War of Will, the powerful-looking, high-energy War Front colt, who finished eighth but was elevated to seventh after almost falling on the far turn of the Kentucky Derby, was the lone Preakness probable on the Pimlico grounds as of Tuesday morning, but he was expected to have company by nightfall.
Thoroughbred racing remains badly hung over from the disqualification of first-place finisher Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby. Hung over, as in blurred vision, cotton mouth, throbbing head, and promises on bended knee that it will never ever happen again.
The taste of victory is what trainer Brad Cox seeks in his return to Maryland, where on Saturday at Pimlico he will saddle two starters, Owendale and Warrior's Charge, for the 144th Preakness Stakes. For as much as he has accomplished in recent years, Cox has never started a horse in a Triple Crown race.
Alwaysmining has won six straight races, including five stakes, at Laurel Park in his home state of Maryland. If he keeps his win streak going in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, he will become the ninth Maryland-bred, and the first in more than three decades, to win his state's signature race.
Owners and breeders Robert Manfuso and Katy Voss have a long and prolific background in the Maryland racing industry. They are writing one of the latest chapters in their partnership with the broodmare Tanca, a multiple stakes producer.
Following a Kentucky Derby whose unsatisfying ending continues to reverberate, the Triple Crown scene moves to Pimlico on Saturday for the 144th Preakness Stakes, which looks set to have its biggest field since 2011, with eight horses who did not run in the Derby joining four exiting the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Last year, each passing race in the Triple Crown highlighted the magnitude of the loss of the stallion Scat Daddy, as his son Justify swept through Louisville, Baltimore, and New York undefeated. There was still one more crop of runners waiting in the wings for Scat Daddy, who had died at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky in December 2015 at age 11.
Bob Baffert has implicit trust in his longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes, but the Hall of Fame trainer felt like it wouldn't hurt anything to stop by Churchill Downs on his way to another Preakness just to check in on Improbable.
Laughing Fox's appearance in the Preakness Stakes will mark the first starter in a Triple Crown race for Alex and JoAnn Lieblong.
Topped by a five-furlong breeze in 59.20 seconds by Lexington Stakes winner Owendale, three new players joining the Triple Crown trail worked Saturday at Churchill Downs in preparation for the Grade 1 Preakness at Pimlico on May 18.
