Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Epicenter seems ready for quick turnaround
BALTIMORE – Epicenter’s presence in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday here at Pimlico marks the sixth straight year that trainer Steve Asmussen will have at least one runner in the race. It’s a testament to the appeal of the Preakness as a Triple Crown event, the depth of his barn, but, perhaps most significantly, how well prepared his horses are for the Kentucky Derby, enabling them to come back in two weeks.
This particular colt takes everything well. He’s a thorough pro. Even while getting a bath on Wednesday morning, with stable tours that include animated children hovering nearby, he never got agitated.
“He doesn’t care about it so much,” said Asmussen’s top assistant, Scott Blasi.
Blasi has been part of Asmussen’s team from the start, and thus has been an integral part of their Preakness assault over the years. The high points came in 2007, when Curlin won the Preakness after finishing third in the Derby, and then two years later, when Rachel Alexandra, in her first start since being moved to Asmussen following a Kentucky Oaks runaway, beat the boys here.
“I remember watching Curlin cool out after the Derby,” Blasi said, “and thinking, ‘They’re not beating this horse in two weeks.’ This horse is similar.”
Epicenter has made seven starts, the last five in stakes, the last four graded, including a second-place finish in the Derby, that following victories in the Louisiana Derby and Risen Star Stakes, both Grade 2 events at Fair Grounds.
“He’s got the seasoning, the foundation,” Blasi said. “It’s easier on him coming back in two weeks than the others.”
As is standard operating procedure with Asmussen, Epicenter got in an easy halfmile work on Monday, nine days after the Derby, timed in 50.40 seconds at Churchill Downs. There are five other horses in the Preakness returning in 13 to 15 days, none of whom worked between that race and the Preakness.
“We don’t need to do too much. It’s more to loosen him up,” Blasi said. “He came back feeling good.”
Epicenter landed post 8 in the field of nine at the draw Monday, and was installed as the 6-5 favorite on the line of Pimlico’s Keith Feustle. Early Voting, the Wood Memorial runner-up, is the 7-2 second choice. He is one of three horses – the others Skippylongstocking and the longshot Fenwick – who are coming into the Preakness fresh, having not raced since April 9.
Secret Oath, the Kentucky Oaks winner, is the third choice, at 9-2.
“She’s doing really good,” her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, said Wednesday morning. “I tried to read her after the Oaks, make sure she came out of it well. I really feel she’s going to run better here than she did in the Oaks. She’s starting to get it together.”
Lukas accompanied Secret Oath to the track on Wednesday morning while astride his pony. He came back raving over the Pimlico surface.
“It’s in great shape,” he said. “It’s got good bounce to it.”
Rain was expected for Wednesday night, with no more forecast for the rest of the week, but temperatures are climbing fast, with highs in the 90s predicted both Friday and Saturday, according to The Weather Channel.