Just Steel is possible to compete in the $2 million, Grade 1 Preakness Stakes on May 18 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
The post position draw for the Preakness is set for Monday, May 13, at 5:30 p.m. Post time for the Preakness is set for 6:50 p.m. on Saturday, May 18. NBC will televise the race.
Just Steel will enter the Preakness off a 17th-place finish in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs.
Just Steel
Color: Bay
Bred in: Kentucky
Sire: Justify
Dam: Irish Lights, by Fastnet Rock
Price tag: $500,000 at 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale
Owners: BC Stables (John Bellinger and Brian Coelho), Henry Schmueckle
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Jockey: Keith Asmussen
Record: 2-4-1 in 12 starts
Career earnings: $724,545
Last race: 17th in Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs
Running style: Stalker
Notes: Just Steel raced second, just behind pacesetter Track Phantom, for the first half of the Kentucky Derby before fading. … Lukas, 88, has won the Preakness six times, starting with Codex in 1980 and most recently with Oxbow in 2013. … Both of Just Steel’s victories came as a 2-year-old. He’s 0-3-0 in five starts as a 3-year-old, finishing second in the Smarty Jones Stakes, the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes and the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, all at Oaklawn Park.
What they’re saying: “I don’t think any the less of him off his last race,” Lukas said. “(He) went way too quick the first half-mile (in the Derby), the first quarter, actually. I think you’ve got to give him another chance and look at (the Preakness). I’m counting on getting a good race out of him.”
More horse racing: What date and time is the Preakness Stakes 2024? What to know on horses, odds, how to watch
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Preakness 2024 horse Just Steel trainer, owner, jockey and record
