Dullahan will be replaced by Cozzetti in the Preakness Stakes
Right after the Grade 1, $2 million Kentucky Derby, trainer Dale Romans said that his fast closing third place finisher, Dullahan, came out of the gruelling Derby in top condition, like he never raced, but on 11 May, 2012, the trainer confirmed that the
3-year-old Even the Score colt isn’t going to go for the Grade 1, $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on 19 May, 2012.
The decision came as a surprise, especially after Dullahan’s big effort, but the thing is that it isn’t entirely up to Dale Romans to call the shots on Dullahan’s next start, and so it was as Romans said that Jerry Crawford, who is the head of Donegal Racing
texted Romans saying that they aren’t going to run in the Preakness Stakes.
Bred in Kentucky by Bena Halecky, Philip and Judy Needham, Dullahan will be now pointed toward the third jewel of the Triple Crown, the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on 9 June, 2012.
Jerry Crawford had made up his mind about not running in the Preakness on 19 May, as he informed Des Moines Register, “We’re trying to be fair to the horse, number one. Secondly, it will be a full field of 14 horses in the Preakness, and none of
us were too thrilled about the possibility of traffic problems again.”
Crawford added, “We looked at the genetics, and horses like Dullahan seem to fare better at Belmont than Pimlico. It’s a better surface for him.”
Out of Smart Strike mare Mining My Own, Dullahan has been great throughout the new season with three starts.
He started off with a second place finish to winner, Howe Great, in the Grade 3 Palm Beach Stakes over at Gulfstream Park’s turf course going over a distance of 1 1/8 miles.
The stretched out distance really helped the colt in managing the same distance at Keeneland, when he went all out to win the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes over the venue’s poly track.
Dale Romans will still be represented in the Preakness Stakes, as Cozzetti will replace Dullahan, who finished third in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby and fourth in the Arkansas Derby.
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