Lani Breezes in Advance of Preakness

Koji Maeda's Lani took his time on the Belmont Park main track the morning of May 18 before turning in his final breeze ahead of the May 21 Preakness Stakes (gr. I) at Pimlico Race Course.

Lani, who finished ninth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and is expected after the Preakness to return from Pimlico to Belmont to prepare for a Belmont Stakes (gr. I) start, walked a lap around the 1 1/2-mile oval before jogging to the five-eighths pole. Commencing his breeze, the gray son of Tapit   worked five furlongs in 1:01 2/5 and galloped out to six furlongs in 1:15.

Trainer Mikio Matsunaga arrived in New York May 20 to watch Wednesday's breeze.

"He stretched out well. It was exactly the way we wanted. I'm quite happy," Matsunaga said through his interpreter and agent Keita Tanaka.

Lani completed the final three furlongs in :35 2/5 despite not changing leads until late in the stretch, a quirk Matsunaga says is characteristic of his charge, adding that in an ideal situation he would've preferred to work the UAE Derby (UAE-II) winner in company.

"He's not the best switching leads, but in the straight, it was ok," he said. "We don't have a breeze partner. If he had one here, it would be best, but in this situation, I understand it's difficult to do that. Going by himself, this is the best we could have wanted."

Lani, who is expected to travel by van to Pimlico May 19, has shown far fewer of his infamous pre-Derby shenanigans since arriving in New York more than a week ago.

"He likes the barn and the track since arriving here, so the training is on plan," Matsunaga said. "He's been better behaved since he's been here."