Tue, 05/16/2023 - 11:18

Pimlico looks to highlight Black-Eyed Susan card; adds two-day betting options

Barbara D. Livingston

Pimlico Race Course has added additional betting options for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and Preakness cards.

Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore has added eight pick five bets to its wagering menus for the Friday and Saturday cards this week, hoping to leverage the low-takeout bets into substantial handle gains for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and Preakness cards.

Two of the new pick five bets will link races on the Friday card to races on the Saturday card, with both ending in the Preakness, which is scheduled as the 13th race on a 14-race card. Both also include the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

Tue, 05/16/2023 - 10:54

148th Preakness: Mage finishes off solid gallop with a flourish

By David Grening

Barbara D. Livingston

Mage galloped 1 1/2 miles Tuesday under exercise rider J.J. Delgado.

BALTIMORE -- If the Kentucky Derby took something out of Mage, it certainly wasn’t apparent Tuesday morning at Pimlico as he galloped a solid 1 1/2 miles over the main track.

Mon, 05/15/2023 - 18:41

Preakness: Mage gets post 3, National Treasure should go for lead from rail

By David Grening

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club

Mage is 8-5 on Pimlico's morning line and even money by DRF's by David Aragona.

BALTIMORE - If there was any doubt who might be going to the lead in Saturday’s $1.65 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, it seemed to be removed when National Treasure drew the rail for the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

Add in the fact National Treasure will be getting blinkers added and has John Velazquez to ride, “it symbolizes to me what’s going to happen, yeah,” said Jimmy Barnes, longtime assistant to Bob Baffert, trainer of National Treasure.

Mon, 05/15/2023 - 13:50

Preakness: McGaughey still thinks about epic 1989 Triple Crown rivalry

By David Grening

Perform wins Federico Tesio at LRL April 15 2023

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club

Perform came from far back to win the Tesio by a head. He will be Shug McGaughey’s first Preakness starter since 2013.

ELMONT, N.Y. – In case you haven’t heard, this is the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown tour de force.

And while those five weeks will always be memorable to racing historians and fans, so too is the five-week battle staged between Sunday Silence and Easy Goer 34 years ago. The stretch drive of the 1989 Preakness still resonates when people think about one of the best rivalries in racing. The nose victory by Sunday Silence over Easy Goer in the Preakness is something Easy Goer’s trainer, Shug McGaughey, says he still thinks about quite often.

Mon, 05/15/2023 - 12:50

Coffeewithchris takes his breeder, NTRA's Rooney, into a classic

By Nicole Russo

Jeff Snyder/Maryland Jockey Club

Coffeewithchris wins the Miracle Wood. He would be the ninth Maryland-bred to win the Preakness.

Coffeewithchris, who is trying to become the first Maryland-bred in four decades to win his birth state’s biggest race, has already been a breakthrough horse for current National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Tom Rooney, as the first stakes winner he has bred.

Mon, 05/15/2023 - 12:45

Good Magic keeps the Curlin blood flowing in classics with Mage's Kentucky Derby win

By Nicole Russo

Debra A. Roma

Mage became the second straight Kentucky Derby winner sired by a son of Curlin.

The magic long associated with one of America’s most prominent classic sirelines glittered through with Kentucky Derby winner Mage. He is by champion Good Magic, the latest wizard in this family, as the second son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin in a row to sire the Derby winner from his first crop. The 2023 Triple Crown now moves on to the Preakness Stakes, a race with which this family has worked particular alchemy.

Mon, 05/15/2023 - 12:10

2023 Preakness: Mage will be only Derby runner to compete in Preakness

By David Grening

Jerry Dzierwinski/Maryland Jockey Club

On Monday, Mage jogged one lap and galloped one lap around Pimlico's one-mile oval.

BALTIMORE – Twenty-three horses entered the Kentucky Derby. Twenty were permitted to run. After five scratches, 18 actually did compete at Churchill Downs on May 6.

Of the 18, only the winner, Mage, was entered to run in Saturday’s 148th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Mage was expected to head an eight-horse field entered Monday in the Preakness, post positions for which were to be drawn early Monday evening.

Sun, 05/14/2023 - 12:33

Perform works half-mile for Saturday's Preakness Stakes

By David Grening

Jim McCue

Mage arrives at Pimlico on Sunday morning after a van ride from Churchill Downs.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Perform, the Federico Tesio winner, completed his serious preparations for next Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico by working a half-mile in 48.16 seconds on Sunday morning at Belmont Park.

Under exercise rider Noemie Pauquete, Perform started about a length behind the 3-year-old maiden Weyhill Road. Perform went his opening quarter in 24.63 and got his last quarter in 23.53, while finishing basically on even terms with his workmate. The pair galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.26 and six furlongs in 1:14.76.

Sat, 05/13/2023 - 16:42

Confidence Game to miss Preakness with sore shoulder

By Marcus Hersh

Barbara D. Livingston

Confidence Game, 10th in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Preakness next Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.

Confidence Game, the 10th-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, was removed from consideration for the Preakness Stakes on Saturday.

The colt’s trainer, Keith Desormeaux, didn’t immediately reply to a text message but told publicity for 1/ST, owner of Pimlico Racecourse, that Confidence Game hadn’t trained to his satisfaction Saturday morning at Churchill Downs.

Sat, 05/13/2023 - 12:58

Ortiz Jr. brushes off Derby scratch, seeks first Preakness win

By David Grening

Barbara D. Livingston

Blazing Sevens looks to give trainer Chad Brown third Preakness win next Saturday at Pimlico.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Irad Ortiz Jr. didn’t have time to feel sorry for himself when he got the news that Forte, the favorite for the Kentucky Derby, was scratched the morning of the race due to a bruised foot. He had a full plate of action on that day’s 14-race card at Churchill Downs.

While he called the scratch “heartbreaking,” Ortiz noted that “we have to turn the page and keep going. I had [12] mounts that day, I had other owners I had to go out there and try to do the best for them. I can’t live in the past.”

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