LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It won’t hurt trainer Steve Asmussen’s feelings if Sovereignty and Journalism, the one-two finishers from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, skip the Preakness Stakes on May 17 at Pimlico.
Asmussen plans to run the lightly raced Clever Again in the Preakness, and if neither Sovereignty nor Journalism run – their connections were lukewarm Sunday morning – the degree of difficulty certainly lessens.
“They don’t ever list on the trophy who skipped the race,” Asmussen said.
With or without the Derby one-two finishers, Clever Again figures a player in the Preakness. A son of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, Clever Again finished second in his 2-year-old debut sprinting on dirt at Keeneland in April 2024. Given his mother, Flattering, was a group stakes winner running long on turf, Asmussen tried to run Clever Again on turf.
However, Asmussen had to scratch Clever Again out of a turf maiden on July 20 at Saratoga due to a shin issue that sidelined him for the remainder of the year.
Clever Again ran twice at Oaklawn Park, where they only have dirt. On Feb. 23, he won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by 3 1/4 lengths. He came back March 30 to win the one-mile Hot Springs Stakes by four lengths, beating Grade 1 winner Gaming, who finished third in Saturday’s Pat Day Mile.
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“I thought to go from a maiden win to running against a Grade 1 winner and handling him the way he did is unbelievably encouraging,” Asmussen said. “And how do we reward him for that? Jump a higher fence.”
Clever Again would be making just his fourth career start in the Preakness. In 2022, Early Voting won the Preakness in just his fourth career start. In 2017, Cloud Computing won the Preakness in his fourth start. Neither Early Voting nor Cloud Computing ran in the Kentucky Derby.
Asmussen, a two-time Preakness winner, said neither of his Kentucky Derby also-rans, Tiztastic, who finished 10th, and Publisher, who was 14th, are under consideration for the Preakness. Asmussen said Tiztastic, who did win a pair of turf races as a 2-year-old, could be headed back to that surface, while Publisher “would look good in a maiden race,” Asmussen said.
Asmussen said he was impressed with the top three Derby finishers – Sovereignty, Journalism, and Baeza. The connections of Sovereignty and Journalism were noncommittal regarding the Preakness the day after the race. Baeza was due to head back to Southern California, where he is based with John Shirreffs, and point to the Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Saratoga.
“I really believe the top three finishers are fantastic horses going forward,” Asmussen said.
As of Monday, American Promise (16th) is the only starter from the Kentucky Derby confirmed for the Preakness. American Promise is trained by seven-time Preakness winner D. Wayne Lukas.
Rodriguez, who was entered in the Derby but scratched due to a foot issue, is pointing to the Preakness. Rodriguez, who won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 5, is trained by eight-time Preakness winner Bob Baffert.
River Thames, beaten a neck by Sovereignty in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, is pointing to the Preakness after a third-place finish behind Burnham Square in the Blue Grass Stakes. He is trained by Todd Pletcher, who has yet to win a Preakness. He is winless with 10 starters but has run just one since Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming finished eighth in 2017.
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Heart of Honor, a English-bred son of Honor A. P. trained by Jaime Osborne, is expected to run. He is coming off a nose defeat to Admire Daytona in the U.A.E. Derby. Admire Daytona finished last in the Kentucky Derby.
Pay Billy will be the local runner in the Preakness. Trained by Mike Gorham, Pay Billy is coming off a win in the Federico Tesio Stakes on April 19 at Laurel Park. Gosger, winner of the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes for Brendan Walsh, also is under consideration for the Preakness.
The post position draw for the Preakness is scheduled for the evening of Monday, May 12.
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