Preakness Show continues without Kentucky Derby winner

news7g05/20/2022

4 7 minutes read

Preakness Show continues without Kentucky Derby winner

It took the Boston Red Sox 86 years to finally banish the “Curse of the Bambinos.”

For the sake of the Maryland race, hopefully it won’t take long for the Preakness Stakes (G1) to get rid of the “Curse of Evenly . “

Back in 2018, happy for the Triple Crown’s middle jewel with a count of 134,487 on hand despite the rainy conditions.

As Justify dashed out of the fog to win Preakness en route to becoming the 13th 3-year-old to sweep the series’ three legs, he also became the 22nd consecutive winner of the Kentucky Derby (G1) taking place. two weeks. later in Pimlico racetrack to continue the journey of immortal racing. A continued Triple Crown bid in the Preakness is certainly possible in the race.

But since Justify left town, let’s say, “Baltimore, we have a problem.”

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In 2019, the first horse to cross the finish line in the Kentucky Derby, Maximum security , was eliminated and placed 17th. He then left the Triple Crown trail. The horse is raised to first place by the stewards, Country house got sick after the Kentucky Derby and never raced again after wearing the rose blanket.

The following year, the Preakness landed in the Kentucky Derby introduced by Woodford Reserve. Just this time, the world is in the grip of a deadly COVID-19 pandemic, and Triple Crown is delayed and the deck shuffled for Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets (G1) begins the series in June and Preakness finish it in October. Between, Real beat winner Belmont Stakes Law Tiz , in the Kentucky Derby, eliminating the chance of winning the Triple Crown at Pimlico. No fans attended but there was a thrilling ending with slyness trained by Ken McPeek Swiss skydivers beat the last horse of the year Authentic by neck.

In 2021, the question of whether Preakness can present a Kentucky Derby winner has become bait for debate. A week later Medina Spirit won the Kentucky race for coach Bob Baffert and owner Amr Zedan has news that the 3-year-old has gone drug-free after the race and is in danger of being stripped of his Run for the win. Roses at some point.

Runner-up on the rope, Mandaloun , ignoring Preakness. (This February, he was awarded first place in the Derby after a decision long-awaited by the Kentucky management and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.)

Last year’s race created a situation where picograms were a more common topic of conversation around Preakness Stakes than speed metrics.

Turns out, Medina Spirit ran third in the Preakness against a COVID-19 crowd capped at 10,000 to end speculation about the Triple Crown, and Medina Spirit was ultimately eliminated from the Run for the Roses win. As for Baffert, the all-time lead in the Triple Crown to a 16 win and Justify coach, he was banned from the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs Inc races. for two years, suspended by KHRC until early July and thus banned from participating in Saturday Preakness, and faces formal verification of a two-year ban by the New York Racing Association.

Now in 2022, after Rich Strike shocked the world by winning the Kentucky Derby at 80-1 odds, he caused another shock when his connections announced their ponies would overtake the Preakness and would sit out the cards test 1/16 miles to wait for Belmont Stakes.

Say goodbye to rags to riches. Goodbye, Triple Crown bid. Hello, Curse.

“Most of our team was disappointed,” 1/ST Racing CEO Craig Fravel said of Rich Strike’s defection. “You always want the Kentucky Derby winner. Personally from working with the Breeders’ Cup and losing some great horses over the years, I know you’re going to feed your hopes and then things will happen. I tend to be patient and understanding about it and try not to get too up and down because I know how things change with these horses.

“I’ve been with the company for two years and this will be my third first, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do what we’re doing and host such a great event. like this so I don’t feel stuck. When you do things long enough, you realize these things happen and I believe we have some compelling storylines associated with racing and some great entertainment attached to it.”

The admirable patience of Fravel and other officials from 1/ST Racing and the Maryland Jockey Club, which owns Pimlico, has certainly been tested in recent years, but at least, like 2020, they have on hand the next best thing so no lanyard, true trident crown.

Mirroring Fravel’s words, when 86-year-old coach D. Wayne Lukas decided to pick Briland Ranch Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Secret Vow in Preakness, it gave the nine-horse race a much-needed vitality to the Gal vs.The Guys storyline.

Lukas said of the Battle of the Sexes: “If you don’t have the dirty stuff here, the mood will be happy. “At least we had a little interest and it took (the media) out of the furniture business. Louis Cella at Oaklawn Park told me he thinks there are 20,000 more (to see her in the Arkansas Derby (G1)) because this race is pretty vanilla, so is this one. You have Epicenter, and then where do you go? You put her in there giving you some handicaps, some corrects and trifectas that you can play. “

Secret Oath, the daughter of Arrogate, who finished third widely against the men’s two starting back in the April 2 Arkansas Derby, is listed as third pick 9-2 and will be tested. previous by Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Epicenter the son of Not this time who played very second in the Kentucky Derby. Rated a 6-5 favorite, Epicenter rated as outstanding in the Preakness field also including a 7-2 second pick Vote early the son of Gunman and Simplify (6-1), a Not This Time foal bred in Florida, finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby. Typically that kind of lineup adds some electricity to the Triple Crown atmosphere, but on this occasion the outcome of what shows up in a hot and sizzling mid-’90s day at Pimlico will only affect Eclipse Award Voters.

“I think (the media) is going to have a better way on that than I do,” said Steve Asmussen, who coached Epicenter. “With us, we care about the things we have control over: the condition of our horses and getting another top performance out of them. From this year’s results in the Derby. , you won’t take anyone for granted and you’ll try to protect your base to prepare for anything.”

While the Triple Crown is no longer available for grabs in 2022, that doesn’t mean the topic became an afterthought after Rich Strike’s defection was announced. As the prospective starters prepared for their confrontation in the Preakness without the Kentucky Derby winner pictured, a number of racing fans and industry insiders pointed to Rich Strike’s defection is a worrisome sign of the timing that paints a bleak future for the current three races in five week formats. When Rich Strike contacts voted to say “thank you but no thanks” to let their horses rest for only two weeks, it created confidence that at a time when the gap between Racing is a major concern for riders who need more time between races to benefit the Triple Crown — even though there have been two Triple Crown winners in the past seven years.

Barring physical defeats, the last Kentucky Derby to target Belmont instead of Preakness occurred 40 years ago when Gato Del Sol, 21-1 winner of Run for the Roses, did so, coming in second. at Belmont. The loss of horses at the Battle of Derby, especially those from the New York stables, was much more awaited than in Belmont.

“We looked at it,” Fravel said of the Triple Crown structure. “Even if we move (Preakness) back a week, I don’t think it will make a big difference in the horse coming back and that’s just my opinion. A guy who doesn’t want to go back. coming back in two weeks probably won’t run three backwards, and the further you push things, the more likely attrition. You can change it, but running a race instead of working isn’t the worst thing in the world.”

If anything, Preakness tells us more about a 3-year-old plant that raised more questions than it answered at the Kentucky Derby. Is the first Saturday of May just a glitch for Epicenter, the Kentucky Derby favorite after his crisp wins in Risk Star bets run by Lamarque Ford (G2) and Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) presented? On the third Saturday in May, he’ll introduce why he’s the favorite at the Kentucky Derby? Is Secret Oath, who is bidding to be the seventh to win Preakness, something extremely special? Will the Klaravich Stables Early Voting remind us that his coach, Chad Brown, can be a top-level grass-court winner AND?

Will Armagnac (12-1) or Creative Minister (10-1) made the successful jump from the allowance rank to an American classic and became an overnight star? Will the heat help the opportunity for Florida-based participants of Simplify and Skippylongstocking (20-1)? Long shots seem to excel Jack is happy (30-1) or Fenwick (50-1) follows Rich Strike’s lead and illustrates how the completely unexpected can somehow happen, even in the best races?

We’ll know those answers on Saturday, when, perhaps the best news about Preakness 2022, sense of normalcy will return. There will be no cap on fan numbers, an Infield Festival for musical entertainment on Saturday after the eye-catching Preakness LIVE on Friday, and an exciting day of racing that is likely to revive some indelible memories.

“It’s a lot easier to get in and out of traffic in 2020. “But it’s certainly still the same. I brought Tejano Run here in 1995 and it feels good,” said McPeek, who trains the Innovation Secretary. it’s the same. Wayne has Thunder Gulch and Timber Country. I’ve come a few miles since. Missing a few laps and I shaved my head. But Wayne’s still here.”

All that’s missing is the Kentucky Derby winner.

Curse!