The Preakness Stakes, to be run this coming Saturday with a post time of 6:15 PM EST, initially appeared to have a much smaller field than the Kentucky Derby’s twenty horses. Today the field may have as many as thirteen participants. Right after the undefeated Derby winner Big Brown’s convincing pull away victory, almost all of the other Derby contenders were going to bypass the Preakness Stakes and move on to greener pastures, so to speak. Then it appeared that two Derby horses would be entered in Pimlico’s Preakness Stakes after all. Harlem Rocker and Recapturetheglory were going to be entered, but Harlem Rocker’s trainer Todd Pletcher, pulled the colt in favor of the Canadian Triple Crown while Recapturetheglory came down with a fever and was scratched. Today it appears that only one of the other 19 horses entered in the Derby may challenge Big Brown. ####ego finished a disappointing 17th in the Derby after getting off to a slow start and then had to be steadied in traffic. Trainer Paulo Lobo stated that the colt never got back into the race after his early troubles. Lobo is working out ####ego in Southern California this morning and will announce his intentions later today.
Race day weather is currently forecast to be around 66 degrees with a 20% chance of showers...
Here is a look at the tentative Preakness Stakes field as it stands today from theonlinewire.com (presented alphabetically with May 12th odds):
Horse Trainer Jockey Odds
Behindatthebar T. Pletcher D R Flores 12/1
Big Brown R. Dutrow Jr. K. Desormeaux 3/10
Giant Moon R. Schosberg J F Chavez 25/1
Hey Byrn E. Plesa, Jr. C. C. Lopez 20/1
Icabad Crane H. G. Motion J. Rose 50/1
Kentucky Bear R. Bake J. Theriot 25/1
Macho Again D. Stewart Undecided 20/1
Racecar Rhapsody K. McPeek R. Albarado 50/1
Riley Tucker W. Mott E. Prado 50/1
Stevil N. Zito J. Velazquez 50/1
Tres Borrachos B. Greely T. Baze 50/1
Yankee Bravo P. Gallagher A. Solis 25/1
According to Monday’s odds, Behindthebar should give Big Brown the most difficulty. This horse won the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 19th in a come from behind performance winning by a length. Other horses thought to be possible challengers to Big Brown are Hey Byrn (Winner of the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park in April. This was a mile and three sixteenths race on dirt.), and Macho Again (won the Derby Trial, a one mile dirt race one week before the Kentucky Derby). Both of these horses are standing at 20 to 1 right now. Then there are the 25 to 1 horses that include Giant Moon (A New York horse that has experienced ups and downs this year but is in the running for New York-bred two year old champion of 2007), Kentucky Bear (Came in third in his most recent test in the Blue Grass but is thought to be in good form for this race. Kentucky Bear is the only Preakness entrant that has been at Pimlico for the last few days.) and Yankee Bravo (This horse won his first three starts and then had problems in the Louisiana Derby where he finished third. Yankee Bravo then finished fourth at the Santa Anita Derby while wearing blinkers for the first time. Trainer Paddy Gallagher said “I put them (the blinkers) on for his last race because he kind of ducked out in Louisiana.”). Is there a legitimate challenger to Big Brown in this field?
Kentucky Bear working out this week at Pimlico.
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Have you ever thought about the three tracks that host the American Triple Crown races?
Here are the track layouts:
Churchill Downs
Main Track: One Mile, oval. Turf Course: Seven-eighths Mile, oval. Distance from last turn to finish line: 1,234.5 Feet.
Pimlico
Main Track: One Mile, oval. Turf Course: Seven Furlongs. Distance from last turn to finish line: 1,152 Feet.
Belmont Park
Main Track: One and one-half Mile, oval. Widener Turf: One and 5/16 Miles, 27 Feet. Inner Turf: One and 3/16 Miles, 103 Feet. Distance from last turn to finish line: 1,097 Feet.
Churchill Downs and Pimlico are equal distance at one mile. Simple, yes? Well the Pimlico track actually has slightly longer straightaways when compared to Churchill Downs. Why is this significant? It means the two turns are narrower giving horses running on the rail a slight advantage, that’s the obvious difference. Then there's also a slightly more difficult time for some horses to maintain their pace on the tighter turns… Add this together and the horses that have to start from an outside post position could be in trouble before the race ever begins. As the field continues to grow, the outside post positions get further from the all-important rail.
The post position drawing will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) at which time we’ll know where the favorites will start this race.
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The Baltimore Sun had a piece yesterday comparing the atmosphere between the Kentucky Derby to their hometown Preakness Stakes. Apparently the Preakness is best described as the anti-Derby. For all the pomp and circumstance involved with Louisville’s Churchill Downs Derby crowd, the well-dressed high society gathering with their mint juleps, toasting the horses, Pimlico’s Preakness crowd is appropriately characterized by Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes”. I guess it’s the difference between Red Roses and Black-Eyed Susans… Preakness week is in full swing now as the horses are beginning to arrive at the track to get familiar with their new digs.
Here's a taste of Preakness Week in Baltimore
Anything Goes! On the Pimlico Infield...
The Preakness Parade:
"Precious" and her 2004 Black-Eyed Susan Float!
The 2008 Preakness Art Contest Winners!
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Taking Advantage of Big Brown…
The management with United Parcel Service, also known as UPS and more commonly as “Big Brown” has decided to make the natural connection with the Kentucky Derby winner also known by that name. Big Brown’s part owner Paul Pompa Jr. named the horse in honor of UPS, a client of his trucking business. UPS announced last Friday that they had struck a marketing agreement with Big Brown’s owners as well as with the horse’s jockey Kent Desormeaux. Look for the UPS logo during both the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.
So Why All the Competition?
If Big Brown is such a favorite, why is there suddenly so many new challengers? The Preakness purse stands at $1 million and with a purse this size the second and third place winners will pick up somewhere around $300,000 and $100,000 respectively, and that will buy a lot of hay! The Preakness field, with the exception of Big Brown, is pretty much even concerning their chances to win. If Big Brown stumbles or “bounces” then one of these other horses stands to make a big payday with other revenue generating considerations down the road as a Preakness Champion.
Over 112,000 horse race fans will be in attendance Saturday at Pimlico and a nationwide television audience will see what Big Brown can do… Many speculate that this horse is still in development and that his best may still be in front of him. The level of excitement is starting to rise!
Curlin wins by a nose over Derby winner Street Sense in the 2007 Preakness Stakes
I hope you have enjoyed this look at the upcoming Preakness Stakes.
I'm a sports fanatic living on the west coast of Florida. I'm a rare bird that moved here from the left coast a couple of years ago. I advocate an even playing field in all of life's endeavors.
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other Derby contenders were going to bypass the Preakness Stakes and move on to greener pastures, so to speak. Then it appeared that two Derby horses would be entered in Pimlico’s Preakness Stakes after all. Harlem Rocker and Recapturetheglory were going to be entered, but Harlem Rocker’s trainer Todd Pletcher, pulled the colt in favor of the Canadian Triple Crown while Recapturetheglory came down with a fever and was scratched. Today it appears that only one of the other 19 horses entered in the Derby may challenge Big Brown. 
