BALTIMORE — Under the dark skies over Pimlico, American Pharoah shone brightly in the Preakness. He not only displayed his usual high speed, but he was the only one of the key contenders who handled with aplomb the wind, the driving rain, the mu,d and even a lightning flash right at post time.

There will not be any lifting high of the Woodlawn Vase at Pimlico on Saturday after one of the eight horses entered wins the 140th running of the Preakness Stakes. For starters, it’s way too big, at nearly 30 pounds and three feet tall. Besides, the Maryland National Guardsmen on duty might have something to say about too much manhandling of the most valuable trophy in sports since they will be watching it like a hawk all day long. Imagine being the guy to drop $4 million worth of ornate sterling silver on national TV.

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?

Nearing the end of the 1979 Grand Prix de Deauville, while giving chase to First Prayer aboard African Hope, Lester Piggott blew his stick. It happens, even to the best of them, but Piggott wasn’t about to give up. With exquisite timing, he reached out with his right hand and snatched the whip from the left hand of Alain Lequeux, on Jean Loup. First Prayer won comfortably, while African Hope edged Jean Loup for second, after which Piggott returned the whip.

Do not be impressed with the circulating stat that nine of the last 18 Kentucky Derby winners have come right back to take the Preakness. Or be impressed, but prepare to be disappointed.

When the 140th Preakness is run at Pimlico on Saturday, the event will be the shining moment of the year in Maryland racing, but it also will represent the industry’s most vexing problem. The Preakness confers major-league status on the sport in Maryland, yet Pimlico is an embarrassment – decrepit, dysfunctional, devoid of charm or glamour.

If bad things come in threes, then Richard Mandella would have been perfectly justified if he stayed in bed Friday morning with the covers pulled over his head. Anyway, it looked like rain.

The week began digesting the news of the death of The Tin Man, a noble animal who spent all of his eight years at the racetrack spoiled rotten by Mandella and his crew. They were rewarded with seven campaigns of various duration, highlighted by trips to the mountaintop: He captured an Arlington Million and was one of the few American runners who came close to winning a grass race in Dubai.

The springtime stakes in Southern California always seem to struggle for relevance. It was tough enough when the Kentucky Derby alone sucked all the air from the room. Now, Churchill Downs surrounds its marquee race with a smorgasbord of events for every division this side of Tennessee plow mules.

Meanwhile, Belmont Park has amped up the Saturday between Triple Crown events, juicing the normally quiet, little Peter Pan card with such historic features as the Ruffian and Man o’ War.

As Kentucky Derbies go, the 141st edition last Saturday was a satisfying one on several counts, whether or not you cashed a ticket. (I did not.)

First, it was an exceptionally clean race. With the exception of Materiality (broke slow, shuffled back to 17th, closed belatedly for sixth), no one had a particularly tough trip. The first four finishers had every chance to win, and American Pharoah was simply a little bit better than Firing Line, Dortmund, and Frosted.

Gary Stevens says he knows how to beat American Pharoah in the Preakness with Firing Line. He does not say he is going to beat American Pharoah in the Preakness with Firing Line, but he knows what he needs to do to make it happen.