Coach John Salzman likes to fly under the radar. As a condition of entering the Triple Crown race, that becomes a more difficult task.
Throw in your horse, Coffeewithchris is the only local entry in the May 20 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Racecourse Pimlicoand the concept of obscurity is ignored.
That doesn’t mean, however, that Salzman and Coffeewithchris, who are given 20-1 odds in the morning, don’t want to make the most of the experience. And just because Ride on Curlin ponies have never won a graded bet or entered a tournament for that matter, not to say images of celebratory crab cakes don’t dance around in Salzman’s head.
“That means a lot. For me, I’m pretty humble,” Salzman said. “I’m not too excited. I want the odds to be 6-5. I don’t run a lot of long shots. When I run horses, I want them to win. People come up to me and say, ‘Oh, your horse. will win?’ Well, you don’t have to ask me because if I run, I think I have a chance.”
As the last to arrive at Pimlico, when they arrived at midday on May 17, Salzman and Coffeewithchris had the least amount of time to adjust to the changing environment compared to the quiet atmosphere of their home town in laurel park.
“It’s all new to him, with all these cameras and the people around,” Salzman said. “He handled it well.”
He added, “He actually handled it better than me.”
As the new year kicks in, running the classics isn’t in the plans. But as Coffeewithchris progressed, so did his mindset.
Coffeewithchris ended last year with a victory in the Heft Stakes at Laurel. Then, when the schedule changed, he finished second in the Spectacular Bid Bet, first in the Miracle Wood Stake, and second in the Privacy Stake — all at Laurel. Then, last time out, he finished fifth, 2 and a half lengths away, in Federico Tesio Stakes. In that race, he matched the best Equibase E (94) Speed Image of his career.
Salzman said his approach has always been to buy sprinters and win early. Coffeewithchris has put its own stamp on that recipe.
“He just got better and better,” Salzman said of the pony. “And we put a flash on him (starting with James F. Lewis III Stakes in 2022). And then there’s the distance, he just kept going one sixteenth of a mile each time and got out of the game. It didn’t knock him out or anything… We actually started aiming for (Preakness) maybe a little bit ahead of Tesio. Then, after Tesio, we changed our mind and headed to Monmouth, Then I changed my mind and ended up here.”
Coffeewithchris races with coach and co-owner John Salzman at Pimlico . Racecourse
Salzman is from Maryland. Taking on his first Preakness was clearly exceptional, if not overwhelming.
“A bit much. It’s a bit more than I expected.”
Add to that a $500,000 bonus for a Maryland hybrid winning the Preakness.
Like the little fish in the big pond this weekend, Salzman at Alibi Breakfast May 18 presented his case to his competitors.
“Let me rest a bit,” he said, causing the audience to laugh.
Salzman’s top interns by income are Limited view . Like Coffeewithchris, she has never won a graded bet but has $401,141 in career income. Coffeewithchris ranks third among his interns with $225,600. But a $1.5 million Preakness win would completely change those rankings.
Salzman co-owns Coffeewithchris with Fred Wasserloos and Anthony Geruso. In addition to the Outflanker Andiemac mare, the Coffeewithchris was bred by the president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Tom Rooney.
“I’ve never met Tom, but he’s been sending me some really interesting text messages lately,” Salzman said.
Regardless of the outcome on Saturday, it will be a day to remember for Coffeewithchris and his relationships.
Having broken her maidenhood on the same course and its similarities with Laurel Park, Coffeewithchris may have an edge over its rivals. But he will also be the most beloved player in his homeland with possibly the biggest cheer in the Pimlico stands.
Salzman hopes that cooking at home can give Coffeewithchris a little extra motivation to push past the first limit.
“I tell people I want to hear that from the Maryland fans, ‘Let’s Go Chris.’ I wanted to hear the verses so he could hear them,” Salzman said.
