Hall of Fame coach Shug McGaughey will have a runner-up in the Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 20 for the first time in 10 years as he sits still Shows in the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
It was a completely different scenario than the last time the trainer brought a horse from him. Belmont Park home base to Racecourse Pimlico for Maryland’s signature race. McGaughey and his 2013 Kentucky Derby (G1) hero, globe , created all the buzz in the lead up to Preakness. Orb, who delivered the 62-year-old rider’s first win in the race for the commission, was the favorite in Preakness but only finished fourth in field nine for Phipps Stable and Stuart S. Janney III .
“Nothing was okay,” McGaughey recalls. “He was hanging on the inside and he didn’t run down there.” “That was the most important thing; he entered the race the right way and did everything right. He had a hole and when they broke he was stuck all the way. When he got out. , he finished a bit. I was surprised when he finished fourth.”
On Saturday, McGaughey, whose best record in the Preakness compared to the previous three starts was second in the 1989 edition with Easy Goer, who later won the Belmont Stakes (G1), is hoping Hope The rapid progress performance will put him in the winner’s circle and allow him to take possession to win every Triple Crown race.
Like this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, magician Performer is the son of good magic . The light bulb comes on for the pony when it is stretched out on March 11 at Tampa . Bay and easily passed his daughter in the one-mile and 40-yard race in the start of his sixth career for his owners, Woodford Racing, Lanes End Farm, Phipps Stable, Ken Langone and Edward Hudson Jr.
Followed his first breaker with an advance win on April 15 Federico Tesio Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Laurel Park. Soon after, his connections made the decision to add the pony to Preakness 1 3/16 mile for $150,000.
This isn’t the first time Performance has encountered Mage in Preakness. The two face each other in a special girls weight match on January 28 on the Pegasus card at Gulfstream Park. Mage, winner from start to finish, crossed the finish line 3 3/4 length ahead of his closest opponent in the seven-stage race while Performance finished fourth, beaten 5 1/2 length .
McGaughey commented: “He was a horse that was always very well trained. If you look back at his sprints, they weren’t that bad.” “Perhaps the one in Churchill was, but he would be fourth, beaten four or five lengths, and decent horses beat him. Everything came together when we gave him a double run in Tampa with Irad (Ortiz Jr.). Irad taught him a bit and let him relax after those horses and he did a great job.
“I really think he’s more involved now (in his coaching). He’s very free when he gallops here in the morning. He seems to enjoy what he’s doing. Looking at him around the stable, he seems to be a happy horse. He ate really well, I fed him 5/8 (May 7) and came back and made him half ( May 14), and I think it tastes even better.
“Whether he’s good enough, who knows, but I think he’s a horse making progress and wants to run that far.”
Maryland-based racer Feargal Lynch, on the Tesio, has a mount in Preakness, which will be his first time riding in the classic. The equestrian is also on board the Show for a show on May 7 at Belmont.
Performance (outside) wins Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park
“It’s been a confidence-building tool for me and probably (Lynch) too (for him to do the Performance),” McGaughey said. “I know he has a lot of faith in the horse because I watched his interview later (Tesio) and he was quite impressed with the way he ran. He said distance is not a factor and in In the interview, he said, ‘It’s too bad he wasn’t nominated for Preakness, because I think this is a Preakness horse.'”
McGaughey said Performance partners are “very willing” to offer a six-figure additional fee for Performance to compete on Saturday, and Bill Farish, founder of Lane’s End-affiliated Woodford Racing, concurs. As one of the five partners behind the Show, Woodford Racing has individually packaged the Show as part of four 2-year-old cars they bought last year and then offered ownership to their investors. . The gig was consigned to the 2-year-olds Sales Company March 2022 during the Coaching Sale but was withdrawn when it was purchased separately by his current relationships prior to the auction. .
Bill Farish founded Woodford Purebred in 2005
Farish remembers a pony who impressed in every way, including its 1.8 km run at: 10 May at OBS’s tactical show as part of Eddie’s shipment. Woods. Performer, who was bred in Kentucky by Michael Orem and JB Lane Orem and came out The story of Ekati The mare, Jane Says, originally went through the auction for Beau Lane Bloodstock as a longing at Keeneland in September selling for $230,000 to the Precious Enterprise.
“He worked before selling OBS and our team and (Woodford’s breed adviser) David Ingordo and everyone was down there, and we all really loved the pony, so so we got the group together and bought it,” Farish said.
“I think everyone understands the importance of Preakness and the chance that a good performance on Saturday will bring and what it means for the horse as an essential stallion prospect and everything. other,” he added. “Although it’s not ideal if it has to be added—nobody really thinks twice about that. Obviously it helps to divide by five instead of one person paying the full (additional fee). Because of that. is a cooperative situation, it’s a little easier to swallow.”
For Woodford Racing, a group of partners that Farish founded in 2005, this year marks the first time they have had a runner run in the Preakness. Farish said that for some of Woodford’s 15 partners involved in the Performance, it represents a continuation of a sublime period that began last year with the team unbeaten. Flight route , Horse of the Year 2022, whom Woodford races in partnership with Hronis Racing, Siena Ranch, West Point Thoroughbred and Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Horse. Flightline is currently based at Farish’s Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky.
“A lot of the same (Woodford) partners involved with Flightline are on this horse, and they just thought to themselves that they could be in the Breeders’ Cup and just a few months later in the Preakness. That’s it. definitely great. The partners are very excited about the horse. It has gone too far, too fast.”
