BALTIMORE – Six trainers are eligible for the $100,000 trainers’ participation bonus that has been tied to the Friday and Saturday stakes and starter races at Pimlico.
According to track officials, they are Bob Baffert, Claudio Gonzalez, D. Wayne Lukas, Shug McGaughey, Graham Motion, and Todd Pletcher.
To be eligible for the bonus, a trainer has to run five horses in designated stakes or starter races at Pimlico this weekend.
BALTIMORE – Last year, Preakness Day at Pimlico set an attendance record of 123,469 under ideal weather conditions. That figure was up 5.3 percent from the 2013 figure of 117,309 and 1.7 percent from the previous record of 121,309, which was set in 2012.
Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of The Stronach Group, which owns the Maryland Jockey Club tracks of Pimlico and Laurel Park, was a bit reluctant when asked Wednesday to predict the attendance for Saturday’s Preakness but said he would be “very happy with a crowd of between 100,000 and 120,000.”
BALTIMORE – Larry Collmus, the star race-caller who grew up in nearby Ellicott City, Md., and John Scheinman, a former racing writer for The Washington Post and a longtime freelancer, were among the honorees Thursday morning at the annual Alibi Breakfast in the Pimlico clubhouse.
Collmus, whose regular duties now include calling races for the New York Racing Association, has become the sport’s preeminent voice as the caller for the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup events for NBC. He called his first race at age 18 during the final meet ever run at Bowie in 1985.
BALTIMORE – Ten years ago, Robbie Bailes narrowly averted becoming a sorry footnote in Preakness history. Bailes was the trainer of Scrappy T, whose erratic swerve under Ramon Dominguez at the top of the stretch caused the eventual winner, Afleet Alex, to almost fall.
The incident was so scary that Bailes said he’s watched it only a couple of times.
Hope’s Love, a full sister of Kentucky Derby-winning Horse of the Year California Chrome, will be scratched from her planned debut Friday at Golden Gate Fields.
The 2-year-old chestnut filly was the 8-to-5 morning line favorite in the 4½-furlong race but came down with “just a little virus,” said trainer Steve Sherman, who said she would be pointed to a June 13 maiden race.
BALTIMORE – As far as jockey Gary Stevens is concerned, the post-position draw for Saturday’s $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico couldn’t have gone any better if he was allowed to conduct the draw himself.
Stevens was not only happy to have his mount, Kentucky Derby runner-up Firing Line, draw the outside post in the eight-horse field, but he seemed downright giddy that his major competition, Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah and Derby third-place finisher Dortmund, drew posts 1 and 2.
The Maryland Jockey Club is guaranteeing the size of a number of wagering pools on Friday and Saturday at Pimlico.
There is also a daily double linking Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan and the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. Last year, the wager was on the Pimlico Special – rather than the Black-Eyed Susan – and the Preakness. It handled $495,000.
:: Preakness: Contenders and news
All of the pick fives at Pimlico on Friday and Saturday will have a 12 percent takeout.
Supermason, who racked up his second blowout stakes win last Saturday night at Lone Star Park, has no immediate race plans but long term could be a candidate for the $50,000 Assault on July 11 at Lone Star Park and the $100,000 Prelude on Aug. 8 at Louisiana Downs, said trainer Bret Calhoun.
Erica Murray’s journey to becoming a jockey started as a toddler, when her mother took her to Louisiana Downs to watch morning training. It came full circle at the Bossier City track last Saturday, when the 17-year-old Murray won with her first career mount, Broussard. Following the race, a celebration coordinated by her fellow riders closed out a day to remember.
“I got ice water, baby powder, ketchup [thrown] all over me,” Murray said. “I’ve never been so ready for that my whole life!”
