PREAKNESS GETS LOCAL FLAVOR
It wouldn’t be the Preakness without a local horse running, and next Saturday’s middle jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico got one yesterday when the owners of Cherokee’s Boy, both Baltimoreans, deposited money in their horsemen’s account to pay the $10,000 entry fee.
Trained by Gary Capuano, who saddled Captain Bodgit to finish a close third in the 1997 Preakness, Cherokee’s Boy is based at the Bowie training center in Maryland. He has won 6-of-12 starts, with five of those victories coming in stakes. Last out, the Citidancer colt won the April 19 Federico Tesio at Pimlico in a cakewalk. Ryan Fogelsonger, last year’s Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey, has the mount.
“Two Baltimore guys own a Maryland-bred with a Maryland trainer and a Maryland jockey. What more could you ask for?” said co-owner Foard Wilgis. “The horse is doing really well, so why not?”
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Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has named Hall-of-Famer Gary Stevens to ride Scrimshaw in the Preakness, replacing Cornelio Velasquez, who finished 11th aboard the Gulch colt in the Kentucky Derby.
“I’ve had good luck with Gary,” Lukas said. “That’s a tough track to navigate. Experience is important here, and we thought we’d try something different.”
Stevens has won the Preakness twice, with Silver Charm in ’97 and Point Given in ’01, both trained by Bob Baffert. Also, co-starring as legendary jockey George “The Iceman” Woolf in the upcoming film “Seabiscuit,” Stevens rode the movie’s namesake to victory over War Admiral in their famous match race, the Pimlico Special.
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Midway Road, an 11-length winner of an allowance race at Keeneland last out, will have his plans for the Preakness confirmed when he breezes Monday at Churchill Downs.
“He’s doing good, but it’s a big jump, going to a Grade 1, much less a classic,” trainer Neil Howard said. “You have to be careful with a horse that wins like that at Keeneland. It could be a little misleading.”
Another possible Preakness starter is Kissin Saint, trained by Lisa Lewis. Kissin Saint, third behind Empire Maker and Funny Cide in the Wood Memorial, is scheduled to work this morning at Belmont under jockey Rich Migliore.

