Horse Racing

Vaction for the Paddy O’Prado as his run in the Triple Crown is over, finished sixth in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes after finishing third in the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

He will skip the June 5 Belmont Stakes and instead will be rested for five or six weeks before resuming his racing career.

In the past several years, there have been horses that have come to the Belmont after impressive runs at both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. This year, the Belmont will not have either horse that won the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Super Saver winner of the Kentucky Derby and Lookin at Lucky winner of the Preakness Stakes already out of Belmont Stakes.

“Paddy came out of the race just great,” said Jerry Crawford of Des Moines, who manages the Donegal Racing partnership that owns Paddy O’Prado. “He has no problems at all.

“Right now, Paddy and his owners need a little rest. I think the horse is in better shape than the owners, but it’s been fun.”

The owners won’t be getting that much rest. They have to decide where Paddy’s racing future lies — on a dirt track or a grass one.

Paddy O’Prado won the Palm Beach Stakes on turf and was second in the Blue Grass Stakes on a synthetic surface before running on dirt tracks in the Derby and Preakness.

“The whole turf versus dirt question is one we have to tackle,” Crawford said. “ It would be nice to pick a surface and stay there.”

If Paddy O’Prado were to return to turf, he could be pointed for the $600,000 Virginia Derby on July 17.

He won’t run in the June 25 Iowa Derby, but that race is a possibility for his stablemate, Vow To Wager.

The Donegal partnership turned down offers before the Preakness from Kentucky breeding farms interested in buying a percentage of Paddy O’Prado’s breeding rights. “I think now that’s down the road,” Crawford said.

Paddy O’Prado was the first horse owned by Iowa residents to run in the Triple Crown since Blumin Affair in 1994, and both horses had the exact same results. Blumin Affair also finished third in the Derby, sixth in the Preakness and then missing the Belmont.

Horses that finish in the top three in the Kentucky Derby generally run well in the Preakness, but that didn’t happen Saturday. Not only was Paddy O’Prado sixth, but Super Saver’s eighth-place finish was the lowest by a Derby winner since Dust Commander was ninth in 1970.

Looking back on the Preakness, Crawford said Paddy O’Prado just didn’t run his race.

The plan was for jockey Kent Desormeaux to have Paddy O’Prado just off the lead going into the first turn, because the Pimlico surface had been favoring speed. Breaking from the No. 10 post, Paddy was six lengths behind and kept wide on the first turn. He made a mild run in the stretch to close from ninth to sixth.

“I just thought we were never in position to win the race,” Crawford said. “You had to be on or near the lead. Kent was in a no-win situation. If he had saved ground, he would have been even further back,. He tried to get position, and that kept him further outside.”

Crawford initially had planned to skip the Preakness and run in the Belmont, but changed his mind when Paddy O’Prado came out of the Derby still eager to run.

“I don’t have any (second thoughts),” Crawford said. “He trained so aggressively after the Derby, and he had such an unfortunate trip in the Derby that we felt like we had to do to the Preakness.”

Super Saver and Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky will also skip the Belmont. That leaves Ice Box, second in the Kentucky Derby, as the biggest name for the 11/2-mile race.