Preakness 2021: Medina Spirit draws post 3 in field of 10
BALTIMORE – Ten 3-year-olds led by Medina Spirit, the controversial first-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, have passed the entry box for the $1 million Preakness Stakes, to be run for the 146th time Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
Medina Spirit was assigned post 3 for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, while his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Concert Tour got post 10. Medina Spirit, with John Velazquez back to ride, is the 9-5 favorite on the Pimlico morning line issued by Keith Feustle, while Concert Tour (Mike Smith) is the 5-2 second choice.
Preakness post time is 6:47 p.m. Eastern, with NBC providing extensive coverage. It’s the 13th of 14 races on a Saturday card that starts at 10:30 a.m.
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About two hours prior to entries being drawn late Tuesday afternoon in the Pimlico Sports Palace, it was announced that both Baffert colts had been given the go-ahead by track management to enter. In the preceding 48 hours, following Baffert’s bombshell revelation Sunday that Medina Spirit had tested positive for a banned raceday medication out of the May 1 Derby at Churchill Downs, Pimlico had balked at allowing Baffert to race his horses here this weekend when considering whether to follow Churchill’s lead in refusing entries from the Hall of Fame trainer.
Baffert has returned home to California and will not be here at any time this week, citing an unwillingness to be a “distraction” amid the raging controversy. In his stead, his longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes, was here to send the stable’s four intended stakes runners through their training paces Tuesday morning. Medina Spirit, accompanied by Barnes alongside on a pony, merely jogged an easy mile in his first tour of the track.
“It’s just Tuesday, so I gave all our horses a light jog today,” Barnes said.
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Medina Spirit is joined by just two other Derby runners in the Preakness – Midnight Bourbon (sixth) and Keepmeinmind (seventh). The connections of the respective 2-3-4-5 Derby finishers – Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie, Essential Quality, and O Besos -- all opted to pass on the Preakness.
Midnight Bourbon (post 5), with Irad Ortiz Jr. riding for the first time, is the 5-1 third program choice, while Keepmeinmind (post 2, David Cohen) is one of the longer shots at 15-1.
Chad Brown, the four-time champion trainer whose lone prior victory in a Triple Crown event came with Cloud Computing in the 2017 Preakness, is represented by a pair of contenders in Crowded Trade (post 4, Javier Castellano) at 10-1 and Risk Taking (post 9, Jose Ortiz) at 15-1.
Completing the Preakness lineup are France Go de Ina, a rare entry from Japanese connections; Rombauer, a late-running colt who earned an expenses-paid berth with a Feb. 13 victory in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate, which, like Pimlico, is owned by 1/ST, the company formerly known as The Stronach Group; Unbridled Honor, whose trainer, Todd Pletcher, has won virtually every major American race but never the Preakness from nine prior starters; and Ram, whose 85-year-old trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, won six runnings of the Preakness between 1980 and 2013.
Baffert appeared to have broken out of a tie with Ben A. Jones for most Derby wins by a trainer when Medina Spirit led all the way at Churchill, but obviously that solo record of seven wins is now in jeopardy in light of the post-race finding. Baffert currently shares the Preakness record of seven wins with R. Wyndham Walden, whose wins spanned 1875-88.
The only prior Derby winner disqualified for a medication violation, Dancer’s Image (1968), finished third in the Preakness but was disqualified to eighth for an ontrack infraction. Medina Spirit has not officially been disqualified from his Derby win, pending split-sample results of his post-race test.
146th Preakness Stakes
Purse: $1 million
Distance: 1 3/16 miles
Post time: 6:47 p.m. Eastern
(Post, Horse, Jockey, Morning Line)
1. Ram, Ricardo Santana Jr., 30-1
2. Keepmeinmind, David Cohen, 15-1
3. Medina Spirit, John Velazquez, 9-5
4. Crowded Trade, Javier Castellano, 10-1
5. Midnight Bourbon, Irad Ortiz Jr., 5-1
6. Rombauer, Flavien Prat, 12-1
7. France Go de Ina, Joel Rosario, 20-1
8. Unbridled Honor, Luis Saez, 15-1
9. Risk Taking, Jose Ortiz, 15-1
10. Concert Tour, Mike Smith, 5-2