Pimlico
G1 Preakness S
1/2 141
3/4 137
Fin 125
Top 3: Justify 128, Bravazo 126, Tenfold 125
Note: Track coded pink in TimeformUS products as speed favoring; Derby winner Justify battled on the front end with Derby runner-up Good Magic (who finished fourth) for over a mile before putting that one away, held on gamely late; Triple Crown winner in three weeks?
Despite sloppy conditions and what appeared on paper to be a less-than-stellar betting race, total handle on the Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore set a record while all-sources handle on the entire 14-race card was down 4.4 percent, according to charts of the day’s races.
Wagering on the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday was a record $61.97 million, according to a chart of the race, with unusually sharp handle gains for exotic bets like the trifecta, superfecta, and super hi-5.
The handle total, which included all of the horizontal bets in the race, was up $600,000 over the previous record for the Preakness, set in 2016, and up 2.9 percent over last year. This year, eight horses ran in the Preakness, including the one-two finishers in the Kentucky Derby, Justify and Good Magic, compared with 10 horses last year.
Play continues today at the first-ever live-bankroll final table at the World Horseplayers’ Tour/Santa Anita Preakness contest. A field of 92 entries put up $5,000 each to compete in the money-added event, which is being filmed as a television pilot. There was no entry fee: The entire $5,000 acted as a live bankroll.
Entering Sunday, just eight players remain. They will take home the money on their live bankrolls from yesterday, and today those amounts will convert to mythical money, like chips in a poker tournament. Those eight are:
BALTIMORE – This is not Bob Baffert’s first rodeo. It’s his fifth. And because he’s been in this situation four times previously, with a colt heading to the Belmont Stakes seeking a Triple Crown sweep after wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, he knows what he must do to have Justify at his best on June 9 at Belmont Park.
Let’s cut right to the chase in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s Preakness Stakes: Completing a sweep of the Triple Crown is going to be difficult for Justify.
Not that sweeping the Triple Crown is ever easy. It never is. Ever. I hope that’s clear.
BALTIMORE - It might have appeared that Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic's connections changed tactics to try and turn the tables on Justify in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, but that was not the case.
Good Magic dueled with Justify from the start in the Preakness, but he couldn’t outrun him and ultimately finished fourth, beaten one length.
Afterward, Jose Ortiz, Good Magic's rider, blamed himself for giving the horse a bad ride.
“I messed up, that wasn’t the plan we drew,” Ortiz said. “I wasn’t supposed to be where I was.”
BALTIMORE – Justify returned $2.80 to win in leading a wide array of mutuels when he took the 143rd Preakness on Saturday at Pimlico Racing Course. Here is the full slate of payoffs:
1st – (7) JUSTIFY: win, $2.80; place, $2.80; show, $2.60
2nd – (8) BRAVAZO: place, $7.60; show, $4.80
3rd – (6) TENFOLD: show, $6.80
4th – (5) GOOD MAGIC
5th – (2) LONE SAILOR
$2 exacta (7-8), $27.40
$1 trifecta (7-8-6), $148.30
BALTIMORE – This is the official order of finish for the 143rd Preakness run Saturday at Pimlico:
1st – (7) JUSTIFY
2nd – (8) BRAVAZO
3rd – (6) TENFOLD
4th – (5) GOOD MAGIC
5th – (2) LONE SAILOR
6th – (3) SPORTING CHANCE
7th – (4) DIAMOND KING
8th – (1) QUIP
