Saturday, May 19, 2007
There seems to be a sense of victory in the air around his camp.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Street Sense had just returned from his first gallop around Pimlico Race Course, and the Kentucky Derby winner was enjoying a sponge bath outside the Preakness stakes barn under the watchful eye of Carl Nafzger.
“Great. Perfect,” the trainer declared Friday as the dark bay colt was being led back to stall No. 40, the traditional home of the Derby winner. “He handled it good, did everything right. He relaxed, jogged back by the crowd, looked at the grandstand ... I’m confident.”
Now it’s on to the real challenge: Win the $1 million Preakness Stakes on Saturday, then attempt to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978 by capturing the Belmont Stakes in three weeks.
And there sure seems to be a sense of victory in the air — at least from the Street Sense camp.
“If we get by this one,” said the colt’s jockey, Calvin Borel, “I think we can win the next one.”
Even James Tafel, the colt’s 83-year-old owner, has Triple on his mind.
“It’s almost beyond description,” he said earlier this week. “It’s the aspiration of every horseman.”
Street Sense arrived at Pimlico on Wednesday, following his breathtaking 21⁄4-length victory in the Derby.
Unbeatable?
Two weeks later, Street Sense seems to be fresher than ever. And why not, after just three races since his record-setting, 10-length win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile back on Nov. 4?
“Right now, I don’t think he can get beat,” Borel said. “As good as he’s doing, I’m positive he’d have to fall or have something happen bad for him to get beat.”
Street Sense is the 7-5 morning-line favorite in a field of nine 3-year-olds. Three other Derby horses are back for another shot — runner-up Hard Spun, third-place finisher Curlin and Circular Quay, who was sixth.
Todd Pletcher, looking to end an 0-for-26 streak in Triple Crown races, will try with a pair of colts — Circular Quay and King of the Roxy, who finished second in the Santa Anita Derby but skipped the Louisville Derby.
D. Wayne Lukas and Nick Zito, Hall of Fame trainers without Derby starters this year, return to the Triple Crown trail with a pair of 20-1 long shots: Lukas with Derby Trial winner Flying First Class; Zito with Withers Stakes runner-up C P West.
Mint Slewlep and Xchanger complete the field.