HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Informed Patriot earned a berth into the Preakness Stakes on Saturday when he held off surging stablemate Imperial Gun for a head win in the $200,000 Bath House Row at Oaklawn Park.
It was another four lengths back in third to Gould’s Gold.
The 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds was the first of three stakes on the card. The top two finishers are trained by Steve Asmussen.
Forever Young
Colt by Real Steel – Forever Darling, by Congrats
Bred in Japan by Northern Racing ($720,603 JRHA select yearling and foal sale purchase by Fujita Susumu)
Japan’s Forever Young made a huge jump up to third choice on Derby Watch after clinching his spot in the Kentucky Derby field with his win in the Group 2 U.A.E. Derby at Meydan. The colt, a product of the most prominent sireline in Japan, is from a female family that has produced another of this year’s Derby Watch top choices – immediate relation Sierra Leone.
Nysos, the undefeated 3-year-old colt trained by Bob Baffert, has been made the 4-1 morning-line favorite for the first Preakness Stakes Future Wager pool, which opens Thursday.
Like other horses trained by Baffert, Nysos is unable to run in the Kentucky Derby this year due to a ban placed on Baffert by Churchill Downs. Baffert is expected to target the Preakness with his top 3-year-olds this year, as he did last year, when he won the second leg of the Triple Crown with National Treasure.
Officials of 1/ST Racing, the owner of Pimlico Race Course in Maryland, have said that they intend to start a “discussion” about the possibility of running the Preakness Stakes at a later date, a move that would disrupt the traditional spacing of the Triple Crown, officials of 1/ST confirmed on Thursday.
BALTIMORE - The morning after National Treasure gave him his record eighth Preakness victory, trainer Bob Baffert was still feeling torn between gratification and grief.
In between National Treasure’s head victory over Blazing Sevens in Saturday’s 148th Preakness at Pimlico and Arabian Lion’s eye-catching four-length win in the Sir Barton Stakes earlier on the card, the Baffert-trained Havnameltdown suffered a catastrophic injury to his left front ankle during the running of the Grade 3 Chick Lang Stakes and had to be euthanized on track.
Total betting on Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, dropped 16.4 percent compared to last year, according to charts of the races, as the short field in the race took its toll on all pools.
This year’s Preakness had seven runners, compared to nine last year, causing steep declines in nearly all pools held on the race. In addition, nearly all multi-race bets that were linked to the Preakness suffered double-digit drops, with the traditional pick 5 linking the Preakness and its four preceding races cratering 75.4 percent.
BALTIMORE – At 4:30 Saturday afternoon, quiet and hot on the northwest edge of the Pimlico property, Mage, the Kentucky Derby winner, was out of his stall, his groom slowly walking him around the shed row in the Preakness barn.
A little after 7 Saturday evening, out on the racetrack, Mage lost the second leg of the Triple Crown in great part because of a walking pace.
BALTIMORE - It was a turbulent, traumatic but ultimately triumphant return to the Triple Crown stage for trainer Bob Baffert.
In a stirring three-furlong stretch battle with Blazing Sevens, the Baffert-trained National Treasure prevailed by a head in the $1.65 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, giving Baffert a record eighth Preakness victory and Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez his first in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
Complete Order of Finish:
1 National Treasure ($7.80 | $4.00 | $2.60)
2 Blazing Sevens ($5.00 | $2.80)
3 Mage ($2.40)
4 Red Route One
5 Chase the Chaos
6 Perform
7 Coffeewithchris
Payouts:
$1.00 EXACTA 1-7 $15.90
$0.50 TRIFECTA 1-7-3 $12.10
$0.10 SUPERFECTA 1-7-3-5 $7.24
$1.00 SUPERHIGHFIVE 1-7-3-5-2 $164.90
SUPERHIGHFIVE CarryOver $310,284.69
$1.00 DAILY DOUBLE 9-1 $7.40
$0.50 PICK 3 4,8-9-1 $10.40
Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness $2 daily double will-pays:
Black-Eyed Susan winner Taxed (No. 10, $24) with:
1) National Treasure, $93.40
2) Chase the Chaos, $1,163.60
3) Mage, $62.40
4) Coffeewithchris, $856.20
5) Red Route One, $196.40
6) Perform, $217.80
7) Blazing Sevens, $160.40
8) First Mission, scratched
