Had a feeling Lukas would wheel Ethereal Road back in the Lexington. Too much nostalgic publicity with Secret Oath and this colt's Rebel performance.

Plus, Lukas has had good success in the Lexington, especially doubling up in the classics (Charismatic, Proud Citizen).

Take GRANTHAM off Derby possible list..

SLOW DOWN ANDY a fever getting stablemate HAPPY JACK in, at least ahead of Lexington..

CLASSIC CAUSEWAY gets Leparoux; Franco picks up mount on ZOZOS..

5/7: Kentucky Derby - Churchill (10f)

1. Epicenter (Not This Time) 164 (Asmussen/Rosario)
2. Zandon (Upstart) 114 (C. Brown/Prat)
3. White Abarrio (Race Day) 112 (Joseph/Gallalione)
4. Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) 112 (Pletcher/I. Ortiz)
5. Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) 110 (McPeek/B. Hernandez)
6. Cyberknife (Gun Runner) 100 (Cox/Geroux)
7. Crown Pride-JPN (Reach the Crown) 100 (Shintani/Lemaire)
8. Taiba (Gun Runner) 100 (Yakteen/Smith)
9. Simplification (Not This Time) 74 (Sano/J. Ortiz)
10. Smile Happy (Runhappy) 70 (McPeek/Lanerie)
11. Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) 66 (Lynch/Leparoux)
12. Tawny Port (Pioneerof The Nile) 60 (Cox/Santana)
13. Barber Road (Race Day) 58 (J. Ortiz/R. Gutierrez)
14. Messier (Empire Maker) 40 (Yakteen/J. Velazquez)
15. Zozos (Munnings) 40 (Cox/M. Franco)
16. Summer Is Tomorrow (Summer Front) 40 (Seemar/Barzalona)
17. Charge It (Tapit) 40 (Pletcher/Saez)
18. Happy Jack (Oxbow) 30 (O'Neill/Bejarano)
19. Pioneer of Medina 25 (Pletcher/Bravo)
20. Ethereal Road 21 (Lukas/Contreras)
----------------------------------------
AE/21. Rich Strike 21 (Reed/Leon)
AE/22. Rattle N Roll 20 (McPeek/Graham)

Where is the post position draw being televised or streamed?

Thanks, Steve.

148th Kentucky Derby

1. Mo Donegal (Pletcher/I. Ortiz) 10-1
2. Happy Jack (O'Neill/Bejarano) 30-1
3. Epicenter (Asmussen/Rosario) 7-2
4. Summer Is Tomorrow (Seemar/Barzalona) 30-1
5. Smile Happy (McPeek/Lanerie) 20-1
6. Messier (Yakteen/J. Velazquez) 8-1
7. Crown Pride-JPN (Shintani/Lemaire) 20-1
8. Charge It (Pletcher/Saez) 20-1
9. Tiz the Bomb (McPeek/B. Hernandez) 30-1
10. Zandon (C. Brown/Prat) 3-1**
11. Pioneer of Medina (Pletcher/Bravo) 30-1
12. Taiba (Yakteen/Smith) 12-1
13. Simplification (Sano/J. Ortiz) 20-1
14. Barber Road (J. Ortiz/R. Gutierrez) 30-1
15. White Abarrio (Joseph/Gallalione) 10-1
16. Cyberknife (Cox/Geroux) 20-1
17. Classic Causeway (Lynch/Leparoux) 30-1
18. Tawny Port (Cox/Santana) 30-1
19. Zozos (Cox/M. Franco) 20-1
20. Ethereal Road (Lukas/Contreras) 30-1
----------------------------------------
AE/21. Rich Strike (Reed/Leon) 30-1
AE/22. Rattle N Roll (McPeek/Graham) 30-1

148th Kentucky Oaks

1. Secret Oath (Saez/Lukas) 6-1
2. Nostalgic (J. Ortiz/Mott) 15-1
3. Hidden Connection (Gutierrez/Calhoun) 20-1
4. Nest (I. Ortiz/Pletcher) 5-2**
5. Goddess of Fire (Velazquez/Pletcher) 15-1
6. Yuugiri (Geroux/Brisset) 30-1
7. Echo Zulu (Rosario/Asmussen) 4-1
8. Venti Valentine (Gaffalione/Abreu) 20-1
9. Desert Dawn (Rispoli/D’Amato) 20-1
10. Kathleen O. (Castellano/McGaughey) 7-2
11. Cocktail Moments (Lanerie/McPeek) 30-1
12. Candy Raid (Bejarano/Desormeaux) 30-1
13. Shahama (Prat/Pletcher) 15-1
14. Turnerloose (Franco/Cox) 20-1
AE-15. Beguine (Pietz/Santana) 30-1

I hope we get at least two of those unbolded horses to commit.

Epicenter a Preakness go; Secret Oath probable.. PIM oddsmaker Keith Feustel eyes Rich Strike as 4th choice behind Early Voting..

See above.. :D

5/21: Preakness - Pimlico (9.5f)

Epicenter (Asmussen)
Secret Oath (Lukas)
Simplification (Sano)
Early Voting (C. Brown)
Creative Minister (McPeek)
Rattle N Roll (McPeek)
Skippylongstocking (Joseph)
Un Ojo (Courville)
Happy Jack (O'Neill)

Shake Em Loose (Sanchez-Salomon)
Smile Happy (McPeek)

:tro:

Although now I see Rich Strike is skipping the Preakness.

Just saw that.

I hope I’m wrong but I don’t buy the reason given at all.

Going back to their original plan, 5 weeks rest then Belmont.

You get into the game dreaming of winning a race like the Derby or even better the triple crown.

You shock the world doing the first thing and pass up on a chance at immortality to “stick to the plan.”

Something is up.

Nah they just know they caught lightening in a bottle.

Hey, they know what’s best for their horse.

Anger management program?

What would sound reasoning be here? It can't possibly be because they don't think the race will suit him. By all reasonable pre race logic, the Derby didn't suit him. Even had they had the foresight to envision that pace collapse it was near impossible to see him out kicking all those other closers, even for a minor award. I'm sure they didn't enter that race thinking they were going to win.

According to them, it seems like they were using the Derby as a prep for the Belmont. They planned on having the time off after Kentucky to be ready for NY. Winning the Derby would have seemingly changed those plans but the connections are saying no, they are sticking with their original plans, which they obviously think are in the best interests of the horse.

They've had a few days to watch him and maybe he's not flourishing. You couldn't sit on a horse that was for 5 weeks could you? Wouldn't they become pretty hard to handle? Risking injury even? Doesn't mean he's hurt. They can't be blamed for doing right by the horse if he's not gonna experience anything positive if he ran, but I think they don't wanna say he's not doing super great. 'We're doing this on purpose as we always said' sounds better.

Add Happy Jack (D. O'Neill/T. Gaffalione) to Preakness..

He didn’t do any running in the Derby so I expect him to be fresh for the Preakness.

Cat lady and the radicals wasted zero time in their attempt to cancel the trainer.

You Trumpers are so sensitive.

Nah and nah. When a group of idiots who hate their lives go after another idiot with a recent accomplishment who couldn’t keep his mouth shut in the past, we all win.

That’s my point. This won’t be a popular take but I would not be surprised if that’s the last we saw of him this year. Maybe ever.

Just seems odd that whatever is keeping him from attempting the Preakness will miraculously be better in 4 weeks.

We’ll see.

And given the Belmont doesn't fit his running style at all... My prediction is he won't run ever again. A 30 K Claimer who caught lightning in a bottle and whose value is most likely as high as it ever will be. Running again will diminish that unless I read this horse entirely wrong...

Next up Microshare Breeding syndicate.

"You too can get into Race Horse Stallion breeding where Kentucky Derby winners can make hundreds of millions of dollars.. All for as little as $100 a share. "

The owner didn't sound confident on Steve's show that he would run in Preakness. Sid Fernando valued him at under 1.5 million, which sounded low, so you would think racing is in his future? He ran; maybe he is a good horse after all? But, of course, he will never get that set up again.

It's very hard not to be overly cynical about this. We've just seen this song and dance too many times and the end result is almost always the same. Suddenly, a trainer that has never shied from taking shots, is micromanaging his horse's career? Seems kind of odd at best.

I get not wanting to expose him, but what's to say for certain he hasn't improved substantially? He badly outran Mo Donegal and Simplification. They may not change the breed but they are hardly bad horses. I'm dubious that if he retired today they could get seven figures for him as a stallion, especially with that pedigree. Seems to me, whatever the odds, there is much more upside in racing him.

All that makes me think there is a reason he isn't running next week, but that's probably just me being cynical. Time will tell.

Fluid Preakness field right now..

Epicenter (Asmussen)
Secret Oath (Lukas)
Simplification (Sano)
Early Voting (C. Brown)
Creative Minister (McPeek)
Armagnac (Yakteen)
Skippylongstocking (Joseph)
Fenwick (McKathan)
Happy Jack (O'Neill)

Absolutely

ARMAGNAC (Yakteen) to Preakness off ALW win last weekend..

Happy Jack, Set Sail, and now Armagnac are leaving CA to run elsewhere?

Santa Anita not going to be able to card the Affirmed Stakes early next month...

...and the Los Alamitos Derby Future Pool is now in utter dissarray.

We need Pappacap and Blackadder back out west, pronto.

UN OJO will miss Preakness with same bad foot..