Bob Baffert

To some trainers, the GI Preakness S. has become an afterthought. They worry about making the GI Kentucky Derby, so much to the point that the Preakness is not on their radar. The exception is Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Yes, he'd like to win the Derby more so than any other race, but the Preakness isn't far behind. He's won it eight times and will be back in Baltimore this week with Muth (Good Magic), the 8-5 morning line favorite, and Imagination (Into Mischief), who is 6-1 on the...

Trainer Bob Baffert joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss Preakness-bound Muth and Imagination.

TIMONIUM, MD - Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo sent out two horses to work during the first under-tack show session for the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Tuesday and came away with the bullet workers at a furlong and a quarter-mile, with a colt by Authentic (hip 59) covering his quarter-mile in :21 1/5 and a filly by Volatile (hip 12) going a furlong in :10 flat. The first of three sessions of the Midlantic May under-tack show began at 8 a.m. Tuesday under cloudy skies and with...

GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) continued his preparation ahead of Saturday's GI Preakness S. with a leg-stretching trip around the Pimlico surface Tuesday morning under Robby Albarado. The pair jogged seven furlongs before Albarado let the colt gallop through 1 1/2 miles. "I let him clip along today, and he's not even blowing," Albarado told Pimlico media following the work. "I thought every day would be a better day for him. He's getting comfortable with his surroundings. He knows where he's at now. I couldn't be more pleased...

In the few days after Mystik Dan (Goldencents) pulled an 18-1 upset in the GI Kentucky Derby, there was the real possibility that none of the 20 horses that competed in the first leg of the Triple Crown would press on to Saturday's GI Preakness S. By Sunday afternoon, any such concerns had abated--the Derby winner had been confirmed by trainer Ken McPeek and Derby fourth Catching Freedom (Constitution) was also given the green light by Brad Cox, joining a field that had already included two each from Hall of...

GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents), who was confirmed for the GI Preakness S. Saturday by trainer Kenny McPeek, traveled Sunday to Pimlico Race Course and arrived shortly after 4 p.m. accompanied by McPeek's assistant trainer Ray Bryner. "No muss, no fuss," said Bryner. "He's a really easy horse to be around, not complicated." Bryner indicated that the colt's plans for the week included a Monday gallop over the Pimlico surface following the 8:30 a.m. renovation break.   Mystik Dan headed to @PimlicoRC @PreaknessStakes pic.twitter.com/JWbxDKibZe — Kenny McPeek (@KennyMcPeek)...

Each slated for a tilt in Preakness 149 May 18, MGISW Muth (Good Magic) and GSW & GISP Imagination (Into Mischief) worked six furlongs in company Friday morning at Santa Anita. Officially clocked in 1:11.90, Bob Baffert liked what he saw from the pair and mentioned he was still deciding if any other horses would join his Preakness hopefuls on the trip over to Pimlico, but that he'd wait until entry day to make a final decision. If everything goes to plan, both are scheduled to ship to Baltimore Tuesday,...

With the leading GI Kentucky Derby runners looking likely to skip the May 18 GI Preakness S., a wave of non-Derby starters are lining up for the second leg of the Triple Crown. Trainer Bob Baffert, whose horses were banned from the Derby, confirmed GI Arkansas Derby winner Muth (Good Magic) and stablemate Imagination (Into Mischief), who won the GII San Felipe S. before finishing a narrow runner-up behind Stronghold (Ghostzapper) in the GI Santa Anita Derby last time out, are both expected for the Preakness. The duo breezed in...

To most people, 88 is just a number. But to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, it already holds special meaning. It was the year he famously collected his first Kentucky Derby win, with a filly no less. The amazon Winning Colors became only the third filly in history to accomplish the feat. Armed with B C Stable's Just Steel (Justify) for the latest renewal, a win would also earn the 88-year-old Lukas the distinction of becoming the oldest trainer to win the Classic in its 150-year history. Since...

In a debut befitting his princely price tag, Parenting (c, 3, Justify--Iadorakid, by Lemon Drop Kid) kicked away from a well-met group of maidens at Santa Anita Park, and became the newest 'TDN Rising Star' to hail from the Bob Baffert barn. Hugging the rail after coming out a narrow leader via a scramble for the front, Parenting rolled into the lead off of :22.42 and :45.48 splits, and had put away most of his early competition by midstretch. Shaking loose under hand-urging, Parenting found enough in the tank to...

A Kentucky Court of Appeals judge on Wednesday denied a motion by Amr Zedan's incorporated racing stable that would have conferred "emergency" status on his legal quest to get 'TDN Rising Star' Muth (Good Magic) into the GI Kentucky Derby despite a ban by Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) against the colt's trainer, Bob Baffert. Technically, the Apr. 24 order by Judge Jeff Taylor didn't decide Zedan's appeal of a lower court's denial of a temporary injunction in full. But from a practical standpoint, it appears that time has all but...

Likely GI Kentucky Derby favorites and 'TDN Rising Stars' Fierceness (City of Light) (9-2) and Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) (6-1) will open as the second and third choices in the Preakness Future Wager when the final pool opens Friday, Apr. 26. The Preakness Future Wager favorite is GI Arkansas Derby winner and 'Rising Star' Muth (Good Magic), listed at 3-1 after opening at 19-1 in the first Preakness Future Wager, while Bob Baffert-trained stablemate and GI Santa Anita Derby runner-up Imagination (Into Mischief) is 12-1. Muth and Imagination will not...