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 Two down, one to go Derby winner Charismatic wins Preakness, eyes Triple Crown
Posted: Saturday May 15, 1999 05:43 PM
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Menifee came on strong in the Kentucky Derby, and trainer Elliott Walden expects him to be even stronger in Saturday's $1 million Preakness Stakes. "He was very game down the stretch," Walden said of his colt's furious finish in the Derby that left him a neck short of Charismatic. "If he runs that race back, he'll be tough to beat." Consider Menifee tough to beat. Walden says his 3-year-old colt should be a lot closer to the lead in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness than he was in the 1 1/4-mile Derby, where he had to pass 10 rivals in the stretch to finish second. "He will not be as far back this time," Walden said. "He got shuffled back early in the Derby, but we got a good draw for this race, and Pat Day should be able to place him where he wants." In the Derby, Menifee left from the No. 18 post in a 19-horse field and was forced five wide in one of the roughest Run for the Roses on record. In the Preakness, Menifee will leave from the No. 5 post in an expected field of 12. "I think he does have a big chance," Walden said. Menifee, owned by Arthur Hancock and James Stone, was the early 5-2 favorite, while the filly Excellent Meeting was next at 5-1, and Derby winner Charismatic was third choice at 6-1. The last Derby winner to be favored in the Preakness was Go for Gin in 1994. He finished second to Tabasco Cat. The 36-year-old Walden, son of respected horseman Ben Walden Sr., has been overshadowed by the Triple Crown trials and tribulations of trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert. But Walden has made quite an impact in the classics, too, beginning with Victory Gallop last year. Victory Gallop finished second to the Baffert-trained Real Quiet in the '98 Derby and Preakness before spoiling the colt's Triple Crown bid with a nose victory in the Belmont Stakes. With Menifee's runner-up finish in Derby two weeks ago, Walden sounds like he's expecting another classic win. "He looks great, he's doin' good and he's just really on top of his game right now," Walden said. If there's a horse who worries Walden, it's Cat Thief, who finished third in the Derby and second to Menifee in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 10. "He is a model of consistency," Walden said of the Lukas-trained Cat Thief, who has two wins, five seconds and three third-place finishes in 12 career starts. "People kind of forget about him because he's never gotten the top prize. But this is the type of race these horses win." Lukas finds himself in a familiar situation for the Preakness, where Derby winner Charismatic could end up losing his Triple Crown chance to stablemate Cat Thief. In 1995, the Lukas-trained Thunder Gulch won the Derby, but Timber Country won the Preakness. When Thunder Gulch won the Belmont, Lukas had his Triple Crown -- but with two horses. If it happens again, it's OK. "I wouldn't mind a similar result," Lukas said. While Baffert's filly Excellent Meeting was set for the Preakness, his other filly, Silverbulletday, went out Friday and easily won the Black-Eyed Susan in stakes-record time. Owner Mike Pegram wanted to run Silverbulletday in the Preakness, but pulled her out after she drew the outside No. 14 post. Also, trainer Carl Nafzger, decided not to scratch Vicar, as had been expected. Vicar has the No. 13 post. Excellent Meeting, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, becomes the 52nd filly to run in the Preakness, the first since Winning Colors finished third in 1988 and just the third since 1939. The other was Genuine Risk, second in 1980. Four fillies have won the Preakness, the last being Nellie Morse in 1924.
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