Trainer Doug O’Neill thinks Calumet Farm’s Robusta will have some things going for him in the Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16 at Laurel Park.
“He’s got speed, he’s got stamina, he’s got class.,” O’Neill said. “If things go his way, he can be a factor. If all goes well, we’re hoping to see it Preakness Day.”
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Things didn’t go Robusta’s way May 2 at Churchill Downs, where he experienced bumping at the start of the Kentucky Derby (G1) and a wide trip to finish 14th. The son of Accelerate has subsequently shown his trainer that he’s ready to run back in the Preakness.
“He didn’t break all that well [in the Derby] and he got into some trouble early, but he came out of the race in great shape,” O’Neill said. “Talking to the ownership group we just decided that we’d come in and take a shot at the Preakness.”
Robusta, who had finished second in the San Felipe (G2) and seventh in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) prior to the Derby, is training for the Preakness at Keeneland.
“He came into Keeneland in great shape,” O’Neill said. “He trains like a monster and we just thought that he was doing good.”
O’Neill celebrated a Preakness victory in 2012 with Reddam Racing LLC’s I’ll Have Another.
“It’s such an historic race, Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.,” said O’Neill, who also saddled Reddam Racing LLC’s Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist for a third-place finish in the 2016 Preakness. “Obviously, it’s a unique situation this year being at Laurel Park, but all that stuff is a good addition to an exciting afternoon and we’re optimistic that we can see it through.”
Robusta, who will be ridden Saturday by Rafael Bejarano, is scheduled to ship from Keeneland to Laurel Park Tuesday. O’Neill will arrive next Friday.
Russell on Preakness Contender Taj Mahal: ‘He’s That Guy’
Undefeated multiple stakes winner Taj Mahal enjoys his role as the rising star in a deep stable of talented horses trained by Brittany Russell based at Laurel Park, where the 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) will be held May 16.
Taj Mahal earned an automatic entry to the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown for his dominant 8 ¼-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio April 18, which improved the bay colt to 3-0 lifetime. All his races, including a determined front-running neck triumph in the one-mile Miracle Wood Feb. 21, have come at Laurel.
“After he ran in the Tesio, he seemed to know. He had that air [about him]. We all came back to the barn and he was just posing,” Russell said. “He’s funny in the morning. [Regular exercise rider] Alex [Beitia] spoils him a little bit, as all the good horses seem to get. He takes his time walking to the track, stops, looks around, loves for everyone to have a look at him. He’s that guy.”
The plan is to give Taj Mahal a second work since the Tesio on Saturday at Laurel, weather permitting. Russell moved last weekend’s work from May 3 to May 2 to give her some wiggle room.
“He came out of the last work good,” Russell said. “I do plan on working Saturday. If I had to push it back to Sunday, it wouldn’t be the biggest deal.”
Taj Mahal had a regular jog and gallop day Wednesday with Beitia, who was up for a bullet five-furlong breeze in 1:00.40 last Saturday, fastest of 12 horses including fellow Preakness contender The Hell We Did.
“We’ll have a couple mile and a halfs at the end of the week into his work. That was kind of my plan,” Russell said. “He does a lot in his gallops and that was a pretty good work the other day, not that it took anything out of him.”
SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Bashor Racing, Determined Stables, Goldconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan’s Taj Mahal shares identical ownership to another Preakness contender, Cherokee Nation, a $1.15 million yearling trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.
Taj Mahal began his career on the West Coast with Baffert but was later moved to Russell – a move the connections have made with several other horses in recent years – and won his Feb. 6 unveiling just 15 days before the Miracle Wood. The ease with which Taj Mahal put in and exited his breezes got Team Russell excited.
“That’s kind of what caught our attention from the beginning,” she said. “Then I started putting him up beside some good horses and I’m like, ‘Hmm, is that other horse just not doing good or is this horse stepping up?’ He’s just always kind of handled everything we’ve thrown at him.”
After breezing solo last weekend, Taj Mahal is scheduled to have a workmate this weekend. His sire, 2015 juvenile champion Nyquist, was third in the 2016 Preakness after winning the Florida Derby (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1).
“I plan to work him in company, but I’m still sorting out who I’m going to send with him,” Russell said. “It’s tricky because I probably only have a select few where it would be beneficial for both horses.”
