Dale Romans isn’t bound after O’Prado Again exit, as Dullahan is right next in the line for the Kentucky Derby
With O’Prado Again out of the picture, courtesy of a broken shin bone while a routine workout, trainer Dale Romans will have to fill the void with his other sophomore colts to keep up with the Kentucky Derby prospects.
The good thing about the unfortunate injury to O’Prado Again is that Dale Romans has time in his hands to conjure up a new star, just like he did last year with the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes' winner, Shackleford.
This time around eyes will be fixed on the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity winner, newly turned 3-year-old colt, Dullahan, who didn’t have a bad juvenile season by any stretch of imagination, capping off his season with a fourth place finish to Hansen, in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs on 5 November, 2011, at about 1 1/16 miles on dirt.
The Donegal Racing owned, Kentucky bred son of Even the Score, out of mare Mining My Own by Smart Strike, Dullahan is pointed toward the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on 5 May, 2012, with two prep schedules.
Dullahan will kick start his 2012 campaign with a run in the Grade 3 Palm Beach Stakes, run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles on turf at Gulfstream Park, a race that is restricted for 3-year-old males.
He doesn’t have a dirt race scheduled for him, but he will try Keeneland’s synthetic surface for his second prep race for the Derby, when he goes out to run in the 1 1/8 mile long Grade 1 Blue Grass, also exclusive for 3-year-old males.
“We know he likes the grass. (The Palm Beach) is a mile-and-an-eighth race, and I want him to go at least a mile-and-an-eighth,” said Romans.
“And he ran well at Keeneland, so the timing’s right for both races. I wanted to run him twice before the Derby.”
O’Prado Again was a setback, but Romans is adamant that the colt isn’t that bad, and he will return to the races soon. Meanwhile, Dale Romans isn’t short on 3-year-old colts, with Cozzetti and King Kid, two horses in the category.
Dale Romans has enough in the arsenal, and will look to fire in all cylinders to go all out when the Triple Crown time comes.
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