The 2020 Maryland Jockey Club stakes schedule released Friday has a familiar look but includes several significant tweaks.
The Laurel Park fall meet, which runs from the beginning of the year through April, will have 21 stakes while the Preakness meet at Pimlico in May will have 17. The 38 races are the same number as a year ago and their total value of $6.325 million is a hair higher than in 2018.
Betting on the Preakness Stakes set a record for the third year in a row, according to the chart of the race, while the overnight rating for the broadcast of the race dropped sharply in the absence of the horses that ran best in the Kentucky Derby two weeks earlier.
The overnight rating for the Preakness Stakes broadcast declined sharply compared to last year’s overnight, dropping 22 percent to a 4.3 with a 10 share, according to figures released on Sunday by NBC.
The Preakness this year was the first run in more than 20 years without the presence of the Kentucky Derby winner. Additionally, all four horses who finished first under the wire in the Derby two weeks ago skipped the race, including the disqualified winner, Maximum Security, and the horse elevated to first, Country House.
BALTIMORE – War of Will, who won the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, is poised to be the only horse this year to compete in all three Triple Crown races, with trainer Mark Casse saying on Sunday morning here at Pimlico that the Belmont Stakes on June 8 would be the next target barring any unforeseen setbacks.
“There are only three Triple Crown races,” Casse said. “They’re pretty important. I think if you can do it you should do it. That’s us. That’s what we do. We run.
“I’d say there’s an extremely good shot we’ll be there.”
Here are the top five finishers with available mutuel prices from the 2019 Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
Top 5 order of finish, $2 mutuels:
1 - War of Will: $14.20 /$7.40 /$5.40
10 - Everfast: $32 /$14.40
5 - Owendale: $6
3 - Warrior's Charge
11 - Laughing Fox
$2 Exacta 1/10: $947
$2 Trifecta 1/10/5: $9,399.60
$1 Superfecta 1/10/5/3: $51,924
$1 Double 12/1: $19.30
$2 Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness double 8/1: $47.40
2019 Preakness order of finish
1 – War of Will
2 – Everfast
3 – Owendale
4 – Warrior’s Charge
5 – Laughing Fox
6 – Improbable
7 – Win Win Win
8 – Bourbon War
9 – Signalman
10 – Anothertwistafate
11 – Alwaysmining
12 – Market King
DNF - Bodexpress (unseated rider at start, ran with the field throughout, and appeared unhurt after being caught by an outrider after the race.)
BALTIMORE – For all the controversy that surrounded the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, when his colt War of Will became entangled with Maximum Security 550 yards from the wire, trainer Mark Casse had maintained a zen-like equanimity. He was disappointed that War of Will hadn’t gotten a fair shot at competing, but more than that, Casse was relieved he had a horse who could continue to compete.
“I was just happy I had my horse,” Casse said. “It would have been the biggest black eye in the history of the sport if he falls.”
A dispute between the simulcast-marketing arms of The Stronach Group and Churchill Downs Inc. has led to a blackout at some wagering sites of the signal from Pimlico Race Course, where the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, will be run on Saturday.
My Preakness opinion is that this has not been a great crop of 3-year-olds and we are waiting for a fresh face to reboot the division. I really like Owendale (No. 5). He exploded to win the Lexington Stakes, one of the faster Kentucky Derby prep races, is trained by a high-percentage horseman in Brad Cox, should get an advantageous pace to attack, and will be the right price. Right or wrong, he ticks all the boxes for me, and I want to bet him Saturday.
How best to make money with him on a $50 budget?
