California Chrome's sister's debut delayed
Hope’s Love, a full sister of Kentucky Derby-winning Horse of the Year California Chrome, will be scratched from her planned debut Friday at Golden Gate Fields.
Chuck DybdalMay 14, 2015
Hope’s Love, a full sister of Kentucky Derby-winning Horse of the Year California Chrome, will be scratched from her planned debut Friday at Golden Gate Fields.
As far as jockey Gary Stevens is concerned, the post-position draw for Saturday’s $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico couldn’t have gone any better if he was allowed to conduct the draw himself.
With only eight horses in the Preakness, three of whom seem overmatched, bettors shouldn’t anticipate any blowup payoffs. But that is not to say there isn’t a potential overlay. If the betting goes as expected, DORTMUND might start a tick or two higher on the board than he should.
The knock on AMERICAN PHAROAH is not the inside post. The knock is price. His odds will be low after a Kentucky Derby victory in which he lost ground for much of the trip. He also raced in the clear and avoided the trouble that compromised others. American Pharoah is quick enough to make the lead from the rail, and it is doubtful that his stablemate drawn directly to his outside will engage early. Assuming a clean break, American Pharoah can lead wire to wire. Nine of the last 18 Derby winners returned to win the Preakness.
I would love to be able to get creative in the second leg of the Triple Crown, but frankly, it’s pretty difficult to get beyond the logical contenders coming out of this year’s Kentucky Derby.
There are reasons to side against AMERICAN PHAROAH in the Preakness, but the problem is there just aren’t any satisfactory alternatives. So almost by default, I’m going with the Kentucky Derby winner to succeed at Pimlico.
Given that non-Derby starters are an anemic 3-8-8 from 133 Preakness starts since 1993, it seems unlikely this is the year to buck that strong trend as the top three finishers in Louisville, Ky., appear to have a significant edge on the rest of the field.
That race in Kentucky two Saturdays ago was one of the most logical and uneventful Kentucky Derbies you will ever see. Now the first three finishers, all of whom enjoyed perfect trips at the front of the field, are all back in an eight-horse Preakness where the other five entrants simply look overmatched. What’s a horseplayer to do?
American Pharoah, the Kentucky Derby winner, on Wednesday landed the rail and was installed as the odds-on favorite for the 140th Preakness Stakes, which will be run Saturday here at Pimlico.
A filly by Big Brown breezed a furlong in 10 seconds flat to lead the first session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale’s under-tack preview show Wednesday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Md.