As he wakes up this morning in Baltimore, there's one thing Bob Baffert is glad of. "I'm just glad I'm not riding my horses," said the Hall of Fame trainer, who began his career in racing as a jockey, riding Quarter Horses but also “a few” Thoroughbreds. "I'd be a wreck. My horses were usually around 30-1, and 28 of it was me. I'd get really nervous."
Handicappers Matt Bernier and Kenny Peck are going head to head with $500 to wager on the Preakness card at Pimlico.
One of the advantages (or disadvantages) of being a racing reporter is you can tell when a trainer is really, really confident in what they’re telling you – and that was the case this week when I called Joe Orseno to ask him about HAPPY MY WAY.
Friday’s card is highlighted by the Black-Eyed Susan for 3-year-old fillies, and while there are some decent wagering opportunities I can honestly say I don’t love anything throughout the day. That’s not to be used as an excuse – on with the competition!
The raising of the trophy has become a Triple Crown race tradition, akin to a matador brandishing two ears and a tail after dealing with an especially cooperative bull. For purposes of photographs, and safety, a 14-inch replica of the Woodlawn Vase is passed around the winning stand before it is sent off to the engravers, where this year, for the first time since the Lazy Lane Farm of Joseph Allbritton won the 1991 Preakness with Hansel, there is a very good chance the letter “Z” will be etched into posterity.
The pick four ending with the Preakness Stakes has a 50-cent minimum and $1.5 million-guaranteed pool. The sequence (races 10-13) also includes a live longshot in the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes (race 12) which will be a single on this suggested ticket.
There’s a simple approach to the Pimlico double linking the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on Friday and the Preakness on Saturday, and there’s a complex one.
Pimlico is guaranteeing the size of four multi-race pools on Saturday.
Six trainers are eligible for the $100,000 trainers’ participation bonus that has been tied to the Friday and Saturday stakes and starter races at Pimlico.
Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of the Stronach Group, which owns the Maryland Jockey Club tracks of Pimlico and Laurel Park, was a bit reluctant when asked Wednesday to predict the attendance for this Saturday’s Preakness but said he would be “very happy with a crowd of between 100,000 and 120,000.”
