Preakness Stakes favorite Improbable is led back to the barn Friday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.BALTIMORE – Hall of Fame trainers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas sat side by side in the corner of the stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course, sizing up the field for the second leg of this year’s Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
“A lot of speed in there,” Baffert said.
Lukas responded without missing a beat: “My horse is fast.”
“There’s some nice horses in here,” Baffert answered. “Pretty evenly matched.”
The banter summed up Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.
For the first time since 1996, the Preakness doesn’t have the Kentucky Derby winner and therefore no Triple Crown possibility, but it is one of the most unpredictable Preakness fields in recent history. Baffert-trained Improbable opened as the favorite – because, Baffert said, some horse had to be favored – and without any of the first four horses to cross the finish line at the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness feels like almost anyone’s $1.5 million race to win.
“It’s wide open – there’s four or five horses that can win it,” Improbable co-owner Elliott Walden said Friday. “It’s kind of like the NCAA tournament. Just because Duke got beat, the No. 1 seed, didn’t mean they didn’t have a Final Four and it wasn’t as impactful at the Final Four.”
Unlike when Baffert brought Justify to Pimlico a year ago looking like a Triple Crown-caliber runner, this isn’t a one-horse race. Improbable and War of Will are among the legitimate contenders to become just the 19th horse and first since Afleet Alex in 2005 to fall short in the Kentucky Derby but win the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, which is set for June 8 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
Then there’s Alwaysmining, who’s looking to be the first Maryland-bred horse to win the Preakness since 1979 and make Kelly Rubley the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race. There are also a couple of other horses who ran in the Kentucky Derby to keep an eye on – Win Win Win and Bodexpress. Finally, intriguing newcomer Warrior’s Charge, who cost owners $150,000 just to enter him, merits watching.
“The owners were pretty confident that (Warrior’s Charge) could run with these horses,” said trainer Brad Cox, who’s saddling his first two Triple Crown runners in Warrior’s Charge and Owendale. “It’s a big ask for him, but we think if you can get the right setup, he could be in the mix.”
Around the stakes barn at the historic but aging track, almost every trainer believes his or her horse is in the mix. The chance to grab an almost million-dollar first-place prize even drew Dale Romans to enter long shot Everfast hours before the post position draw Wednesday, and it lured Lukas back with Market King.
Trainer Mark Hennig said not having Maximum Security, who crossed the finish line first in the Kentucky Derby, or Country House, who was declared the winner after Maximum Security was disqualified, helped him make the decision to enter Bourbon War. He’s certainly not alone.
“Here’s the rule: If there’s one horse, always run. If there’s two, look at it critically. If there’s three, maybe,” Lukas said. “I’m talking about really superstar horses. Things happen to one or two horses in these races. We saw that two Saturdays ago.”
The surreal situation May 4 at Churchill Downs spurred owners to pull Maximum Security off the Triple Crown trail and sue race stewards. Country House developed a cough days afterward and was taken out of consideration, and Tacitus and Code of Honor not running means the first four horses to cross the finish line at the Kentucky Derby aren’t in the Preakness.
Improbable was placed fourth after the disqualification and, with Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith aboard, on paper is the best in the 13-horse field.
“He’s only stubbed his toe once in the Derby when it was a really bad race track and he was off the board,” said Walden, who also co-owns Justify. “That’s a tough race to win anyway. We’re looking for him to bounce back in a big way.”
Trainer Mark Casse is also counting on War of Will to bounce back after being interfered with in the Kentucky Derby. Thankful his horse is OK after what could have been a disaster at Churchill Downs, Casse isn’t so sure all the buzz around horse racing from the DQ is all that bad when it comes to drawing interest for this event.
“I’ve ran into people that know nothing about horse racing, that’s all they can talk about,” said Casse, who’s looking for his first Triple Crown victory. “We have our horse, and we have horse racing and we have a big audience now that’s paying attention, so let’s take advantage of it. I may be wrong, but I think a lot of people will be watching the Preakness that normally don’t watch the Preakness.”
Lukas conceded no Kentucky Derby winner makes the Preakness a little “vanilla,” but he still believes it will be a great race. Ken McPeek, who trains Signalman, said there are 1.5 million reasons to enter a big race like this, and he knows well after winning the 2002 Belmont Stakes with 70-1 shot Sarava.
Blaine Wright has Anothertwistafate as the third betting choice and doesn’t quite agree with other trainers that there isn’t a superstar horse in the race.
“They could all be super horses,” Wright said. “I mean, we’re hoping ours is. You never know.”
Horse dies in stakes race
A filly collapsed and died while running at Pimlico on Friday.
Congrats Gal faltered in the upper stretch of the Miss Preakness Stakes in 83-degree heat and was eased to the finish line.
The Florida-bred 3-year-old was running her sixth career race. She came in last in the eighth race on the card and fell to the dirt about 100 yards past the finish line.
Clearly distraught, Congrats Gal jockey Trevor McCarthy said the filly felt hot walking on the track before the race. As a medical team rushed to the scene, McCarthy said, “She’s clearly sound. Nothing’s broken or anything like that.”
After being treated on the scene, Congrats Gal was taken from the track by ambulance.
The Stronach Group, which owns Pimlico, and the Maryland Jockey Club confirmed the death in a released statement: “Commission veterinarians attended to the horse immediately. A full necropsy will be performed to try to determine the cause of death.”
Owned by Charles Biggs, Congrats Gal was sired by A.P. Indy. She had a 3-1-1 record going into the race with winnings of $134,740.
The death marred one of the two biggest days of the year at Pimlico, where a sizable crowd gathered for Friday evening’s Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. It’s been a difficult year for horse racing – and 149-year-old Pimlico, which has deteriorated to the point that the Stronach Group has advocated moving the Preakness to nearby Laurel Park.
In addition, the safety of the horses has come into focus. There were 23 horse deaths at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, in a three-month span this year.