Pimlico, 17 May 2008

The Lexington Stakes winner Behindatthebat was scratched from today's Preakness on Friday after it was discovered that he had a foot bruise. Trainer Todd Pletcher said he first noticed that the colt might have an issue when he was warming up for his daily 6 a.m. gallop at Belmont Park.

“The way he went this morning, he was a little bit off on his left front,” Pletcher said. “It appears that he’s got a foot bruise in the inside corner of his left front hoof. It’s unfortunate timing.”

Pletcher said the problem might disappear in a few days. “I would expect that it could possibly be resolved by the beginning of next week,” he said. “Sometimes foot abscesses or bruises can be tricky, but hopefully that won’t be the case and it will be quickly resolved.

Meanwhile Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said that he is nearly as confident that the red hot favourite Big Brown will win the Preakness on Saturday as he was before his dominating win in the Kentucky Derby.

“I think that it’s our race to lose,” Dutrow said. “I think that he is the best horse in the race and I think if he breaks with the field, he’ll win the race.”

However, Dutrow said a few times that a clean break from the gate is essential and noted that War Emblem’s chances of sweeping the Triple Crown in 2002 were wiped out when he fell to his knees leaving the gate in the Belmont Stakes.

“When you come out of the gate and the horse stumbles pretty bad, right away horses are in front of them then, and you’ve got a lot of things that you have to deal with,” Dutrow said. “So the break, in my opinion, is the only issue we have to worry about.”

Since Dutrow does not see any speed in the race, he figures that if Big Brown breaks with the field he will be galloping on the lead going down the backstretch.

“It’s all about the break for us,” he said. “If he breaks clean, things will be right there for him. If he wants the lead or wants to sit off it, whatever.”