BALTIMOE, Md.—Tami Bobo and Tristan De Meric’s Simplification took another step toward the Preakness Stakes (G1) at 6 a.m. Thursday with a leisurely tour of the track at Pimlico Race Course.
Accompanied by a pony and under exercise rider Ismal Ramirez, who has been up on the colt daily since he arrived at trainer Antonio Sano’s barn, Simplification got his first look at the track he will compete over on May 21. Sano’s longtime assistant, Jesus ‘Chino’ Prada, watched as Simplification, the lone Preakness prospect on the grounds, walked from the gap to the five-eighths pole, stood for five minutes and galloped a complete circuit of the historic track.
“Everything is excellent,” Prada said. “My exercise rider said that everything was good with the horse.”
Simplification finished fourth in last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (G1). Since Sano is based in South Florida, he opted to ship the son of Not This Time directly to Pimlico overnight Monday. Prada, Sano’s longtime assistant, met the colt when he arrived at 5 a.m. Tuesday and is supervising his care until Sano flies up to Baltimore on Sunday.
Prada and Sano are both natives of Venezuela and have known each other since they were teenage students at the country’s school for trainers, 1986-88. Sano became one of the most successful trainers in Venezuelan racing history. Prada also trained at the Valencia track but decided to leave the increasingly dangerous country and moved his family to Florida in January 2001. He said he worked in horse racing in Florida, stepped away for a few years before going to work for Sano – twice a victim of kidnapping – when he immigrated to the U.S. and opened his stable in 2010.
Maryland Jockey Club Press Release
Photos by Maryland Jockey Club
