They had just crossed the finish line in the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks, with John Velazquez and Malathaat outfinishing Irad Ortiz Jr. and Search Results by a neck. The vanquished Ortiz, the three-time reigning Eclipse champion jockey, patted Velazquez multiple times on the back and then reached for his hand to congratulate him.
“I had to congratulate him,” Ortiz, 28, said this week. “I told him, ‘You are our teacher.’ It came from my heart, honestly. I respect him.
BALTIMORE – Over the last quarter-century, the Preakness has been the most accurate predictor of which 3-year-old will wind up being named the divisional champion – even more than the Kentucky Derby. Since 1996, 16 of the last 25 Preakness winners have been voted the top 3-year-old that year, and that doesn’t even include Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year and top 3-year-old filly, and Swiss Skydiver, the top 3-year-old filly of 2020.
The most popular horse at Santa Anita’s claim box last weekend was the maiden claimer Queen of Arendell. Queen of Arendell was claimed for $20,000 in a 19-way shake by trainer Richard Baltas on behalf of Taylor Made Farm of Kentucky after the sixth race on Saturday.
Queen of Arendell finished sixth of eight at 3-1.
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The 20-cent Rainbow Pick Six will have a mandatory payout Sunday, and the pool could reach $4 million, according to track executives.
The Rainbow Pick Six has a carryover of $465,407 for Friday’s program. The carryover is likely to exceed $550,000 by Sunday if the bet is not hit on Friday or Saturday.
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BALTIMORE – On an otherwise quiet morning amidst the chaos hovering over Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, France Go de Ina, the Japanese invader, gave his connections a bit of a scare at the conclusion of his training session Wednesday at Pimlico.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mucho Unusual’s long march to $1 million is on hold. The Grade 1-winning turf mare, now 5, has been turned out for a midseason freshening and is expected to return later this year in her quest for a seven-figure career purse total.
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BALTIMORE – The two-day Preakness weekend amounts to a horseplayer’s delight as Pimlico will offer a wide variety of wagers Friday and Saturday.
There’s a two-day double linking the Black-Eyed Susan and the Preakness, along with a slew of multi-race wagers ending Friday with the Black-Eyed Susan and Saturday with the Preakness. And there’s always the multitude of vertical wagers, including superfectas available in 10-cent increments.
BALTIMORE – D. Wayne Lukas has been coming to Pimlico for the Preakness for more than 40 years, so he’s not concerned with what people think about him running a horse that’s sure to be the longest shot in the field Saturday.
“I don’t have to stand here and try to prove I can train a horse,” said the 85-year-old Hall of Famer. “If somebody’s saying, ‘What the hell’s he doing in there with that horse?’ We’re the longshot, we’re dangerous.”
BALTIMORE – Ten 3-year-olds led by Medina Spirit, the controversial first-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, have passed the entry box for the $1 million Preakness Stakes, to be run for the 146th time Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
Medina Spirit was assigned post 3 for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, while his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Concert Tour got post 10. Medina Spirit, with John Velazquez back to ride, is the 9-5 favorite on the Pimlico morning line issued by Keith Feustle, while Concert Tour (Mike Smith) is the 5-2 second choice.
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was treated with an anti-fungal ointment containing betamethasone, the substance detected in his post-Derby blood sample, up until the day prior to the race, trainer Bob Baffert said in a statement released on Tuesday.
