Jones offers optimistic spin

STANTON, Del. – Having endured a heartbreaking second-place finish by Hard Spun in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Larry Jones is heading into the Preakness with no regrets.

“I wouldn’t take anything back that we’ve done,” Jones said Tuesday upon returning to Hard Spun’s home stable at Delaware Park.

Given his horse’s love for speed, and the fact that jockey Mario Pino calls Maryland home, Jones likes his chances in the May 19 race at Pimlico. Pimlico, he said, is a track that favors speed.

“If there’s such a thing as home-court advantage, I hope we have it this time,” he said of the second leg of the Triple Crown. “We sure don’t feel like we’re giving up anything by being in what I call Pino country.”

While Jones is optimistic about the Preakness, he expects the 14-starter field will include other potential speedsters, including Slew’s Tizzy, who took the lead early and dominated down the stretch for a 3 1/2-length victory in the Lexington Stakes.

If Jones has a strategy other than to get his horse out front fast, as Hard Spun did in the Derby, he isn’t letting on.

“My horse’s strength is speed – that’s what he’s got,” he said. “This horse has a very high cruising speed.”

Before the Derby, some handicappers expressed concern about the lightning-fast workout in which Pino took Hard Spun through five furlongs in 57.60, the fastest Derby Week workout at the distance since General Assembly, second in the 1979 Derby, was clocked at 57.40.

More questions about pacing came after Hard Spun shot to the front at the Derby, managing to stay there for almost the entire race until Street Sense roared from next-to-last in the 20-horse field, picking his way through the pack to beat Hard Spun by 2 1/4 lengths.