Harlem Rocker Isn't Entered in Preakness

Although he is widely considered to be the one viable threat to knock off Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown in the 133rd Preakness Stakes on Saturday, Harlem Rocker will not be entered, trainer Todd Pletcher said yesterday.

The lightly raced gray colt, who won the Grade III $150,000 Withers on April 26 at Aqueduct with a stretch run, had been put on a path to the Preakness by Pletcher, but owner Frank Stronach told the trainer he would not enter.

Stronach also is chairman of Magna Entertainment, which owns Pimlico. The Preakness Stakes, which generates a betting handle in the neighborhood of $55 million, is the most valuable race in the portfolio of the company, which lost $46.5 million in its recently completed first quarter and $303.6 million the past three years.

Having a strong second choice in the Preakness likely would have made the race a more attractive betting proposition.

"He was still a long shot to beat Big Brown," said Steven Crist, publisher of the Daily Racing Form. Big Brown "is still going to be 1-10 to win the race. But I wish the horse was in. To me he's the only horse in the race with a chance of beating the favorite."

Pletcher, too, wanted Harlem Rocker to run.

"He did breeze very well yesterday," Pletcher said. "The horse was doing fine. Talking to Mr. Stronach, it's a long year with a lot of races out there, and maybe he'll get a little more seasoning. The horse would have been a very legitimate second choice [in the Preakness]. I think if I was in the Big Brown camp, I'd be happy to hear he's not running."

Richard Dutrow, who trains Big Brown, could not be reached, but last week called Harlem Rocker "the only horse I could have any kind of respect for going into the race. . . . "

Stronach also could not be reached.

Harlem Rocker, bred in Ontario, Canada, now will be pointed to the $1 million Queen's Plate on June 22 at Woodbine in Toronto, a race restricted to 3-year-old Canadian breds.

Pletcher still will have Lexington Stakes winner Behindatthebar in the Preakness. . . .

Arkansas Derby winner Gayego, who finished 17th in the Derby, is a possible Preakness entrant. "We are thinking strongly to go," trainer Paulo Lobo said yesterday from Hollywood Park in California. "He came back from the [Derby] very well. I'm going to gallop him and decide tomorrow."

Starting from the difficult No. 19 post position at Churchill Downs, Gayego broke poorly, was pinched hard in a tight pack going into the first turn, and raced unfocused, with his head high in the air, until reaching the backstretch. "For me, it was 'forget it,' " Lobo said. "I'm glad [jockey] Mike [Smith] didn't push him." . . .

Big Brown, who likely will not record a single workout between the Derby and Preakness, galloped a mile over the muddy track yesterday at Churchill Downs. Dutrow has maintained a light training schedule for the 1 3/16 -mile Preakness and will ship the colt tomorrow to Baltimore.

-- John Scheinman