The filly Ria Antonia will take on the colts in a bid to become the sixth member of her sex to win the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on Saturday.
Calvin Borel has been booked to ride Ria Antonia, trained by Tom Amoss for Christopher Dunn and Loooch Racing Stable.
Ria Antonia was promoted to first in last year’s G1 Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies after the disqualification of She’s A Tiger. At her latest start she finished sixth in the G1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.
"She had blinkers on in the Oaks and we are going to change equipment," said Amoss, who took over the training of the filly after the Oaks.
"She stood in the gate with blinkers off, which is required for an equipment change.
"Everything has been extremely positive with her and we are excited about it.
"All of her preparation with me has been very good."
If Ria Antonia wins the Preakness she would join Rachel Alexandra (2009), Nellie Morse (1924), Rhine Maiden (1915), Whimsical (1906) and Flocarline (1903) as the sixth winning filly.
Ria Antonia’s inclusion takes the likely field for the Preakness to 10, dominated by the Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome.
Bayern and Social Inclusion, a pair of G1-placed colts, areamong the new rivals for the Derby winner in the Preakness.
Social Inclusion, third in the G1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct after winning his first two starts in Florida, breezed the fastest four furlongs in 47 seconds at Pimlico on Monday.
He will be trainer Manuel Azpurua’s first Triple Crown runner.
His jockey Luis Contreras has ridden Social Inclusion in all three of his career races and ws aboard in Monday’s work.
"He did it easy and so strong," Contreras said. "He's such a good horse. When you watch him, he looks like he's running on air."
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will be looking for his sixth Preakness victory with Bayern, who finished first in the G3 Derby Trial Stakes at Churchill Downs but was demoted to second for causing interference in the stretch.
Before the Derby Trial, Bayern finished third in the G1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park after winning his first two career starts at Santa Anita.
He will be ridden by Rosie Napravnik.
"California Chrome is very impressive but Bayern definitely will be a challenge for him,” Napravnik said.
Illinois Derby winner Dynamic Impact, trained by Mark Casse, is another new addition to the second leg of the Triple Crown.
California Chrome was scheduled to leave Churchill Downs for Pimlico on Monday. He was to be floated to Lexington and then board a short flight to Baltimore in Maryland.
Derby runner Ride On Curlin was also scheduled to follow the same travel plans to Pimlico on Monday.
