Authentic, Thousand Words in Good Order After Derby

Though the order and scheduling of the Triple Crown has changed this year, the traditional plans for the winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) have not. Authentic, who outran favored Tiz the Law to win the 146th Derby Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs, is scheduled to run in the Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course, trainer Bob Baffert said Sept. 6.

The 2020 Preakness in this COVID-19-altered year is four weeks away on Oct. 3—twice the usual turnaround from the Derby. The 1 3/16-mile race is customarily run on the third Saturday in May, two weeks after the Derby.

Even with more time between races, Baffert believes it's better for the Derby winner to remain at Churchill Downs to train rather than ship back to his base in California. So Authentic will remain behind in Kentucky with his groom, though with Baffert clearing out most of his small stable of runners that he brought to Churchill for Derby week, the colt will soon head to the barn of trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who will stable the horse as a favor for Baffert.

Authentic striking a pose with Baffert. 6th #kyderby winner for the trainer. pic.twitter.com/CpikeIPJHA

— Byron King (@BH_BKing) September 6, 2020

Baffert plans to regularly monitor his care. He is in Kentucky for the next two weeks due to upcoming horse sales in Lexington.

Authentic isn't going alone into the Lukas barn. Thousand Words, who was scratched in the paddock from the Derby after he reared and flipped while being saddled, is also headed to the Lukas barn and is pointed for the Preakness, Baffert said. He was not injured, according to Baffert and on-site veterinarians. His scratch was precautionary, standard practice when a horse flips.

Baffert's two horses were in better shape Sunday than the trainer's longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes, who was saddling Thousand Words when the colt reared. Barnes lost his balance and fell. He landed awkwardly on his right wrist, an injury that sent him to Norton Audubon Hospital in Louisville on Saturday, just as the Derby was being run. He will have screws inserted in his wrist during a surgery scheduled this week in California.

Ever the faithful assistant, working for Baffert for more than 20 years, Barnes was at Churchill Downs early Sunday to look after their horses before leaving for California. He watched the Derby on his cell phone in transit to the hospital.

"When it happened, I wasn't going to say anything," he said of his injury. "I was going to say I was OK. I knew it kind of hurt. Then I pulled my sleeve up and saw it was pointing a different direction. So I pulled it back down and said, 'I better say something.'"

"I mean, he's a trooper. So I joke he's earned his second Purple Heart with me—you know, he broke his pelvis (previously)," Baffert said Sunday morning. "I was so emotional yesterday. I wanted him to be there. He worked so hard."

Baffert, too, was lucky to have not been hurt in a later incident Saturday when he was sent tumbling, along with other observers, in the Kentucky Derby winner's circle, just inside the turf course. Authentic wheeled after being agitated by what Baffert said were the ribbons on the garland of roses that were draped on the colt.

Video of Baffert's tumble made the rounds on social media, as he feared it might.

"It was more embarrassing than anything else 'cause I knew I was going to become a Twitter sensation," he said after showing off the garland of roses.

Baffert shows off the Garland of Roses after Authentic’s #kyderby win. Ribbon on end spooked Authentic, sending Baffert tumbling in winner’s circle. Fall made him a “Twitter sensation,” he said. pic.twitter.com/wU1RfLUt8w

— Byron King (@BH_BKing) September 6, 2020

The trainer, who recorded a record-tying sixth victory in the Derby, was not the only one feeling emotional this weekend. Speaking with reporters shortly after Baffert, Mark Toothaker, the stallion sales manager for Spendthrift Farm, choked up when reminiscing on a whirlwind 15 minutes from paddock to the winner's circle. He and other Spendthrift representatives were at Churchill Downs, including president Eric Gustavson, who injured his ankle in the winner's circle melee.

Spendthrift is a part owner in Thousand Words with Albaugh Family Stables, and in Authentic with MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing. This meant that farm representatives went from the crushing disappointment of a scratch to the euphoria of winning the race with a son of the prized Spendthrift stallion Into Mischief .

"As we were walking through the tunnel, I said to our general manager, Ned Toffey, 'If there is a Derby god out there … maybe we can win,' he recalled. "For him to just keep giving it in the stretch, it was like he had an extra push."

Barnes also commented on the roller coaster of feelings Derby Day.

"You can be on the floor and then be up in the sky soaring," Barnes said.

Preakness Considerations Underway

Though some other Derby participants could head to Baltimore to challenge the Baffert duo in the $1 million Preakness, Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law is not certain to do so.

Asked Sunday morning about the colt's status for the Preakness, trainer Barclay Tagg replied, "Well, I don't want to put that in the paper too much. I just have to see how he is."

Jack Knowlton, the managing partner for Sackatoga Stable, expressed more interest to representatives from Pimlico, though he told them the decision would come after talking with Tagg and watching the colt's training.

"I'll have that discussion with Barclay, and we'll take a little time to see," he told Pimlico publicity. "My thinking is that we will (run), but we'll have the horse dictate what's going to happen. Certainly that would be my preference, but we've just got to see how he comes out and see how he works when we have the next work in a couple weeks. We'll have time for a couple works."

Tagg seemed inclined to await the $7 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland Nov. 7  for the Constitution  colt's next race.

"That would give him two months. That would be a lot better," Tagg said.

The Derby loss came after four weeks' rest—shorter than the spacing he received in his four wins this year, one of which came in the June 20 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), the first leg of the Triple Crown in this revamped year of racing.

Tiz the Law travels back to New York on Tuesday.

Most horsemen who participated in the Derby were reluctant to commit to the Preakness a day after the race, though the Preakness could still draw other top 3-year-olds.

Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) winner Art Collector, not entered in the Derby due to a minor foot injury, has resumed training and could return in the Preakness if he continues to do well, trainer Tommy Drury said Saturday.

King Guillermo, scratched from the Derby due to a fever, is also a possibility for the Preakness or a race at Keeneland, trainer Juan Carlos Avila said Saturday.

TVG.com Pegasus Stakes winner Pneumatic, fourth in the Belmont Stakes, is being pointed toward the Preakness, according to trainer Steve Asmussen. He breezed five furlongs Sunday on the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Race Course in 1:02.94.

"He ran his best race to date in the Pegasus at Monmouth," Asmussen said. "We thought he obviously responded to the timing from the Belmont to it, so we followed the same plan to the Preakness."

According to Pimlico publicity, other early Preakness possibilities include Finnick the Fierce, another horse scratched from the Derby; Mystic Guide and Dr Post, respectively first and fourth in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) Saturday at Saratoga; Manitoba Derby winner Mongolian Wind, entered in the Sept. 7 Gold Cup Stakes at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg; Lebda, the winner of the Miracle Wood Stakes and Private Terms Stakes at Laurel Park; and the Baffert-trained Azul Coast, the winner of the El Camino Real Derby Feb. 15 at Golden Gate Fields.

Baffert did not mention Azul Coast's participation in the Preakness on Sunday morning at Churchill Downs.

The $100,000 Federico Tesio Stakes on Monday at Laurel is a "Win and You're In" qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the Preakness. Happy Saver, undefeated in two starts for trainer Todd Pletcher, is the 1-2 program favorite for the 1 1/8-mile Preakness prep.