Preakness meet gets under way at Pimlico
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The 15-day Preakness meet at Pimlico Race Course begins Thursday with an eight-race program starting at 12:25 p.m. Eastern.
The meet runs Thursdays through Sundays through June 4, except for Thursday, June 1. There will be a special Memorial Day program on Monday, May 29.
The highlight is the Grade 1, $1,500,000 Preakness Stakes on May 20.
The middle jewel of the Triple Crown, the 148th Preakness is expected to feature Kentucky Derby winner Mage. Derby runner-up Two Phil’s, fourth-place finisher Disarm, and 10th-place Confidence Game are also possible.
Among the non-Derby starters being considered for the Preakness are First Mission, National Treasure, Blazing Sevens, Red Route One, and Chase the Chaos. Derby morning-line favorite Forte, who was scratched the day of the race with a foot bruise, also is possible, pending an upcoming workout.
The Preakness headlines a packed card featuring nine stakes races, including the Grade 3, $200,000 Chick Lang for 3-year-olds at six furlongs; the Grade 3, $200,000 Dinner Party for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on turf; the Grade 3, $100,000 Gallorette for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf; and the Grade 3, $100,000 Maryland Sprint for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs. A Grade 1, $100,000 event for Arabians, the UAE President Cup, also is scheduled.
There are six stakes scheduled for Friday, May 19, including the Grade 2, $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles, the Grade 3, $250,000 Pimlico Special for 3-year-olds and up at 1 3/16 miles, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Miss Preakness for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs.
Apprentice rider Axel Concepcion, 18, captured the recently concluded Laurel spring jockey title by one win over veteran mainstay Jevian Toledo and Jeiron Barbosa.
Toledo, Maryland’s four-time leading rider including 2021 and 2022, led all Laurel Park riders at the spring meet with $632,615 in earnings. Barbosa won three riding titles last year in Maryland and was a finalist for the Eclipse Award as champion apprentice.
Prominent local jockeys to watch include Jaime Rodriguez, apprentice Luis Rivera Jr., Horacio Karamanos, Sheldon Russell, Angel Cruz, William Humphrey, Victor Carrasco, Johan Rosado, Angel Cruz, and Carlos Lopez.
Kieron Magee won the Laurel trainer title by two races over Hugh McMahon. Jamie Ness, Brittany Russell, and Anthony Farrior completed the top five. The trainers who followed include Damon Dilodovico, Hamilton Smith, Rudy Sanchez-Salomon, John Robb, Michael Trombetta, Claudio Gonzalez, and Phil Capuano.
Magee, who runs a 25-horse operation, led all Maryland trainers in wins from 2014-2016. He has captured 10 meet titles at Laurel and Pimlico. Brittany Russell topped the spring meet earnings list with $379,130.
The opening-day feature is a Maryland-sired allowance race for 3-year-olds and up at five furlongs on turf. Kobe Tough returns from an October layoff as a leading contender after earning an 87 Beyer Speed Figure in an open second-level allowance at the Belmont at Aqueduct meeting.
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