BALTIMORE - The connections of Preakness winner Journalism would like to run their horse in the Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Saratoga. As they did before the Preakness, they will wait for Journalism to indicate that he’s on board with that plan.
Journalism shipped from Baltimore to Saratoga on Monday and his connections will go through the same monitoring process regarding the Preakness after the horse finished second in the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Michael McCarthy had the option to ship to Kentucky, where he has a string of horses, but felt that would be “counterproductive.” If Journalism doesn’t run in the Belmont Stakes, races like the Grade, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 19 or the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 26 would be considered for his next start.
McCarthy said Journalism appears to have come out of the Preakness in good order, but he would like to wait and see what, if anything, the two races have taken out of him before making a decision about the Belmont.
“I’d like to see what he’s kind of telling us,” McCarthy said outside the Pimlico stakes barn Sunday morning. “Now, it’s two races in two weeks. He ate up last night, seems like he’s pleased with himself. We’ll weigh the pros and cons.”
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McCarthy himself plans to remain in Baltimore through Tuesday as he will attend the Fasig-Tipton sale of 2-year-olds at nearby Timonium.
McCarthy said immediately after the Preakness that he mentioned to part-owner Aron Wellman that he felt Journalism could have won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
“Winning any of these races is quite an accomplishment, just happy to grab one of them,” McCarthy said. “If he’s acting like he’s wanting some more here, by going to New York at least puts him in a position to [run].”
Awaiting Journalism in New York is Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, whose connections opted to pass the Preakness and point to the Belmont, which, for the second consecutive year, will be at Saratoga and will be run at 1 1/4 miles due to the ongoing renovations at Belmont Park. On Saturday, Sovereignty worked a half-mile in 49.75 seconds.
A rematch between Sovereignty and Journalism would make this the second straight year separate winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness raced in the Belmont. But this year’s race would have more juice to it than last year’s meeting between Mystik Dan and Seize the Grey a year ago. Seize the Grey finished seventh and Mystik Dan eighth as the third and fourth betting choices, respectively, in the field.
“I think it would be great for the sport and hopefully both horses stay healthy and whether it’s in the Belmont or the Travers or the Breeders’ Cup Classic, we get a rematch and the public gets a rematch and stuff like that,” McCarthy said. “I think it would be great for racing, period. The competitor in me doesn’t say ‘yeah, I’m really looking forward [to it].’ I just think it would be good. These are two very good horses.”
Only four times in the last 20 years have separate winners of the Derby and Preakness met in the Belmont. In 2005, Preakness winner Afleet Alex won the Preakness and the Belmont after finishing third, one length behind Giacomo in the Derby.
Journalism’s stretch run in the Preakness was being compared to that of Afleet Alex, who at the top of the lane clipped heels with a ducking-out Scrappy T and stumbled for a stride - but recovered quickly and won by 4 3/4 lengths.
In Saturday’s Preakness, Journalism, who under Umberto Rispoli bulled his way through to make some room at the quarter pole, traded bumps with Goal Oriented, ridden by Flavien Prat, in upper stretch. Meanwhile, pace-prompting Gosger began to open up a clear advantage, officially five lengths with a furlong to go.
Journalism had clear running by that point, but it was a matter of whether he had enough time to get there. He did, reeling in Gosger a few strides before the wire to win by a half-length. Journalism, who is now 5 for 7 in his career, earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
Due to the bumping, McCarthy had resigned himself to another second-place finish.
“I said, when that happened, I can’t believe this horse is going to run like this, run another bang-up race and have nothing to show for it,” McCarthy said. “For him to get his head down at the wire was one of the more amazing performances I’ve ever seen. I think a lot of us probably have to put that in our highlight reel, top five type-of-thing.”
Wellman said he, too, thought Journalism was going to come up short. He was standing by his 17-year-old daughter Sadie, who Wellman said was hysterically crying.
“I was feeling hopeless, and devastated for the horse,” Aron Wellman said Sunday morning. “When he got clear, shook free and extended his stride, I said ‘make a miracle happen.’ And he did.”
Entries for the Belmont Stakes close on June 1 and the race will be drawn the following day. In addition to Journalism and Sovereignty, horses under consideration for the Belmont Stakes include Baeza, third in the Kentucky Derby; Gosger, the Preakness runner-up; Heart of Honor, fifth in the Preakness; Rodriguez, winner of the Wood Memorial; and Hill Road, winner of the Peter Pan.
Sandman, seventh in the Derby and third in the Preakness, shipped to Belmont Park on Sunday morning but will not run in the Belmont Stakes. He is more than likely going to target the Jim Dandy, trainer Mark Casse said.
Steve Asmussen said Sunday that Clever Again, who was forced to steady and was eased in midstretch by Jose Ortiz, had a few superficial cuts but was otherwise okay coming out of the Preakness. Asmussen said he would likely target a turf race for Clever Again.
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