Astrology May Point to Preakness

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Photo: Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

Astrology

Although a start in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) has not officially been ruled out, it looks as if Astrology   is more likely to run in either the $150,000 Jerome Handicap (gr. II) April 23 or the $200,000 The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial Stakes (gr. III) April 30 as a prep for the Preakness Stakes (gr. I).

“We’ll work him at Churchill Downs on Monday before making a decision,” said co-owner George Bolton, who also is majority owner of Arkansas Derby (gr. I) favorite The Factor  . “We lost a month with him because of an illness and he’s been behind all year.”

If Astrology, who is co-owned by Jess Jackson, did run in the Derby, he would have to do so off only one race this year, a second-place finish in the $800,000 Sunland Derby (gr. III) after pressing a blistering pace.

Bolton and Jackson also co-own recent maiden sprint winner Dominus  , who is a possibility for Derby Trial Stakes.

Last year, Astrology, a son of A.P. Indy – Quiet Eclipse, by Quiet American  , captured the Iroquois Stakes (gr. III) at Churchill Downs before finishing a close second in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II). It was after that race that he underwent a procedure to correct an entrapped epiglottis that was curtailing his breathing.

Astrology is trained by Steve Asmussen, who finished fourth in Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) with Steve Marshall’s Silver Medallion and will run Zayat Stables’ Nehro in the April 16 Arkansas Derby.

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