BALTIMORE — All nine Preakness horses are on the grounds at Pimlico after Departing, Govenor Charlie and Mylute arrived at 4 p.m. yesterday following a flight from Louisville, Ky., where they had been training at Churchill Downs. D. Wayne Lukas’ three colts — Oxbow, Will Take Charge and Titletown Five — arrived Tuesday evening after a 12-hour van ride from Churchill.
Lukas evaluated his entry yesterday morning. Oxbow, he said, “is such a gutsy horse, it gave me a flutter there for a minute” when he moved to the lead on the far turn in the Kentucky Derby. “When he made that kick, I thought maybe this horse is better than I thought. But I was leery that long old stretch was going to take its toll. Then reality set in.”
As for Will Take Charge, who will be making just his second start since winning the March 16 Rebel, Lukas said, “If you look at the aerial [blimp] view of the Derby, he ran one hell of a race. He was totally stopped [rallying behind a tiring horse on the far turn]. Now I’ve got a pretty fresh horse that only [has] to run a mile. So I might be dangerous.”
Titletown Five is a longshot whose owners include Green Bay Packer legends Paul Hornung and Willie Davis.
“The [betting] handle will go up 30 percent just because they’re coming with their friends,” Lukas said. “They’re pro football players in the Hall of Fame. They know how to win and they know how to lose. They’ll be fine.”
* Leaving no stone unturned, Shug McGaughey schooled Orb yesterday inside the Pimlico paddock, where he will saddle the Derby winner before leading him out to the turf course to join the other Preakness horses.
“When you get to be my age,” he said, “you want three walls around you [when you saddle a horse] instead of an open field.”