Danzig Moon Confirmed for Preakness
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Danzig Moon, John Oxley's fifth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), will continue down the Triple Crown trail to Baltimore for the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I), his connections confirmed May 9.
"We are going," said Norman Casse, assistant to his father, trainer Mark Casse. "He came out of the Derby really well and deserves one more chance."
Second in the April 4 Toyota Blue Grass (gr. I) prior to his Derby run, Danzig Moon finished 6 1/2 lengths behind Derby winner American Pharoah. Julien Leparoux was aboard for both starts and will retain the mount for the Preakness.
"We made the decision last night, but we wanted to give him another day to train before making the announcement," Casse said. "He trained great this morning going a mile and a half in the first set."
Casse said the Malibu Moon colt would have the day off May 10 and then gallop the next three mornings at Churchill Downs before shipping to Pimlico Race Course May 13, after training hours.
Three other colts from the Kentucky Derby also confirmed for the Preakness galloped after the morning renovation break at Churchill.
Zayat Stables' Derby 141 winner American Pharoah galloped a mile and three-eighths with exercise rider Jorge Alvarez up. Third-place finisher Dortmund galloped a similar distance with Dana Barnes in the saddle for owner Kaleem Shah.
Both colts are trained by Bob Baffert, who is scheduled to return to Louisville from his Southern California base May 10 to watch them train the morning of May 11.
Arnold Zetcher's Firing Line, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Humberto Gomez for trainer Simon Callaghan.
Two other horses under consideration for the Preakness, Zayat Stables' Mr. Z and Charles Fipke's Tale of Verve, galloped before the break.
Mr. Z, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, galloped a little more than a mile under exercise rider Edvin Vargas. Thirteenth in the Kentucky Derby, Mr. Z is expected to be part of a Lukas continent headed to Maryland May 12.
Tale of Verve, trained by Dallas Stewart, galloped a mile and five-eighths under Kortez Walker. Stewart said the colt may work Sunday or Monday.