Free: Santa Anita horses to watch for week of May 23
Brad Free's horses to watch at Santa Anita for the week of May 23.
Brad FreeMay 23, 2016
Brad Free's horses to watch at Santa Anita for the week of May 23.
The $500,000-guaranteed pick four on the Preakness undercard Saturday at Pimlico offers a little bit of everything, from superstars to blue-collar allowance runners. Take everything I’ve written with a grain of salt simply because the weather forecast calls for legitimate rain in the Baltimore area, and it would seem as though the turf events could be in danger of coming off the grass.
The 141st running of the Preakness Stakes features the one-two (and ninth-place) finishers from the Kentucky Derby, but from a pace standpoint they are not at all similar. The Derby featured one clear one-dimensional speed in Danzing Candy, with a couple of stalkers and a dozen or so closers. The Preakness, of course, is loaded with speed, and that makes taking a short price on Nyquist dicey regardless of his credentials.
The following is a list of DRF resources and content related to the Preakness card at Pimlico on Saturday, May 21.
With rain in the forecast for Saturday at Pimlico, there stands a pretty good chance that the main track will end up something south of “fast” for the Preakness, adding yet another wrinkle when trying to handicap the middle leg of the Triple Crown.
BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, May 21st, 2016 by Bob Fierro and Jay Kilgore
There obviously are many times to overlook flaws in longshots who are attempting to beat questionable favorites. Such occasions will occur in races Friday and Saturday at Pimlico as well elsewhere around the country. But it’s hard to make a case for such a strategy in the Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness Stakes on Friday and Saturday.
Andy Beyer and Steve Crist preview the Preakness in a DRF webinar.
Among the challenges of the Triple Crown are the changing dynamics of each race. The tracks are all different, as are the distances, and so, too, the composition of the fields.
First, a brief retirement ceremony for the term “new shooters,” Preakness starters that didn't race in the Kentucky Derby. “New shooters” has been around decades. It had a good run. Everyone is sick of it. “Horse that didn't run in the Derby” takes a little longer to type and say, but let's go with it.