Improbable, Laughing Fox Breeze Before Preakness

With Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on the scene, Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) runner Improbable worked May 13, getting an easy half-mile in :51 4/5 at Churchill Downs in preparation for the May 18 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course.

"He worked really easy—an easy half around there," Baffert said. "I didn't want to do too much with him. I just wanted to make sure that he still has a lot of energy.

"He's going over the ground really well, looks really healthy," Baffert said. "He's really held his weight really well, especially for a horse who shipped twice to Arkansas and then came back here to run in the Derby. That's what you want to see this time of the year. It looks like he's enjoying himself out there, so I don't see anything that would make me want to change my mind (about running). We want to go up there and make sure he's hitting on all cylinders. We don't want to go up there and embarrass ourselves. So we were looking good today."

There is a strong possibility that Improbable will go to post Saturday as the favorite.

"I just inherited it, I think. But I wouldn't say he's a heavy, heavy favorite. It's still wide open. Improbable still needs to get away (from the gate). For some reason, the first 100 yards, he scrambles a little bit. For a horse with as much natural speed as he has, it takes him a while to get going. In the Derby, he was right behind those horses and when Maximum Security slowed it down down the backside, everybody was bottled up behind. It was one of those things where he was fifth and stayed fifth the whole way, there was no moving. I think post position and the break are still very important for him."

Baffert said he thinks the Preakness' 1 3/16-mile distance could help Improbable.

"A mile and a quarter might be stretching it," he said of the Kentucky Derby distance. "The thing about his mechanics, he's really light on his feet, so he doesn't really struggle. We'll see how he handles Pimlico. He looked great today."

Laughing Fox, who earned an automatic entry in Saturday's Preakness with a win in Oaklawn Park's $300,000 Oaklawn Invitational May 4, cruised through a leisurely half-mile work in :51 3/5 under exercise rider Wilson Fabian Monday at Churchill. The breeze was a typical move for a Steve Asmussen-trained horse the week of a race.

"Obviously he ran nine days ago—a quick turnaround for him, which we've had some success (running back) in two weeks," said Asmussen, who won the 2007 Preakness with two-time Horse of the Year Curlin  and the 2009 Preakness with Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Rachel Alexandra. "He's got a great attitude. Nice cool morning, he felt very good. I thought he went over the racetrack very well. I think in the past we've been very happy with how horses who have run at Oaklawn have run at Pimlico, so I feel good about that going up there."

Ricardo Santana Jr., Asmussen's go-to rider, has the mount on Laughing Fox, who flies to Baltimore Wednesday.