Blazing Sevens | Janet Garaguso
Rodeo Creek Racing’s GISW Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) flew five furlongs over the main course at Belmont in its last serious attempt before the GI Preakness S. on May 20 at Pimlico on Saturday. Blazing Sevens, who visited the track after the refurbishment break around 9:00 a.m., worked alongside Artorius, his stake-winning stablemate [1:00.18]and completed the trip on the fast main line in 1:00.02.
Blazing Sevens was joined by Irad Ortiz Jr., who also rode Chad Brown Trainee in his last start, a third place finish at the April 8 GI Blue Grass in Keeneland.
“It went perfectly. He was in himself. He is fit and happy,” said Ortiz Jr., who will be riding the stallion for the second time next week. “I’ve never worked with him, but he worked like a good horse. Nice and simple. I won’t let go of him. The track might be a bit fast, but he worked well for a minute.”
Trainer Chad Brown added: “The horse did great. I was really happy with the work.”
The colt is expected to be delivered to Pimlico on Sunday morning.
Winner of a sloppy renewal of the GI Champagne last fall at Aqueduct, Blazing Sevens ended their two-year season with a fourth place finish at the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in Keeneland. He finished a distant eighth in his season debut in Gulfstream’s GII Fountain of Youth S. in March.
The stallion earmarked for Preakness will look to give his trainer a third win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown behind winner Cloud Computing [2017] and early voting [2022]. The last coach to have two consecutive Preakness wins was Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who did so with Point Given [2001] and war emblem [2002].
“It was always decided individually for the horse. With [Cloud Computing and Early Voting] it worked. “This horse seemed to fit the category a bit,” Brown said. “This horse ran a lot more races than the other two by the age of two, so it’s been battle-tested. When he took a big throw in the ‘Fountain of Youth’ and didn’t run it was really a setback for my fitness and I was just trying to catch up at that point before getting into the derby. I don’t regret skipping the derby the way it went. I think this is the right decision for this particular horse at this point in time.”
Looking back on the stallion’s credible Blue Grass result, Brown added, “He’s had a pretty long trip. I just wanted him out of trouble. He had to go around horses and got really tired when cornering around those horses. Practically speaking, it was his first start this year. He wasn’t running at Gulfstream, so he was entitled to get a little tired. That’s another reason I didn’t want to go back to the Derby in four weeks. As you can see today, he is a horse in full tank and doing better than ever. I’m just trying to put the horse in the best position to be successful.”
Ortiz Jr. previously finished second at Preakness 2021 and is hoping Blazing Sevens can up their game this season.
“I have confidence in my horse,” said Ortiz Jr. “He’s suggesting that I should prepare for this race and I think I have a little advantage. He’s fresh and oriented directly to this race and he can give me 100 percent. The other horses had to rest. Hopefully he can get the job done on Saturday.”
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This story was published in Shared News, Top News and tagged Baltimore, Blazing Sevens, Chad Brown, GI Preakness S., Good Magic, Irad Ortiz Jr., Pimlico, Triple Crown.
