The Preakness

[Bmichael]

The Preakness is just two days away and the pundits are…slacking (again). Well written, informative articles abound about the importance of the Preakness in the Triple Crown picture, the achievements of past winners (Big Brown and Smarty Jones – my all-time hero, right after Seattle Slew) – anything to keep from making a prediction.

I agree that the Derby was a puzzle. There was no clear cut superhorse, and too many variables, real and imagined stoked the uncertainty. I thought the Derby would most likely be a repeat of Arkansas - Archarcharch, the fast closing Nehro, and to show I got on Twinspired (I Always bet the gray).

Arch tripped up at the gate, Nehro, true to form, placed (third time in three races), and to this day I have no idea what happened to Twinspired.

As it turned out, Animal Kingdom kicked Derby butt with plenty to spare. Please note that the Preakness and the Belmont are much longer races than the Derby and AK has been trained for the longer races. The replay of the Derby showed that Mucho Macho Man also had plenty to give as well at the end – he just ran out of track.

On Tuesday, it was decided that Nehro would not run in the Preakness but would go on to the Belmont, instead. (Keep an eye on this, sports fans – there’s some pretty heavy strategy goin’ on here.)

And so, I’m pickin’ AND grinnin’ – Animal Kingdom repeats, Mucho Macho Man places, and the gray horse shows. (if there is one)

Any takers?

Jin? Wanda? Ponyboy?

[Angharad]

I've been going in circles in the arena for too long, B.  Hahahahahaha.

Marty, jump right in here...

 

 

[Quinn]

Here's the field:

PP- Horse- Jockey - Trainer -Odds

1 Animal Kingdom- J Velazquez - H G Motion- 2/1
2 Dialed In- J Leparoux- N Zito- 5/1
3 Midnight Interlude -M Garcia -B Baffert -14/1
4 Mucho Macho Man- R Maragh- K Ritvo- 5/1
5 Shackleford -J Castanon - D Romans- 8/1
6 Astrology -M Smith - S Asmussen- 18/1
7 King Congie -R Albarado - T Albertrani- 25/1
8 Flashpoint- C Velasquez- W Ward -14/1
9 Mr. Commons -V Espinoza - J Shirreffs -20/1
10 Sway Away- G Gomez - J Bonde -16/1
11 Norman Asbjornson -TBA - C Grove -30/1
12 Dance City- R Dominguez- T Pletcher- 9/1
13 Concealed Identity -S Russell - E Gaudet- 25/1
14 Isn't He Perfect- E Prado- D Shivmangal- 40/1

[Angharad]

Ta, Quinn!

You and Bmichael should educate the rest of us about racing (or, at least, ME! hahaha)...Discuss amongst yourselves  (a la Mike Myers as Linda Richman).

[Westerly_2]

So did J Velasquez do something wrong, or did AK just get a bad break from the gate?

[Bmichael]

No...AK usually runs from behind and ran his race as he usually does. Shackleford just had few extra steps today and lived up to his ability. But shoot...winning the Derby and placing in the Preakness is very good stuff.

Correction: I misspoke (or wrote) on this thread that the Preakness and the Belmont races were longer than the Derby. Actually, the Preakness is shorter and the Belmont is longer.

So in three weeks, while there won't be a Triple Crown winner this year, the Belmont should be pretty suspenseful, depending on who shows up. Remember Nehro? :-)

 

[Quinn]

Damn!

I thought he was going to pull it out!