LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown could be missing 150th Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and other co-stars, quashing hopes for a rematch after the thrilling three-wide photo finish in the milestone race.
Trainer Kenny McPeek and the horse's ownership wouldn't commit to whether the colt would race in the Preakness on May 18 in Baltimore, which requires a two-week turnaround. Mystik Dan will travel to Saratoga, New York, before they decide whether to enter him in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown could be missing 150th Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and other co-stars, quashing hopes for a rematch after the thrilling three-wide photo finish in the milestone race.
Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, right, to the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
CORRECTS TO REMOVE REFERENCE TO FINISH LINE TO WIN - Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, right, as horses near the first turn during the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. Mystic Dan went on to win the race. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan across the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Trainer Kenneth McPeek, right, hand off the trophy to jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. as Hernandez celebrates in the winner's circle after riding Mystik Dan to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, top right, to the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
“We’re not committed to the Preakness, not yet,” McPeek said Sunday morning outside his barn at Churchill Downs. "I ran him back once in two weeks and it completely backfired on me. ... So, we’ll just watch him over the next week. It’ll be one of those (situations) where we’ll probably take it up to the last minute.
“We’ll let him tell us.”
Trainer Bob Baffert has told Pimlico officials that he is sending Muth and Imagination to Baltimore for the Preakness.
Muth won the Arkansas Derby on March 30, when Mystik Dan finished third. Imagination was second behind Stronghold in the Santa Anita Derby on April 6.
Baffert has won the Preakness eight times, including last year with National Treasure.
Saratoga in upstate New York will host the Triple Crown's final race for the next two years while Belmont Park is being reconstructed. The Belmont also has been shortened to 1 1/4 miles, matching the Derby distance that Mystik Dan won by a nose over Sierra Leone and Japan-bred Forever Young in the closest three-way finish since 1947.
The five-week gap follows a more normal race schedule for many horses and some trainers might opt to head to Saratoga to acclimate horses sooner.
Chad Brown said Sierra Leone will skip the Preakness and leave on Monday to train at Saratoga and run in the Belmont.
“He’s a real laidback horse, but when we brought him out, was a little more tired than he normally is after his races,” Brown said. “I think giving him the five weeks to the Belmont is definitely the right thing to do.”
Trainer Brad Cox is watching Catching Freedom (fourth) and Just A Touch (20th) before deciding their next steps. Forever Young and fellow Japan-bred T O Password (fifth) are headed home on Tuesday.
That could leave the Preakness without some Derby star power at first glance, though it won't lack for plotlines, with a number of well-rested horses expected to compete at Pimlico.
As McPeek and the owners ponder a decision, he and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. basked in a wash of congratulations for a Derby victory that put them in exclusive company.
Saturday's win helped both claim rare weekend sweeps of the Derby and Kentucky Oaks for fillies. McPeek is just the third trainer to do that and the first since Ben Jones (who did it twice) in 1952, while Hernandez is the eighth rider to achieve the feat and first since fellow Louisiana native and Hall of Famer Calvin Borel in 2009.
Meanwhile, Mystik Dan stood calm and unfazed as a cluster of onlookers took photos and selfies while workers bathed him outside the barn. He was draped with the winner's blanket signifying his Derby win before being led back to his stall with a WWE-style title belt laying on an outer wall. Oaks-winning filly Thorpedo Anna also made a brief appearance and soaked in the attention.
Hernandez is preparing for his own life-changing spotlight and title after claiming the sport's marquee race. He dined with his family after the Derby but didn't sleep much, a routine that figures to go on for the next few days amid a flood of interview requests. At some point he hopes to get his mind around all that has happened, but he already has a response ready.
“When somebody asks what my profession is, I’m able to tell them I’m a professional jockey. And then the first question they normally ask is, ‘Have you ever won the Kentucky Derby?’ I can say that now.”
This story has been corrected to show that Saratoga will host the Belmont Stakes for the next two, not three, years.
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
Trainer Kenneth McPeek celebrates with his family after riding Mystik, with jockey Dan Brian Hernandez Jr. won the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, right, to the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
CORRECTS TO REMOVE REFERENCE TO FINISH LINE TO WIN - Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, right, as horses near the first turn during the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. Mystic Dan went on to win the race. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan across the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Trainer Kenneth McPeek, right, hand off the trophy to jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. as Hernandez celebrates in the winner's circle after riding Mystik Dan to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, top right, to the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A tornado touched down and crossed an interstate in Texas, causing damage and possible injuries as scattered severe storms moved through Texas and Oklahoma Saturday night.
Forecasters issued tornado and severe thunder storm warnings for parts of both states, as some heat records were broken during the day in South Texas and residents received triple-digit temperature warnings over the long holiday weekend.
A tornado crossed into northern Denton County in Texas late Saturday and overturned tractor-trailer trucks, stopping traffic on Interstate 35, Denton County Community Relations Director Dawn Cobb said in a statement.
The tornado was confirmed near Valley View, moving east at 40 mph (64 kph), prompting the National Weather Service to issue a tornado warning for northern Denton County, Cobb said.
The storm damaged homes, overturned motorhomes and knocked down power lines and trees throughout the area including points in Sanger, Pilot Point, Ray Roberts Lake and Isle du Bois State Park, Cobb said.
People who suffered injuries in the storm were transported to area hospitals by ground and air ambulances, but the number of injuries in the county was not immediately known, Cobb said, while a shelter was opened in Sanger.
There also were people believed to be trapped inside a Shell truck stop damaged by the storm in neighboring Cooke County, Cobb said.
The fire department in the city of Denton, about 37 miles (59.5 kilometers) north of Forth Worth, Texas, posted on X that emergency personnel were responding to a marina “for multiple victims, some reported trapped.”
The Claremore, Oklahoma, police announced on social media that the city about 28 miles (45 kilometers) east of Tulsa was “shut down” as a result of storm damage including downed power lines and trees and inaccessible roads.
Earlier Saturday night, the National Weather Service's office in Norman, Oklahoma, said via the social platform X that the warning was for northern Noble and far southern Kay counties, an area located to the north of Oklahoma City. “If you are in the path of this storm take cover now!” it said.
A following post at 10:05 p.m. said storms had exited the area but warned of a storm moving across north Texas that could affect portions of south central Oklahoma.
At 10:24 p.m., the weather service office in Fort Worth posted a message warning residents in Era and Valley View they were in the direct path of a possible tornado and to immediately seek shelter. The Forth Worth office continued to post notices and shelter warnings tracking the movement of the storm through midnight and separately issued a severe thunderstorm warning with “golf ball sized hail” possible.
The weather service office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, warned on X of a dangerous storm moving across the northeast part of the state through 2 a.m. and issued severe thunderstorm notices for communities including Hugo, Boswell, Fort Towson, Grainola, Foraker and Herd.
The Norman office had compared conditions Saturday to “ a gasoline-soaked brush pile.” Forecasters said any storms that form could explode with large hail, dangerous winds and tornadoes.
“There’s a small chance most of the matches are duds and we only see a few storms today. Still, that’s not a match I would want to play with. It only takes one storm to be impactful,” it said via Facebook.
Excessive heat, especially for May, was the danger in South Texas, where the heat index was forecast to approach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) in some spots during the weekend. Actual temperatures will be lower, although still in triple-digit territory, but the humidity will make it feel that much hotter.
The region is on the north end of a heat dome stretching from Mexico to South America, National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor said.
Sunday looks like the hottest day with record highs for late May forecast for Austin, Brownsville, Dallas and San Antonio, Taylor said.
Brownsville and Harlingen near the Texas-Mexico border already set new records Saturday for the May 25 calendar date — 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) and 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), respectively — according to the weather service.
Red Flag fire warnings were also in place in West Texas, all of New Mexico and parts of Oklahoma, Arizona and Colorado. Humidity was very low, under 10%, and wind gusts of up to 60 mph (97 kph) were recorded.
“We’ve got very dry air, warm temperatures and strong winds creating a high fire danger over a wide area ... that can lead to rapidly spreading or uncontrollable fires,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, several inches of snow fell Friday into early Saturday in Rolla, North Dakota, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Canadian border.
April and May have been a busy month for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest. Climate change is heightening the severity of storms around the world.
April saw the United States' second-highest number of tornadoes on record. So far for 2024, the country is already 25% ahead of the average number of twisters, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman.
Iowa was hit hard this week, when a deadly twister devastated Greenfield. And other storms brought flooding and wind damage elsewhere in the state.
The storm system causing the severe weather was expected to move east as the Memorial Day weekend continues, bringing rain that could delay the Indianapolis 500 auto race Sunday in Indiana and more severe storms in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
The risk of severe weather moves into North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, forecasters said.
This Thursday, May 23, 2024 satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destruction in Greenfield, Iowa after a Tuesday, May 21 tornado. (Maxar Technologies via AP) Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies
This Thursday, May 23, 2024 satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destruction in Greenfield, Iowa after a Tuesday, May 21 tornado. (Maxar Technologies via AP) Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies
This combination of Oct. 22, 2022 and May 23, 2024 satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows destruction in Greenfield, Iowa after a Tuesday, May 21 tornado. (Maxar Technologies via AP) Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies
This Thursday, May 23, 2024 satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destruction in Greenfield, Iowa after a Tuesday, May 21 tornado. (Maxar Technologies via AP) Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies
A person crosses Caroline Street in the afternoon heat Saturday, May 25, 2024, near Discovery Green in Downtown Houston. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
High winds associated with the morning severe weather overturned this semi-trailer on Interstate 280 west of Davenport, Iowa on Friday, May 24, 2024. Several tornadoes were reported in Iowa and Illinois as storms downed power lines and trees on Friday, just after a deadly twister devastated one small town.(Roy Dabner/Quad City Times via AP)
Severe storm clouds move across the northwest edge of Davenport, Iowa on Friday, May 24, 2024. Several tornadoes were reported in Iowa and Illinois as storms downed power lines and trees on Friday, just after a deadly twister devastated one small town.(Roy Dabner/Quad City Times via AP)
Severe storm clouds move along Interstate 80 at the northwest edge of Davenport, Iowa on Friday, May 24, 2024. Several tornadoes were reported in Iowa and Illinois as storms downed power lines and trees on Friday, just after a deadly twister devastated one small town.(Roy Dabner/Quad City Times via AP)
Margaret Cantu waits in the heat for food and water from volunteers Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. "I'm trying to forget the storm, it really scares me," she said. Cantu, 68, lives with her 70-year-old husband. She said they don't have power. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A spctator cools herself with a small electric fan as temperatures climb into the high 90s Fahrenheit while she and friends watch the Team USA cricket match against Bangladesh, part of a three-game T20I series at the Prairie View Cricket Complex, Saturday, May 25, 2024, in Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Sheaka Morshed wears sunblock on his face as temperatures climb into the high 90s Fahrenheit while watching the Team USA cricket match against Bangladesh, part of a three-game T20I series at the Prairie View Cricket Complex, Saturday, May 25, 2024, in Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A person crosses Caroline Street in the afternoon heat Saturday, May 25, 2024, near Discovery Green in Downtown Houston. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
