Notes from the Racing Underground The Preakness

                Notes from the Racing Underground




The Preakness is held on the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. As a racing fan who grew up in San Diego I know very little about Baltimore except what I learned watching " The Wire" on TV.

The Preakness Stakes is a Grade 1 race at the distance of one and three sixteenths of a mile.  Or nine and half furlongs. It's called The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans...... I had to look this fact up because a blanket of Black-eyed Susans ( Rudbeckia hirta), the state flower of Maryland is tradtionally placed around the winner's neck.

The first Preakness was held on May 27,1873. I remember when Smarty Jones in 2004 won by the largest margin in Preakness History. I did pick this horse to win.

The Preakness is the second leg in the Triple Crown series. It is followed by the last leg "The Belmont Stakes", which is the difficult tricky distance of one and half miles.

Magna a company that I work for in Oregon up the stakes and announced a special bonus pot. The Preakness 5.5 is designed to give both west and east coast tracks owned by Magna to have races at Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields to qualify for the Preakness.

Dailed In who both won the Holy Bull and the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park makes him eligible for the $5.5 if he wins the Preakness.

As of Monday May 9th the field of the Preakness (subject to change) is the Derby winner Animal Kingdom, Dailed In, Mucho Macho Man, Shackleford and maybe Nehro. The status of Midnight Interlude and The Factor is unknown according to Blood-Horse Magazine. The new faces in the Preakness are Concealed Identiy,  Dance City, Flashpoint, King Congie, Mr. Commons, Norman Asbjornson, Prime Cut, Saratoga Red and Sway Away. I expect the horse that Bob Baffert trains Awesome Patriot who smoked the field in Hollywood Park's Alydar Stakes will enter the Belmont Stakes.


Preakness probables




Horse Trainer Last start

Animal Kingdom Graham Motion 1st - Kentucky Derby

Astrology Steve Asmussen 2nd - Jerome

Concealed Identity Dean Gaudet 1st - Tesio

Dance City Todd Pletcher 3rd - Arkansas Derby

Dialed In Nick Zito 8th - Kentucky Derby

Flashpoint Wesley Ward 4th - Florida Derby

King Congie Tom Albertrani 3rd - Blue Grass

Mr. Commons John Shirreffs 3rd - Santa Anita Derby

Mucho Macho Man Kathy Ritvo 3rd - Kentucky Derby

Norman Asbjornson Chris Grove 4th - Wood Memorial

Prime Cut Neil Howard 2nd - Lexington

Santiva Eddie Kenneally 6th - Kentucky Derby

Shackleford Dale Romans 4th - Kentucky Derby

Sway Away Jeff Bonde 4th - Arkansas Derby