After Derby scratch, Forte thinking Preakness
Press Release- May 8, 2023
Two days after enormous disappointment, Forte’s connections were looking ahead to Baltimore, crabcakes, and the Preakness.
Forte, last year’s 2-year-old champion who beat Mage in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) and Fountain of Youth (G2), galloped at Churchill Downs Monday morning for an anticipated run in Preakness Stakes 148 at Pimlico Race Course May 20. Forte was scratched the morning of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (G1), for which he was favored, with the remnants of a foot bruise sustained earlier in the week.
“He looked very good,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He galloped a mile and three-eighths very comfortably. Seemed happy like he normally is. He’ll work probably Friday or Saturday.”
Asked if there was any sign left of the bruise, Pletcher said, “No, I think that’s completely subsided now. Right now, I’d say we’re looking good to breeze for the Preakness. If we’re happy with that, that’s what we’re thinking.”
Of being scratched from the Derby, “I’m mostly disappointed for the Violas and the Repoles and the horse himself,” Pletcher said, referencing owners Vinnie Viola and Mike Repole and their families. “As we know, you’ve got to be good on the one particular day, and there are no makeups. We’ve just got to adjust, move on and focus on trying to prepare him the best we can for the Preakness.”
Pletcher, who has won the Kentucky Derby twice and the Belmont Stakes four times, will be seeking his first success in the Preakness should Forte be entered as expected.
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