Preakness: Baffert thinks post 9 is just fine for Authentic

BALTIMORE – Authentic was assigned post 9 as the 9-5 morning-line favorite in a field of 11 3-year-olds entered Monday for the 145th Preakness Stakes, to be run Saturday at historic Pimlico Race Course as the final leg of the 2020 Triple Crown.

Authentic won the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in his prior start, but unlike in a normal year, he is not eligible to sweep the Triple Crown. Tiz the Law, absent from the Preakness lineup after finishing second in the Derby, won the June 20 Belmont Stakes amid a reshuffled race schedule owing to the coronavirus pandemic. No spectators will be on hand Saturday, with only essential personnel and participants being among those admitted entrance.

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Authentic, a winner in 5 of 6 starts, all for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, will have John Velazquez back aboard in the $1 million Preakness, which is scheduled for 5:36 p.m. Eastern with NBC providing live television coverage. His most highly regarded opponent, Art Collector, was assigned post 3 as the 5-2 second choice with Brian Hernandez Jr. riding.

Swiss Skydiver, the first filly to contest the Preakness in six years, was assigned post 4 with Robby Albarado riding, while Thousands Words, a second Baffert starter, will break from post 5 with Florent Geroux up. They’re the co-third choices on the morning line.

Monday morning produced a mild surprise when trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said he would run Ny Traffic, eighth in the Derby. The gray colt had his first breeze since the Derby when going a half-mile in 48 seconds Sunday at Churchill. Horacio Karamanos, one of a handful of local jockeys who’ll be riding the Preakness, picks up the mount.

Ny Traffic becomes the fourth Derby starter to run back in the Preakness, following Authentic, Mr. Big News (third), and Max Player (fifth).

In post-position order and with jockeys, this is the full lineup for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness:

Excession, Sheldon Russell; Mr. Big News, Gabriel Saez; Art Collector, Hernandez; Swiss Skydiver, Albarado; Thousand Words, Geroux; Jesus’ Team, Jevian Toledo; Ny Traffic, Karamanos; Max Player, Paco Lopez; Authentic, Velazquez; Pneumatic, Joe Bravo; and Liveyourbeastlife, Trevor McCarthy.

Country Grammer was declared from consideration Monday morning by trainer Chad Brown.

Authentic was foremost among the eight Preakness runners scheduled to arrive here early Tuesday evening via Baltimore-Washington International Airport following an equine charter flight from Louisville. Owned by a four-way partnership led by the Spendthrift Farm of B. Wayne Hughes, the Into Mischief colt had his final pre-race workout Monday at Churchill when going a half-mile in 47.60.

As for Authentic getting post 9, Baffert said: “I didn’t want the one-hole, and I didn’t want the 11. Thing is, he’s got to get away from there. That’s fine. He’s a good gate horse.”

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Baffert also said he expects better behavior Saturday from Thousand Words, whose antics in the Churchill paddock led to him being scratched from the Derby.

“You’ve just got to keep walking with him” as the colt is being saddled, Baffert said. “He’s been tough before. You’ve just got to handle him. Don’t stop.”

Baffert, whose last two Preakness winners were eventual Triple Crown winners American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018), enters this renewal tied for most wins (seven) in race history with Robert Wyndham Walden, whose last Preakness win came in 1888.

This is the second straight Preakness in which there is no possibility of a Triple Crown. The 2019 Derby winner, Country House, did not run back in two weeks on the traditional date, the third Saturday in May. Country House never raced again and has been retired to stud.

The Preakness will be run as the 11th of 12 races Saturday, with first post set for 11 a.m. Eastern. The entire card consists of stakes, including such longstanding fixtures as the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and De Francis Dash. A Grade 1 race for Arabians, the President of the United Arab Emirates Cup, goes as race 12 and is being excluded from most multi-race wagers.

The weather forecast for Saturday calls for sunshine and a high of 66.

The Friday highlight is the Grade 3 Pimlico Special, which kicks off the two-day Special-Preakness double.