Edgar Prado first made a name for himself in Maryland more than two decades ago. The Hall of Fame rider recently moved his tack back to the circuit full time, and is looking to build on that success here through Preakness weekend.
The decade-long relationship between owner Fred Brei and trainer Stanley Gold ended in early April, with Brei moving about 30 horses to trainer Mark Casse. Among the horses Brei moved to Casse is Fellowship, who after not being able to get into the Kentucky Derby is one of 10 challengers facing the undefeated Derby winner Nyquist in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
On Saturday, rain or shine, Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist will try to do what only one horse in history has done before. And what a horse that was.
Among the challenges of the Triple Crown are the changing dynamics of each race. The tracks are all different, as are the distances, and so, too, the composition of the fields.
There are many parallels that can be drawn between 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew and Nyquist, who will try to keep his perfect record and his Triple Crown hopes alive when he starts as the heavy favorite on Saturday in the 141st Preakness Stakes here at Pimlico.
First, a brief retirement ceremony for the term “new shooters,” Preakness starters that didn't race in the Kentucky Derby. “New shooters” has been around decades. It had a good run. Everyone is sick of it. “Horse that didn't run in the Derby” takes a little longer to type and say, but let's go with it.
Exaggerator has lost all four times he has run against Nyquist, most recently in the May 7 Kentucky Derby – and yet trainer Keith Desormeaux is highly optimistic Exaggerator will emerge on top when the 141st Preakness is run Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
DRF sales editor Joe Nevills analyzes the Preakness Stakes field, in post position order, in the form of Haiku, a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five.
There are several key differences between the fields for the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and the Preakness on Saturday. Are they enough to change the outcome?
