By Bloodhorsre.com
PIMLICO, Md. (May 15, 2015) — As he prepares his longshot Bodhisattva for the May 16 Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes (gr. I) at Pimlico Race Course, trainer Jose Corrales makes no apologies for the unusual name that is a tongue-twister for track announcers.
“It’s hard to say, and I have a hard time saying it,” said Corrales, 55, a native of Panama. “But he is named for a Buddha in India and it means enlightened one.’ “
If Bodhisattva, the only one in the Preakness field with a race on the Pimlico dirt—a victory in the April 18 Federico Tesio Stakes—pulls off an upset over 4-5 morning-line favorite American Pharoah and six others in the 1 3/16-mile race, he would light up the tote board. He is 20-1 in the morning line and breaks from post 6 under Trevor McCarthy, who turns 21 years old on Preakness day.
A son of Student Council , Bodhisattva was bred in California by Andy Stronach. Stronach is the son of Frank Stronach, chairman of The Stronach Group, which operates Pimlico among other tracks. Corrales previously was Frank Stronach’s private trainer and still has horses in training for the prominent owner/breeder.
Andy Stronach sent Bodhisattva to Corrales to train and eventually transferred the title to the trainer, who is now listed as owner.
“I have had this horse since he was 1 1/2 years old and he has done nothing but improve,” Corrales said.
Though he is reticent to call himself a “horse whisperer,” Corrales said he has a way of getting horses to do what he wants. “I have read about the horse whisperer and I’m not saying I am a horse whisperer but I know horses listen to me,” he said.
Bodhisattva began his career with three consecutive thirds at Mid-Atlantic tracks before breaking his maiden at Laurel Park. He scored his second win in his seventh outing in optional allowance/claiming company at Laurel after finishing fifth in a troubled trip at 114-1 odds in the grade II Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Competing only in smaller stakes at Laurel, Bodhisattva was fourth twice and second once before stamping his ticket to the Preakness with a win in the Tesio. Though he had the foresight to nominate Bodhisattva to the Triple Crown series, Corrales never gave the classics much thought until everyone told him following the Tesio that he had to run in the Preakness.
As far as taking on big guns like American Pharoah and the Derby second- and third-place finishers Firing Line and Dortmund, Corrales is reluctant to say he will pull the upset.
“I never wanted to say my horse is better than your horse or my horse will win this because you never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “All I know is my horse is getting better and better.”
Corrales has won more than 2,000 races as a trainer and found himself in the winner’s circle more than a 1,000 times during a career as a jockey. He was leading rider three times at Macau Jockey Club in China, and in 1986 relocated to Washington State at the encouragement of another then up-and-coming young rider, Wesley Ward, who has also transitioned to a successful trainer.
After setting a record for number of wins at Yakima Meadows, he was Longacres’ third-leading rider in 1987 and second in 1988. He finally gave up the tack for training after winning the Longacres Derby that year with Harmony Creek.
“I thought I was coming to Washington, D.C., but ended up in Washington state,” Corrales said of the decision that catapulted his career.
After such a lengthy career as rider and trainer, Corrales said having a horse like Bodhisattva “means so much to my family. It’s what keeps me going.”
Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/91998/longshot-bodhisattva-is-a-tongue-twister#ixzz3aFqr1hks