Five challengers to Kentucky Derby winner Orb worked yesterday at Churchill Downs before shipping to Pimlico, including Govenor Charlie, who drilled a hole in the wind for trainer “Bullet Bob” Baffert.
Govenor Charlie has run just three times, including a track-record score in his last start, the March 24 Sunland Park Derby. Sidelined with a bruised foot, he did not run for the roses, but yesterday broke some stopwatches going six furlongs in 1:10 4/5. The son of champion sprinter Midnight Lute went the first five furlongs in :58 1/5 and galloped out seven in 1:24 4/5.
“He worked good enough to run,” Baffert said of Govenor Charlie, who six days earlier worked six furlongs in 1:11 2/5. “When he starts working like that, it means he’s doing really well. I think we’re caught up with the time we lost.”
* Mylute, fifth in the Derby but beaten just over a length for second, breezed a half-mile in :49 3/5 under regular rider Rosie Napravnik. He was out five furlongs in 1:04 2/5.
“This was similar to what he did before the Derby,” trainer Tom Amoss said, “but a bit faster.”
* Five-time Preakness winner D. Wayne Lukas sent all three of his prospective starters to the track: Oxbow, Will Take Charge and Titletown Five.
Oxbow, who made a threatening middle-move in the Derby before finishing sixth, worked a half in :49 4/5 under Hall-of-Fame jockey Gary Stevens, out five furlongs in 1:03 3/5.
“I think I am sitting on the right horse with the right style,” said Stevens, who won the Preakness on Silver Charm and Point Given.
Will Take Charge worked a half in :48 2/5. Titletown Five merely blew out down the stretch after galloping 1 1/4 miles.