Photo:
Scott Serio / Eclipse Sportswire
Mugatu, most recently fifth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes on April 6, will return in the Preakness with Joe Bravo as his jockey, trainer Jeff Engler said Tuesday.
Mugatu rallied from last in the 10-horse Blue Grass field to finish fifth behind Sierra Leone, Just a Touch, Epic Ride and Dornoch, all of whom went on to run in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Seize the Grey, who finished seventh in the Blue Grass, won the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the Derby undercard.
Mugatu, a son of Blofeld, is owned by Average Joe Racing Stables and Dan Wells. He broke his maiden at Gulfstream Park by 3 1/4 lengths Nov. 18 and had run four times over Turfway Park’s synthetic surface without success before the Blue Grass at Keeneland. He was the last horse on the Kentucky Derby also-eligible list but did not make the field.
“He’s getting better. He really moved up on the dirt. His numbers proved it. Seize the Grey, who won the Pat Day Mile, we finished in front of him in the Blue Grass. I heard Seize the Grey is going in the Preakness, so it’s a logical spot,” Engler said. “We were a little frustrated we didn’t get into the Derby. We feel the more distance the better for this horse. I do like the mile and three-sixteenths, so we’re going to head up.”
Mugatu is scheduled to breeze five furlongs Saturday at Belterra Park before shipping to Pimlico.
After his scratch from the Kentucky Derby, Mugato did what Engler called a “two-minute lick” Sunday morning at Churchill before shipping to Engler’s summer base at Belterra in Cincinnati.
“He finished his last quarter in 23 (seconds), and he is just peaking right now,” Engler said. “We know that if there ever is a time to take a shot with him, now is the time to do it.”
The probables list was pared to nine Wednesday when trainer Steve Asmussen said Informed Patriot would skip the race and be pointed instead to the Texas Derby.
| Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | HRN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Muth Good Magic |
6.97 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
|
|
Just Steel Justify |
6.67 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
|
|
Seize The Grey Arrogate |
6.38 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
|
|
Imagination Into Mischief |
5.89 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
|
|
Mugatu Blofeld |
5.09 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
|
|
Mystik Dan Goldencents |
7.77 | Possible | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
|
|
Uncle Heavy Social Inclusion |
6.19 | Possible | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
|
|
Copper Tax Copper Bullet |
5.94 | Possible | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
|
|
Tuscan Gold Medaglia d’Oro |
5.87 | Possible | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
