Yes, War of Will had an absolutely perfect trip in Saturday’s Preakness at Pimlico. The kind of trip one would only dare dream about.

Guess what? He deserved it. He had this one coming to him.

The stewards were taking forever – 10 minutes, 15 minutes – while the clock kept ticking and the massive crowd grew dangerously restless. This was the Kentucky Derby, for Pete’s sake, held up by a jockey’s objection and the three dithering officials trying to unpack what happened, while the horses circled, their people paced, and the media chafed at the bit.

It was tough, but for most of the muddy mile and a quarter of the 145th Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs, Mike Smith tried hard not to think about how much Omaha Beach would have enjoyed the day. The son of War Front won a maiden race by nine lengths in the slop at Santa Anita, then added the Arkansas Derby under similar conditions.

Such history was rendered moot when Smith’s morning-line Derby favorite was scratched the Wednesday before the race. Omaha Beach cleared his throat and Richard Mandella got the message, then made the call to Smith with the bad news.

The third week in May began with the fervent prayer on everyone’s lips that Saturday’s 144th running of the Preakness Stakes would transpire without the words “inquiry” or “objection” becoming part of the post-race conversation, and that the identity of the Pimlico stewards would remain anonymous outside their immediate families.

The sport remains badly hung over from the disqualification of first-place finisher Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby. Hung over, as in blurred vision, cotton mouth, throbbing head, and promises on bended knee that it will never ever happen again.

Q. Why are there 4 1/2-furlong figures for some tracks, like Laurel, but not for others, such as Keeneland and Gulfstream?

— Tony Bleill, Champaign, Ill.

Q.  What is your opinion about the DQ in the 2019 Derby? Should this lead to talk about standardized rules in racing and maybe a commissioner?

—Dwight Shellman

A. I am glad you asked this question because I feel strongly about the issue: Maximum Security should not have been disqualified.

This racing fan learned to live with the moral inequities of race disqualifications long ago. In fact, it happened on May 30, 1967, when Manny Ycaza turned left with Dr. Fager out of the gate in the Jersey Derby, went on to win by 6 1/2 lengths, and was mercilessly disqualified by the Garden State stewards. As Pike Bishop warned his young Wild Bunch compatriot, “Either you learn to live with it, or we’ll leave you here.”

Well, there is certainly a lot to unpack after that Kentucky Derby.

Let’s start with the disqualification of first place finisher Maximum Security. For the first time in the 145-year history of the Kentucky Derby, the first horse under the wire was disqualified on race day, with “race day” being the key phrase there. Let’s not forget that Dancer’s Image, who finished first in the 1968 Kentucky Derby, was many months later disqualified for the alleged and vigorously disputed finding of bute in his post-race test, and Forward Pass was eventually determined the winner of that Derby.

Well, that’s one way to make history.

Richard Mandella already had his name in the books as the only trainer to win four Breeders’ Cup races in a single day, to finish in a dead heat with two of his horses in a Grade 1 event, and to train the only female in the history of the sport to win championships in four separate campaigns.

While the 145th Kentucky Derby on Saturday has the look of an entertaining ensemble piece with no single starring role, Friday’s running of the Kentucky Oaks comes across as a one-girl revue, with Bellafina ready to hog the spotlight.