With just five starts to his name and his best efforts on grass and synthetics, King Congie probably will not attract the smart money, but he will have plenty of sentimental support.
When Martin Garcia took over as the rider for Lookin At Lucky in last year’s Preakness Stakes, his lack of big-race experience was seen as an iss
Whenever trainer D. Wayne Lukas wins a race, he picks a young fan out of the crowd near the winner’s circle and invites the child to join Lukas for the picture-taking ceremony. He made a lot of youngsters – not to mention their parents, and Coady Photography – quite happy this past winter at Oaklawn, where Lukas was the leading trainer, and he said he would continue the tradition at Pimlico should he win a race on Saturday.
Uncle Mo, the 2010 2-year-old champion who was scratched from the Kentucky Derby the day before the race due to a yet-to-be diagnosed internal issue, has put on 30 pounds since being moved from Churchill Downs to WinStar Farm on May 9, but there is still no timetable for his return to training or racing.
The Wednesday arrivals of nine Preakness horses led to considerably more activity around the Pimlico stakes barn Thursday morning, as those horses all had their first looks at the track when sent through routine jogs, gallops, and gate schoolings. Meanwhile, Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom remains at the Fair Hill training center some 60 miles north of here with trainer Graham Motion, who said he will have the colt shipped here early Saturday morning.
Had his connections wanted to push the envelope, Astrology could have run in this year’s Kentucky Derby. He had sufficient graded stakes earnings, was a stakes winner over the Churchill Downs main track, and ran creditably in his one and only race of his 3-year-old season.
Unlike in prior years here at Pimlico – or at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks and Derby Days – superfectas are available in 10-cent increments on all races, including the Preakness.
One of the more noticeable differences from the Derby to Preakness is this: Longshots have a far worse chance, at least historically, to win at Pimlico. Whereas big-priced winners have almost become the norm in the Derby – in the last dozen years, bombers such as Charismatic (31-1), Giacomo (50-1), Mine That Bird (50-1), and Animal Kingdom (20-1) have prevailed – the Preakness is about as formful a race as possible.
Like every trainer with a horse in the 136th Preakness, Nick Zito and Chris Grove would dearly love to win Saturday at Pimlico with Dialed In and Norman Asbjornson, respectively. But in case they don’t, they can root for each other. Zito and Grove have formed a bond centered on Grove’s 12-year-old son, Noah, who was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2004 and underwent a life-saving, through-the-knee amputation.
Contenders for the 2011 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, to be run at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore on Saturday, May 21. Odds by DRF national handicapper Mike Watchmaker and Pimlico oddsmaker Frank Carulli.
