Midnight Interlude gets new rider for Preakness

BALTIMORE (AP) - Midnight Interlude will have a new rider for the Preakness Stakes on Saturday with Martin Garcia replacing Victor Espinoza.

One of the favorites in the Kentucky Derby, Midnight Interlude didn't run a lick, finishing 16th. Trainer Bob Baffert wasn't thrilled with the way the race unfolded.

``He broke well and I think everybody was anticipating a fast pace and the jockey grabbed him and he got behind a wall of horses, and he wasn't ready for that,'' Baffert said. ``The next thing you know, he's 10 lengths off. He just lost all interest; he's really a temperamental type of horse. But I just don't know. It was a very puzzling race to me.''

Baffert said the Santa Anita Derby winner came off the race fine and will fly in from California on Wednesday.

``It took nothing out of him. Nothing,'' Baffert said. ``He never ran. He was done after three-quarters of a mile. He just lost interest. That was it for him.''

Baffert hopes to rekindle the magic with Garcia, who gave him a fifth Preakness win last year aboard Lookin At Lucky.

This will be Garcia's second ride on the colt. He was aboard for his first race in January, a third-place finish at Santa Anita.

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MACHO READY: With Nehro out of the Preakness picture, Mucho Macho Man could be the chief rival for Animal Kingdom in the Preakness.

While Animal Kingdom drew off to a 2 3/4-length victory in the Kentucky Derby, Nehro edged Mucho Macho Man by a neck for second place. Those two figured to be among the top challengers in a Preakness rematch.

Then Nehro dropped out Tuesday morning. Owner Ahmed Zayat decided to skip the middle jewel of the Triple Crown and wait for the Belmont Stakes on June 11.

Mucho Macho Man is still on target for the race. He put in his final Preakness work for trainer Kathy Ritvo in the slop at Belmont Park on Tuesday, a half mile in 49.28 seconds with jockey Rajiv Maragh aboard.

``He worked well. He came back great,'' Ritvo said.

Ritvo was a major story line before the Derby, bidding to become the first female trainer to capture the race while also gaining widespread attention as a heart-transplant recipient.

Ritvo plans to send Mucho Macho Man down to Baltimore on Wednesday. He is one of four horses who finished behind Animal Kingdom in the Derby and will go for another try in the Preakness, joining Shackleford (fourth), Dialed In (eighth) and Midnight Interlude.

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ALMOST IN: Concealed Identity continues to inch closer to the Preakness.

Co-owner Linda Gaudet said Monday the winner of Pimlico's Tesio Stakes was ``80-20'' for the race.

By Tuesday, he was all but in.

``He's doing great; he's feeling good; so, as of right now, we're pretty confident we're going to go ahead and enter him,'' Gaudet said.

Concealed Identity could be the horse for the course. He is 2 for 2 at Pimlico.

``We're very realistic,'' Gaudet said. ``We're shooting for the stars, but other than the horses from the Derby, we're on the same page with the other horses. This horse has run very well at Pimlico and has done everything we've asked.''

The Maryland bred horse is stabled at the Bowie Training Center.

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ALL QUIET: It's been a ghost town at the Pimlico Stakes barn with no Preakness runners on the grounds.

That will change Wednesday when the majority of horses arrive, including Dance City for trainer Todd Pletcher. The colt had an easy jog at Churchill Downs on Tuesday and will fly into Baltimore on Wednesday.

The Preakness will be only the fifth start for the colt, third last time out in the Arkansas Derby.

``He seems to be an improving horse,'' Pletcher said ``He's getting better with experience and we thought his Arkansas Derby was a very good race. He was the only horse that was part of the early pace scenario that stuck around and got a piece of it. Obviously he's got to step up to the next level, but he's showing all the right signs,'' Pletcher said.

The trainer is looking for his first Preakness victory after Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver finished eighth and stablemate Aikenite ran 10th last year. Ramon Dominguez will be aboard for the first time.

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SIZING UP SUSAN: The $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan drew seven 3-year-old fillies for the Friday stakes at Pimlico.

The Black-Eyed Susan is the companion event to the Preakness, similar to the role the Kentucky Oaks plays for the Derby.

Wyomia looks like the top runner from post No. 4. After winning the minor Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, Wyomia stepped up to finish second in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. Julien Leparoux will be aboard for the first time.

Trained by Curtis Garrison, Wyomia is 3 for 6, having also won the Mazarine Stakes at Woodbine last October.

The field for the 1 1-8 miles race in post position order: Royal Delta, Hot Summer, Coax Liberty, Wyomia, Buster's Ready, Love Theway Youare and Art of the Hunt.