Mylute will work to close gap on Orb
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mylute, fifth in the Kentucky Derby, was declared definite for the 139th Preakness Stakes after training Saturday morning at Churchill Downs.
That leaves a week for trainer Tom Amoss and jockey Rosie Napravnik to try to figure out how to defeat Derby hero Orb.
"I've got to find 4 lengths from the Kentucky Derby," Amoss said shortly after Mylute galloped in the predawn. "I don't know how you beat Orb. He's the best 3-year-old. If he runs his last race, he'll be difficult to beat."
Amoss said owners Mandy Pope and Paul Bulmahn wanted a week to evaluate how Mylute came out of the Derby. He said the decision was made after they discussed how the Midnight Lute colt looked, was training and eating. Mylute, who finished a neck out of third in the Kentucky Derby after losing the Louisiana Derby by a neck, is scheduled to fly to Baltimore on Wednesday for Saturday's $1 million race.
"I thought in the Derby, Mylute made what has become his signature, kind of eye-catching middle move, but certainly at the end was a little bit even in his finish," Amoss said. "That's got to change for us to have a shot to win this race — not to mention that Orb is the man. I'm hoping we move forward in the Preakness, and Orb takes a little step backward.
"As it stands now, the closest finisher to Orb in the Kentucky Derby who is going to run in the Preakness is Mylute. ... Four lengths separated them. It's going to be a smaller field. We're going to probably use the same methods we used in the Derby, and because of the smaller field maybe we can save some ground. And we'll see what happens.”
The light-framed Normandy Invasion, who finished a head in front of Mylute in fourth in the Derby, is possible but hardly definite for the Derby.
Amoss called the Derby his best fifth-place finish ever, adding with a laugh, "and the best fourth-place finish I had was in the Preakness way back with Hot Wells."
That was Amoss' first Triple Crown appearance. He'd claimed Hot Wells out of a $12,500 maiden race, with the gelding going on to win Oaklawn's Southwest and finish fourth in the Arkansas Derby. He was fourth in the 1998 Preakness won by Derby victor Real Quiet.
Mylute will be Napravnik's first mount in the middle leg of the Triple Crown. She said a triumph there would be "probably about even" to winning the Derby.
That's because the jockey started her career at Pimlico on June 9, 2005, as a 17-year-old, winning on her first mount ever, the Dickie Small-trained Ringofdiamonds.