The field for the Preakness next Saturday at Pimlico continued to swell with confirmation that the Bobby Frankel-trained High Limit will enter the fray.
Frankel named Edgar Prado, the former Maryland riding star, to pilot High Limit, who finished last in the 20-horse Derby. The colt suffered cuts on both hind legs in the roughly run race.
Initially, Frankel said High Limit would miss two weeks of training. After conferring with his veterinarian, he pointed the colt to the Preakness.
Prado rode the Nick Zito-trained Sun King in the Derby. Zito has not said which of his trio of High Fly, Noble Causeway and Sun King will contest the Preakness.
Warren Stute, trainer of Greeley's Galaxy, said David Flores would ride the colt in the second leg of the Triple Crown. Kent Desormeaux, who rode Greeley's Galaxy to an 11th-place finish in the Derby, will be riding in Japan next Saturday.
High Limit brings to 11 the potential field for the Preakness. If Zito enters two and D. Wayne Lukas enters Going Wild, then the race would be a full, 14-horse field for the first time since 1992.
Afleet Alex, the likely favorite this year, jogged 1 1/2 miles and galloped 1 1/2 miles again yesterday morning at Pimlico. He arrived Wednesday after his third-place finish in the Derby.
"The shortened distance will help him," Ritchey said, referring to the Preakness's 1 3/16 miles compared to the Derby's 1 1/4 miles. "I don't anticipate the pace being like it was in the Derby. I would think we would be a little closer, a little more of a stalking position and, hopefully, from the three-eighths pole to the wire, he'll make that kick he made in the Arkansas Derby."
The Preakness
What: 130th Preakness Stakes, second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown
When: Next Saturday, post time 6:05 p.m.
Where: Pimlico Race Course
Distance: 1 3/16 miles
Purse: $1 million
TV: Chs. 11, 4
Looking ahead: Belmont Stakes, June 11
