BALTIMORE – As expected on a huge day, Pimlico will be offering a wide range of wagering options Friday on the 14-race card.
Foremost is the start of the Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness double, a two-day wager linking the biggest races here Friday and Saturday. Last year, when Actress and Cloud Computing were the respective winners, the double lured $793,718 in handle and resulted in a $368.80 payoff for $2.
BALTIMORE – Aside from Lone Sailor exiting the Kentucky Derby in great shape, Tom Amoss felt compelled to try the Preakness with him for another reason: the slow closing times in the Derby.
“It seems like nobody is talking about it,” said Amoss.
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BALTIMORE – Despite the prospect of more than five inches of rain here this week, Maryland Jockey Club officials are confident that the 13 turf races scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Pimlico will stay on grass.
Leo Hernandez, the Pimlico turf-course superintendent, said he walked the course on Wednesday after two to 2 1/2 inches of rain fell overnight and was pleased with its condition.
“It’s still firm,” Hernandez said. “I keep the grass up high. We’re looking good so far.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Todd Pletcher reported Tuesday that the undefeated and untested Army Mule was going to get some time off and would miss an intended start in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on June 9. Army Mule, owned by Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable, has been training in South Florida at Palm Beach Downs since his 6 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Carter on April 7.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Longtime South Florida trainer Reed Combest died at the age of 88 earlier this month.
Combest trained for nearly four decades, retiring in 2013 with 487 victories for earnings of nearly $7 million. His most notable win came in 2002 at Gulfstream with Ms. Brookski in the Grade 2 Davona Dale.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Any notion that Mr. Jordan couldn’t win a race at Gulfstream Park finally ended late Saturday afternoon after the gray gelding ran down the Grade 2-placed Kroy to capture the Big Drama Stakes under regular rider Edgard Zayas.
The Big Drama was the first victory in 13 lifetime starts at Gulfstream for Mr. Jordan, a 6-year-old son of Kantharos trained by Eddie Plesa Jr.
BALTIMORE – Theirs has become a mutual-admiration society, and a very exclusive one at that. Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas have returned to Pimlico this week to take another shot at the Preakness, and a win by either would tie a record that has stood for 130 years.
Baffert and Lukas each has won the Preakness six times, just one shy of the record for trainers held by R. Wyndham Walden. The last Preakness win for Walden came in 1888, or well before the Black-Eyed Susan became the official Preakness drink or anyone had ever dreamed up a creature named Kegasus.
BALTIMORE, Md. -- Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic got a little warm while galloping about 1 3/8 miles on a humid Tuesday morning, the colt’s first day over the Pimlico main track, as he continues preparation for Saturday’s $1.5 million Preakness Stakes and a rematch with Justify.
“He’s usually like that, but I think it’s his first day, I’m not concerned about it,” said Walter Malasquez, Good Magic’s exercise rider. “He was fine today.”
BALTIMORE – D. Wayne Lukas jogged both of his Preakness horses, Sporting Chance and Bravazo, over a muddy Pimlico track early Tuesday morning. Lukas and his horses pulled into Pimlico at 3:30 p.m. Monday following an 11 1/2-hour van ride from Churchill Downs.
Lukas accompanied Sporting Chance to and from the track on his pony soon after Pimlico opened for training at 5:30 a.m. He then did the same with Bravazo.
ELMONT, N.Y. – As Bob Baffert has shown the last two years, not all talented 3-year-olds make it to the Triple Crown trail.
In Rugbyman, Graham Motion appears to have a 3-year-old that could be an intriguing member of the division this summer. On Sunday at Belmont, Rugbyman overcame a slow start to gallop to a 14-length maiden victory going a mile. Under Jose Ortiz, he covered the distance over a muddy track in 1:36.71 and earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure.
