While the Triple Crown hopes of Kentucky Derby winner Orb, who represents decades of involvement in the racing industry for the Phipps and Janney families, were dashed in the Preakness Stakes, another historic name landed in the winner's circle Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
Oxbow’s 1 3/4-length win in the 138th Preakness Stakes on Saturday can be attributed to several factors, including Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ confidence and handling of his charge, and fellow Hall of Famer Gary Stevens’ masterful pace-controlling ride. Furthermore, his pedigree was one of the strongest among all classic contenders this year.
Oxbow’s upset victory in the Preakness Stakes was a triumph for a trio of established names in the racing industry—trainer D. Wayne Lukas, jockey Gary Stevens, and owner Calumet Farm—but it was also the first classic win for a fairly new entity, Richard Santulli’s Colts Neck Stables.
Multiple Grade 1 winner and freshman sire Einstein was represented by his first winner on Saturday when E Equalsmcsquared won a maiden claiming race at Lone Star Park.
Grade 3 winner Winslow Homer has been retired with a suspensory injury, owner Rick Porter of Fox Hill Farm announced Saturday.
Champion sprinter Benny the Bull was represented by his first winner May 11, when Joe Pike won his career debut at Camarero Race Track in Puerto Rico.
Regardless of the Preakness outcome, Claiborne Farm, in partnership with some of its most prominent and loyal clients, already has put its stamp on this Triple Crown season, marking yet another successful chapter in the operation’s storied history.
Pedigree profiles, sale histories, and other background information on all nine entrants for Saturday's Preakness Stakes, headed by Kentucky Derby winner Orb.
Orb’s sire, Malibu Moon, began his stallion career at the Ponses’ Country Life Farm in Bel Air, Md., where he found immediate success.
While the Kentucky Derby was the longest distance test for many of the horses coming back for the Preakness Stakes, the mile and three-sixteenths at Pimlico will be the second-longest challenge they have faced up to this point.
