It's a Preakness Stakes (G1) tradition to introduce “new shooters,” most of them being obscure horses who sat out the Kentucky Derby (G1). The lightly raced Gosger earned his chance with an impressive victory April 12 in Keeneland's Lexington Stakes (G3). Gosger ran down pacesetting longshot Bracket Buster and drew off by two lengths in his two-turn debut.
“He's got a lot of maturing to do -- he's still a little raw,” trainer Brendan Walsh said after the race. “But I love what I saw today. I think he's got some big days in front of him. I think he's a very nice horse in the making. He was still a little green but beat a couple of really nice horses today.”
Gosger will be facing much nicer horses on May 17 as he takes a significant class jump in his fourth career start. He's 2-for-3 with a second, so he hasn't done anything wrong, although he's rather light on speed figures. The 1 3/16-mile Preakness will be a furlong farther than he's ever gone, but he surged through the wire and galloped out strongly. His pedigree (Nyquist out of a Tapit mare) says the extra distance should be within his scope.
He's been training well since the Lexington, breezing 5 furlongs in a minute flat May 1 at Churchill Downs.
“He looked really good,” Walsh said. “He's not giving me much reason not to go (to the Preakness). The winner (Sovereignty) of the Derby is not going. The third horse (Baeza) is not going. If the horse has a realistic chance of being in the first three, then we've got to take a shot.”
Preakness Betting Advice
It feels like too much, too soon for Gosger, who could be a player down the road. No bet.
Notes: Saez will be the fourth different jockey in four starts for Gosger, who Irad Ortiz, Jr. rode in the Lexington. Ortiz is named on River Thames for the Preakness. Gosger will be the second Preakness starter for Walsh, a transplanted Irishman who finished sixth with Multiplier in 2017. The late Harvey A. Clarke, who owned the stable that still bears his name, bred and sold I'll Have Another, who swept the 2012 Derby and Preakness.
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