Mylute and Will Take Charge , the respective fifth- and eighth-place finishers in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), breezed at Churchill Downs May 13 in their final preparations for the May 18 Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
Will Take Charge, one of three probable Preakness starters for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, breezed four furlongs in :48 1/5, with fractional splits of :12 3/5, :24 1/5, and :36 for three-eighths of a mile. Will Take Charge, who is scheduled to be ridden by Mike Smith, worked under exercise rider Rudy Quevedo in time that was sixth fastest of 40 at the distance.
The Willis Horton-owned son of Unbridled's Song has a record of 3-1-0 from eight starts with $545,371 in earnings. He won the Smarty Jones and Rebel Stakes (gr. II), both at Oaklawn Park.
Titletown Five, who will be ridden in the Preakness by Julien Leparoux, was the first Lukas horse on the track Monday and he open-galloped 1 1/4 miles with a blowout down the stretch that was not recorded by clockers. Quevedo was aboard.
Will Take Charge, Titletown Five, and stablemate Oxbow are scheduled to ship via van to Maryland May 14.
Meanwhile, GoldMark Farm and Whisper Hill Farm's Mylute breezed four furlongs at Churchill in :49 3/5, with splits of :12 4/5 and :24 4/5. The son of Midnight Lute who has won two of 10 starts and earned $477,695 for trainer Tom Amoss galloped out five furlongs in 1:04 2/5.
With jockey Rosie Napravnik aboard, Mylute jogged once around and then galloped once around with a pony before breezing in a time that was 20th fastest of 40 recorded at the distance for the morning.
"It was a good breeze and the track was in excellent shape," Amoss said. "This was similar to what he did before the Kentucky Derby but just a bit faster, and I hope that is a product of him being ready to roll."
