Itsmyluckyday's Preakness Work Postponed

A wet track at Monmouth Park prompted trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. to postpone a scheduled pre-Preakness (gr. I) breeze for Itsmyluckyday the morning of May 11.

 

"The track was hard," Plesa said. "We're going to try tomorrow and see what happens."

 

Plesa said he could work Itsmyluckyday as late as May 13. If weather doesn't permit, however, Plesa said the son of Lawyer Ron wouldn't need a breeze to be ready for the Preakness–though he would prefer to give his Gulfstream Park Derby and Holy Bull (gr. III) winner a pre-race move.

 

"I don't know that he needs to work, to be honest with you, but he's feeling so darn good. I feel it would help him. Sometimes they can have too much energy," said Plesa, whose colt finished a disappointing 15th in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

 

In other Preakness-related news, trainer Greg Geier said May 11 that James Tafel's homebred Street Spice will not run in the May 18 classic. Geier breezed the Street Sense   colt five furlongs at Arlington Park before finalizing his decision to skip the Preakness with the fifth-place finisher in the Illinois Derby (gr. III).

 

"He worked good this morning, but we're going to stay here and look for something else," Geier said. "He worked in 1:01 and came back very good. He's still like a big kid and still learning. I talked with Mr. Tafel and he said until the colt gets a little smarter, we'll just play it by ear and go from there."

 

Still on the fence regarding potential entry in the Preakness are the connections of Fox Hill Farms' Normandy Invasion, who galloped at Belmont Park the morning of May 11, and Pick Six Racing's Vyjack, who is at Aqueduct Racetrack.

 

Trainer Chad Brown reported no firm decision has been made concerning Normandy Invasion's potential run in the Preakness after a fourth-place Kentucky Derby finish by the Tapit   colt. Trainer Rudy Rodriguez said he and owner David Wilkenfeld are still considering whether to run Vyjack in the Preakness.

 

"We're going to wait until the last minute," Rodriguez said. "It may be as late as (May 15) before they take entries. We'll take a look, see what's going on, and then make a final decision."

 

Rodriguez said the Into Mischief   gelding is doing well at Aqueduct following his 18th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby and isn't likely to work between races.