BALTIMORE - Kentucky Derby winner Orb closed as the 4-5 favorite after Friday’s early wagering for the Grade 1, $1 million Preakness Stakes, which will be run Saturday at Pimlico Race Course. There was $178,780 in the win pool, which reflects only money bet in Maryland.
[2013 PREAKNESS STAKES: Latest news, video, and more]
The final odds from Friday’s advance wagering offered on the Preakness are as follows:
BALTIMORE – It really is true. Good things do come to those who wait.
Emotional Kitten was entered in a stakes race on Kentucky Derby Day, but her trainer, Wesley Ward, told owner Ken Ramsey he thought she would benefit by having a couple more weeks until her next start. That came on Friday, and the wait was worth it, because Emotional Kitten scored a mild upset in the $100,000 Hilltop Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf at Pimlico.
BALTIMORE - With 3-5 favorite Last Gunfighter taking Friday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special, here are the will pays for a $2 ticket in the Pimlico Special-Preakness double.
There was $694,983 wagered in the pool.
Last Gunfighter (No. 7) with:
1. Orb $5.80
2. Goldencents $49.40
3. Titletown Five $344.40
4. Departing $55.20
5. Mylute $75.00
6. Oxbow $100.80
7. Will Take Charge $60.20
8. Govenor Charlie $60.20
9. Itsmyluckyday $45.40
BALTIMORE - Last Gunfighter keeps trumping himself. He won his sixth straight race Friday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special, and after he ran down a loose-on-the-lead horse, his trainer, Chad Brown, called the performance Last Gunfighter’s best to date.
AUBURN, Wash. – There’s one big question to be answered Sunday at Emerald Downs – who will win the Governor’s Handicap – and a second, perhaps no less interesting, issue: Who will set the pace in the 6 1/2-furlong race?
BALTIMORE – When trainer Bob Baffert gave instructions to jockey Joel Rosario prior to Friday’s $500,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, he told the rider that his 3-year-old filly Fiftyshadesofhay usually likes to be in the first three positions early in the race.
When Baffert saw that Rosario had Fiftyshadesofhay in sixth position around the first turn, Baffert thought, “Oh boy, this is something new!”
BALTIMORE – The remarkable Ben’s Cat, trained and owned by the remarkable King Leatherbury, raced to his 21st victory in 31 lifetime starts on Friday at Pimlico with a late-running score in the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint.
Ben’s Cat ($4.20), fifth in the six-horse field during the early portion of the five-furlong grass race, came storming down the center of the track to outrun Spring to the Sky by one length, with Bridgetown another half-length back in third.
With Julian Pimentel aboard, Ben’s Cat completed five furlongs on firm turf in 56.18 seconds.
AUBURN, Wash. – After a hotly contested allowance prep race failed to yield any conclusive results, the top older horses at Emerald Downs will lock horns again Sunday while chasing a bigger purse in the $50,000 Governor’s Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs. First post for the 10-race card is 2 p.m. Pacific.
BALTIMORE - After watching his filly act up in the paddock to the point where she sprung a shoe and after watching her get pinched back at the break, trainer Tony Dutrow wasn’t feeling confident about the chances of I’m Mom’s Favorite in Friday’s $100,000 Miss Preakness Stakes.
“I did not think that we were even going to run good,” Dutrow said.
But I’m Mom’s Favorite overcame all that plus a wild late run from 50-1 shot Flattering Bea to win the Miss Preakness by a nose at Pimlico. It was 1 3/4 lengths back to Lighthouse Bay in third.
