutive morning.
"He trotted a couple of miles. He was nice and bright, reaching right out,"
said his trainer Neil Drysdale.
Fusaichi Pegasus will work early next week at Churchill, then be flown to Pimlico on Wednesday. Drysdale is coming to Pimlico this weekend to scout the stabling situation and look at the racing surface.
"It's been a long time since I've been there, so long that I don't remember," Drysdale said.
Drysdale also said that War Chant, who finished ninth in the Derby, was
heading back to California. He is expected to be pointed for turf races this
summer.
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