Maryland horsemen will get three extra weeks to chase richer purses during the spring meet that opens Thursday at Pimlico.
Unlike the recent past, when the Preakness Stakes on the third Saturday in May marked closing day, Pimlico has expanded from 29 to 36 racing days. That stretches the meet to June 8, which coincides with the running of the last leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes. The longer meet also allows Pimlico to be open for the Memorial Day holiday.
The Maryland Racing Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to change the official time of the 1973 Preakness Stakes won by Secretariat from 1:54 2/5 to 1:53, a time that will give the two-time Horse of the Year the record in all three of the Triple Crown races.
The commission approved the change after two hours of testimony at a meeting at Laurel Park, the sister track of Pimlico Race Course, where the Preakness is held. Penny Chenery, the late horse’s owner, requested the hearing on the basis of analyses conducted by companies she had hired to review the videotapes of the race.
The Maryland Racing Commission will conduct a formal review of the official time recorded for Secretariat’s win in the 1973 Preakness Stakes at its monthly commission meeting on June 19, representatives of Secretariat said on Tuesday.
The national television rating for the race portion of the Preakness Stakes broadcast on NBC declined 7 percent compared with the same rating last year, according to the network.
The final rating for the race was a 5.2 with a 13 share, down from a 5.6 rating and 13 share last year. According to NBC, approximately 8.1 million viewers watched the race, compared with 8.8 million viewers last year.
All-sources wagering on this year’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday was up 2.5 percent compared to betting on the race last year, according to figures printed on the official charts for the two races.
Including multi-race bets that ended in the Preakness, commingled handle for this year’s race, which had an 11-horse field, was $55,935,707, compared to total commingled betting of $53,385,941 on the 2011 race, which had a full field of 14 horses.
BALTIMORE - I’ll Have Another came into the Preakness facing one of the toughest possible tactical situations in racing. His most formidable rival, Bodemeister, was the solitary front-runner in the field and would be able to control the pace as his jockey dictated. That’s usually a formula for victory whether the scenario develops in a maiden race or the second leg of the Triple Crown.
BALTIMORE - Paul Reddam, the owner of Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another, admitted to thinking if ever there was a time his 25-year-old jockey Mario Gutierrez may get a little nervous it would be just before Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
"I would think if you win the first Grade 1 of your lifetime in April and you win the Derby in May if there's any time you would have been flappable it would have been going into today's race," Reddam said.
BALTIMORE – Mike Smith dismounted from Bodemeister, and it was hard to tell if he was grinning or grimacing. Maybe it was both. Smith and Bodemeister had just been beaten on the wire in the 137th Preakness by I’ll Have Another and jockey Mario Gutierrez, and Smith seemed in awe of the drama that had just occurred.
“I really don’t know what I have to do to beat him,” said Smith. “Maybe they’ll give that horse his due now. He’s a good horse. He’s a really good horse.”
BALTIMORE – I’ll Have Another. And another. And another?
I’ll Have Another, the Kentucky Derby winner, added the 137th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico to his win streak Saturday, setting up a Triple Crown bid in three weeks in the Belmont Stakes on June 9 at Belmont Park.
As he did in the Derby two weeks ago, I’ll Have Another caught front-running Bodemeister in the final yards to prevail, but the Preakness was far closer, far more dramatic, and, for I’ll Have Another, even more impressive.
