Favorite Back On Track Unbridled Song’s Takes Fresh Run At The Preakness

Unbridled’s Song trained in regular shoes Sunday for the first time since April, increasing the chances that he will be in the field for Saturday’s 121st running of the Preakness.

“He went fine this morning for the first time in regular shoes,” trainer Jim Ryerson said from the horse’s home base in Monmouth Park. “He’s galloped here each day, except Saturday. He’ll tell us if he can run in the Preakness.”

The status of the Kentucky Derby favorite, who ran at Churchill Downs in bar shoes, has been questionable since his fifth-place finish. The colt’s owner, Ernie Paragallo, had said he would not run the Preakness in bar shoes.

In the Wood Memorial one month ago, Unbridled’s Song suffered a small gash in the heel and a slight crack in the hoof of his left front foot.

“It will be a day-to-day thing,” Ryerson said. “Ernie told me to wait until midweek to make a final decision.”

If Unbridled’s Song runs in the Preakness, Pimlico oddsmaker Clem Florio projects he will be 2-1 in the betting, second choice behind Derby runner-up Cavonnier.

Florio put Cavonnier at 9-5. The California-bred gelding, trained by Bob Baffert, lost the Derby by a nose to the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Grindstone.

Grindstone was retired Thursday after a chip was discovered in his right front knee.

That left Lukas, seeking his seventh consecutive win in a Triple Crown race, with two Preakness entrants: Prince of Thieves, who finished third in the Derby, and Editor’s Note, who finished sixth.

In the early track odds, Prince of Thieves is 4-1 and Editor’s Note 15-1.

While things are looking positive for Unbridled’s Song, the same cannot be said for Romano Gucci. The colt owned by Marylander Herbert Kushner, was scratched from Saturday’s Withers Stakes at Belmont due to a slight fever.

Conversations with trainers in New York also eliminated Allied Forces from consideration. The colt’s owner, Dubai businessman Ahmed Tayer, told trainer Kiaran McLaughlin that he wanted to keep Allied Forces on the turf, where he won the Woodlawn Stakes at Pimlico on May 4. He’ll try the Jersey Derby next.

Mixed Count remains on track for the Preakness. He is the only Maryland-based horse currently expected to enter.

Louis Quatorze is the only horse at Pimlico for the Preakness, and no more are expected before Wednesday.