Mike Welsch's Preakness analysis
I would love to be able to get creative in the second leg of the Triple Crown, but frankly, it’s pretty difficult to get beyond the logical contenders coming out of this year’s Kentucky Derby.
Mike WelschMay 13, 2015
I would love to be able to get creative in the second leg of the Triple Crown, but frankly, it’s pretty difficult to get beyond the logical contenders coming out of this year’s Kentucky Derby.
There are reasons to side against AMERICAN PHAROAH in the Preakness, but the problem is there just aren’t any satisfactory alternatives. So almost by default, I’m going with the Kentucky Derby winner to succeed at Pimlico.
Given that non-Derby starters are an anemic 3-8-8 from 133 Preakness starts since 1993, it seems unlikely this is the year to buck that strong trend as the top three finishers in Louisville, Ky., appear to have a significant edge on the rest of the field.
That race in Kentucky two Saturdays ago was one of the most logical and uneventful Kentucky Derbies you will ever see. Now the first three finishers, all of whom enjoyed perfect trips at the front of the field, are all back in an eight-horse Preakness where the other five entrants simply look overmatched. What’s a horseplayer to do?
American Pharoah, the Kentucky Derby winner, on Wednesday landed the rail and was installed as the odds-on favorite for the 140th Preakness Stakes, which will be run Saturday here at Pimlico.
They might have had trouble rounding up enough horses for the Preakness Stakes, but that certainly wasn’t the case when it came to the Grade 2, $300,000 Dixie Stakes for older males on the turf.
The Maryland Jockey Club is guaranteeing the size of a number of wagering pools on Friday and Saturday at Pimlico.
On Saturday, Firing Line will try for a fourth time to clear a formidable hurdle, when he takes on both American Pharoah and Dortmund in the 140th Preakness Stakes here at Pimlico.
Minutes after winning the Kentucky Derby, Bob Baffert was being interviewed on NBC when he dedicated American Pharoah’s victory “to a friend of mine, Bob Adair, who isn’t doing too good right now.”
Victor Espinoza wasn’t taking any chances aboard American Pharoah with the Kentucky Derby at stake and a tenacious Firing Line digging in for the long haul down the stretch at Churchill Downs. Espinoza gave his colt a rat-a-tattooing reminiscent of the steady beat Calvin Borel applied to Rachel Alexandra to get the job done in the 2009 Woodward Stakes, and American Pharoah ended up draped in roses. This, after all, was the point of the exercise.