John and Diane Fradkin's Rombauer (Twirling Candy), third in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. in his most recent start, is headed to the May 15 GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Race Course.
“That's the plan,” trainer Michael McCarthy told the Pimlico notes team Monday.
The homebred automatically qualified for a starting berth in the 146th Preakness with his victory in the El Camino Real Derby Feb. 13 at Golden Gate Fields. He was third, beaten 5 3/4 lengths in the Blue Grass behind champion Essential Quality (Tapit) and Highly Motivated (Nyquist), who finished fourth and 10th, respectively, in Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby. Rombauer ran second by three-quarters of a length in the GI American Pharoah Sept. 26 at Santa Anita and completed his 2-year-old season with a fifth in the GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Nov. 6 at Keeneland.
“He's done everything and made a nice little progression from 2 to 3,” McCarthy said. “He's put on a little weight. He's a horse that takes pretty good care of himself, so he's been pretty easy that way.”
McCarthy said that Rombauer will have his final work at Santa Anita and will ship to Pimlico early next week.
Get Her Number (Dialed In), who defeated Rombauer in the American Pharoah, will not run in the Preakness, trainer Peter Miller said Monday.
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