Early Voting Wins Deposit: NPR
Julio Cortez / AP
Early voting is the winner of the 147th Stake, the second stop of the Triple Crown series, at the legendary Pimlico Speedway in Baltimore.
Epicenter, who had been favored to win, narrowly missed a second.
Epicenter, who has also been favored to win the Kentucky Derby, entered Saturday’s race at 6 to 5 odds while Early Voting had 7 to 2 odds.
It was the second Preakness win for owner Seth Klarman. “Winning once is like a dream of a lifetime, and winning twice is incredible,” he said.
He and his trainer, Chad Brown, decided not to race Early Voting in the Kentucky Derby, giving preference to more rested horses. They will likely sit out the Belmont Stakes in June.
“We think he needs a little more spice, the rest will help him. He’s raced pretty lightly, only three races before today,” Klarman said after the race. “It turned out to be the right call because the pace in the Derby was like suicide. So he probably wouldn’t do that well. So we wanted to do it right with the horse and we were very excited. glad to have waited.”
The Race for the Triple Crown start in Kentucky at the beginning of this month with great sadness. The team weaker than Rich Strike came from behind to win at the last minute with a long shot rate of 80-1.
But there is no chance for this year’s Triple Crown winner as the owner of Rich Strike decided not to race at Preakness, focus instead prepare for the Belmont Stakes in June. Winning the Triple Crown requires winning all three races.
Unlike in Kentucky, there were only nine horses in Saturday’s race, not 20.
In last year’s raceRombauer overcame top contenders Midnight Bourbon and Medina Spirit, an upset for 11v1 horses.