2016 News
Lani shows late speed, finishes 5th in Preakness Stakes  The second leg of the American Triple Crown, Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes, was held at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 21, and Japan-trained Lani finished 5th in the 11-horse field. Exaggerator, runner-up in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, took the Preakness title with a 3 1/2-length win over Cherry Wine, which narrowly beat Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist by a nose at the wire. Similar to his Kentucky Derby outing, Lani jumped out slowly and struggled to keep pace throughout the early part of the race. However, under the guidance of jockey Yutaka Take, Lani switched gears before entering the final stretch and demonstrated superb closing speed to finish at the rear of the front-running pack – some five lengths behind Exaggerator – in fifth. Considering the seven-length gap between Lani and 6th-place finisher Laoban, the connections came out of the race upbeat about their next target – the final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes. “The track was sloppy and, in the end, there was some distance from him and the front pack, but he showed excellent closing speed,” trainer Mikio Matsunaga said. “His condition was better than his last run, and I think he was able to prove himself here. I'm looking forward to the Belmont Stakes.” “He was in better condition than his previous run, and he came out with really nice speed in the end,” Take said. “The distance will be longer in the Belmont Stakes and will be run on a wider track, so I think he will be able to show his best performance among the three races (in the United States). I'm looking forward to putting the experiences of the previous two races to use in the Belmont Stakes.” Please visit the following websites for more information:Preakness Stakes website: Equibase website: |
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