Mugatu pointed to G1 Preakness
Press Release- May 7, 2024
Average Joe Racing Stables Ltd. and Dan Wells’ Mugatu, most recently fifth in the April 6 Blue Grass (G1), will return in the $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course May 18, trainer Jeff Engler reported Tuesday. Mugatu is scheduled to breeze five furlongs Saturday before shipping to Pimlico.
Mugatu rallied from last in the 10-horse Blue Grass field to finish fifth behind Sierra Leone, Just a Touch, Epic Ride and Dornoch, all of whom went on to run in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs. Seize the Grey, who finished seventh in the Blue Grass, went on to win the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the Derby undercard.
The son of Blofeld, who broke his maiden at Gulfstream Park by 3 ¼ lengths Nov. 18, had run four times over Turfway Park’s synthetic surface without success prior to the Blue Grass at Keeneland.
“He’s getting better. He really moved up on the dirt. His numbers proved it. Seize the Grey, who won the Pat Day Mile, we finished in front of him in the Blue Grass. I heard Seize the Grey is going in the Preakness, so it’s a logical spot,” Engler said. “We were a little frustrated we didn’t get into the Derby. We feel the more distance the better for this horse. I do like the mile and three-sixteenths, so we’re going to head up.”
MUGATU FILE
- Career record: 12:1-1-3, earnings of $80,570
- Last out: 5th, G1 Blue Grass Stakes
- Pedigree: Blofeld-Union Way, by Union Rags, bred in Kentucky by JSM Equine LLC
- Owner: Average Joe Racing Stables, Ltd. and Dan Wells
- Trainer: Jeff Engler
Preakness 2024 possibles
| Horse | Notes |
|---|---|
| Copper Tax | Gary Capuano trainee earned automatic berth as Federico Tesio S. winner |
| Muth | CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS: Arkansas Derby winner is trained by Bob Baffert and thus excluded from the Kentucky Derby |
| Imagination | CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS: San Felipe S. winner is trained by Bob Baffert |
| Mystik Dan | CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS: Ken McPeek trainee won the Kentucky Derby |
| Seize the Grey | CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS: Pat Day Mile winner "strongly considered" for Preakness by trainer D. Wayne Lukas |
| Tuscan Gold | CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS: Chad Brown trainee was 3rd in the Louisiana Derby |
| Informed Patriot | Steve Asmussen trainee earned automatic berth as Bathhouse Row S. winner |
| Uncle Heavy | CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS: Winner of the Withers is trained by Butch Reid |
| Just Steel | CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS: The D. Wayne Lukas trainee was 17th in the Kentucky Derby |
| Mugatu | CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS: The Jeff Engler trainee, fifth in the Blue Grass Stakes in his last start, was on the AE but did not draw into the Kentucky Derby. |
| Catching Freedom | CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS: The Brad Cox trainee was fourth in the Kentucky Derby |
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