Improbable gets Smith aboard for possible Preakness run

BALTIMORE (AP) — Improbable will have Triple Crown-winning jockey Mike Smith aboard if the colt runs in the Preakness on May 18.

Trainer Bob Baffert said Wednesday that he was making the switch from Irad Ortiz Jr. because “Mike and I have a little luck together.”

Baffert and Smith teamed with Justify to win the Triple Crown last year.

Ortiz rode Improbable to a fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby and the colt was moved up to fourth following Maximum Security’s disqualification.

Baffert said Improbable will train Monday at Churchill Downs, and then he will make a final decision on the colt’s status for the Preakness, a race the trainer has won seven times. If Improbable joins the field for the middle leg of the Triple Crown, he would arrive in Baltimore three days ahead of the race.

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