Kenny McPeek is still mulling whether he’ll enter Kentucky Derby 150 winner Mystik Dan in the Preakness Stakes.
A decision could come as early as this weekend or as late as Monday, before post positions are drawn at 5:30 p.m. for the $2 million, Grade 1 race on May 18 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
It hinges on how the son of Goldencents is moving and eating.
“An old guy told me a long time ago, ‘Never make a decision until you absolutely, positively have to,'” the trainer said Wednesday morning, after Mystik Dan worked at Churchill Downs for the first time since the Run for the Roses.
“I know that’s frustrating for you all — you want me to decide now — but what if I change my mind?” he added. “I really don’t usually make a decision on any horse that I train until I open the condition book.”
Mystik Dan jogged a mile and galloped a little more than a mile Wednesday morning. McPeek said the horse is “doing great” and will likely gallop 1 3/8 miles Thursday, Friday and Saturday before a decision is made regarding the Preakness.
“If he’s healthy, we’re not scared to go,” the trainer said. “If we feel like that he needs more time, we’ll give it to him.
“It’s all gray; there is no black and white.”
Last Sunday, during a celebratory media availability at his barn, McPeek recalled how racing Mystik Dan twice in a 13-day span as a 2-year-old “backfired” on him.
The horse developed a lung infection. McPeek doesn’t want that to happen again, so he said there’s a chance he’ll scope him after this weekend’s work.
As for the short turnaround for the Preakness, the trainer said it’s “not that big (of) a deal.”
“I’m not scared to do that; so we’ll see,” he added. “We’ll let him tell us.”
But McPeek did say, if it were up to him, he’d change the Triple Crown schedule so the second and third legs are held on the first Saturday of June and the first Saturday of July, respectively; especially considering concerns over horse safety.
“You’ve got to align three large organizations to agree to that, but I think that you’d get continuity for the horses,” he said, predicting it would lead to more Kentucky Derby participants competing in all three races.
Of McPeek’s nine previous Kentucky Derby horses, only two have run in the Preakness — Tejano Run (1995) and Harlan’s Holiday (2002). None have carried the weight of Triple Crown aspirations like Mystik Dan, however.
“We’re not taking that lightly at all,” he said.
This year’s Grade 1 Belmont Stakes will be held June 8 at Saratoga Race Course due to ongoing renovations at Belmont Park.
On Sunday, Mystik Dan co-owner Lance Gasaway told reporters the connections don’t want to enter the Preakness just because.
“We want to win,” he said.
Gasaway said it would be “a big ask” of Mystik Dan considering a majority of the horses vying to be in the field of 14 did not run in the Kentucky Derby.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, whose suspension from Churchill kept him out of the Run for the Roses, could have two contenders in Baltimore. They are Muth, who won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in March, and Imagination, who finished second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby last month.
McPeek on Wednesday said Baffert was one of roughly 2,000 people who have called or texted him since he became just the third trainer (and the first since 1952) to hit the Kentucky Oaks/Derby double last weekend.
“He was thrilled for me,” McPeek said.
Whether they square off at Pimlico is still to be determined. But with Mystik Dan, McPeek said he doesn’t fear anyone — “even Muth.”
It all comes down to making sure the colt is 100% ready for the challenge.
With 18-1 odds and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, Mystik Dan held off late charges from Sierra Leone and Forever Young to emerge victorious in a photo finish, the Kentucky Derby’s first involving three horses since 1947, by a nose.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Mystik Dan to the Preakness Stakes? Update on Kentucky Derby winner
