The field for the 139th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland is set and the Derby winner is ready to take a crack at the elusive Triple Crown.
California Chrome, the easy winner of the Kentucky Derby, caught a lot of flak for his final running time of the 10 furlongs being just 2:03.66, the slowest in decades over a fast track. He eased to the finish line like an Olympic sprinter in qualifying: When he had the race won, he coasted. It was a race against 18 other horses, not the clock, and he was No. 1.
Chrome drew Post 3 and was installed as the 3-5 morning-line favorite.
“(No.) 3 might actually be an advantage for me,” said Art Sherman, Chrome’s trainer. “They have all the speed on the outside. If I was riding the race, I’d say, ‘Well, I’ve got to get a clean break. See where they’re going out of the gate.’ It gives me an idea of who will be sending, and they will be sending; get into that first turn with a good position and then down the backside, pick my spot where I want to be.”
Chrome has Ring Weekend (Post 4, 20-1), who can show some speed, to the right. In Post 5, Bayern (10-1) also has early speed so that will allow Chrome to fall out and get a nice stalking position behind them and off the fence.
There is no shortage of forwardly placed horses in this field. Pablo Del Monte (Post 9, 20-1), trained by Wesley Ward, set the pace in the Grade I Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland three weeks before the Derby. Not to be left alone in the first flight will be Social Inclusion (Post 8), the second choice at 5-1.
Social Inclusion makes just his fourth career start in the Preakness. In his third career start in the Grade I Wood Memorial, he set the pace and hung on for third finally out-lasted by Wicked Strong and Samraat, fourth and fifth in the Derby respectively.
“The first time I heard (Post) 8, I was a little concerned,” said Ron Sanchez, Social Inclusion’s owner. “But not now, with Ria Antonia and Kid Cruz inside with less speed and with two speed horses outside, that’ll help us. We’ll be in good position in the early stages. I didn’t like being on the outside in the Wood, but the Pimlico front stretch is a little bit longer. My horse is more experienced now and he is multi-faceted. He has speed and strength. Everyone is impressed with California Chrome. I think he’ll run a good race, but this is a better field. Every owner here thinks they can beat California Chrome, but obviously the oddsmaker didn’t think so.”
Ria Antonia (Post 6, 30-1) attempts to become the first filly since the great Rachel Alexandra to win the Preakness. Ria Antonia would become the sixth filly to win the Preakness, but it’s a stretch for her. She finished a distant sixth to Untapable in the Kentucky Oaks on May 2. She hasn’t won a race since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and even in that race the true winner was disqualified thus bumping Ria Antonia to first.
She breaks from the middle of this field and her jockey, Calvin Borel, will have a chance to see how the race unfolds. He won this race aboard Rachel Alexandra in 2009 and he’s won the Derby aboard a 50-1 (Mine That Bird). Anything can happen.
“We’re very happy with what we’re trying to do,” said Ron Paolucci, Ria Antonia’s owner. “I think it’s going to be a tactically ridden race. My filly has a lot of natural speed and we’re going to tell (jockey) Calvin (Borel) not to take her too far off the pace. We’ve always wanted to run in this race. She’s a very big filly and very sound. The fact that she’s coming back in two weeks gives her an absolute edge.”
Dynamic Impact, winner of the Grade III Illinois Derby, will break from Post 1. For some, Post 1 is unfavorable. Orb, last year’s Derby winner, broke from Post 1 and finished a disappointing fourth. But Mark Casse, Dynamic Impact’s trainer, doesn’t mind it, despite his colt preferring the outside more.
“We won from the 1-hole in the Illinois Derby,” Casse said, whose horse is 12-1. “At least we know we’ll get to save ground going into the first turn. It’s not the same as drawing the 1 hole in the Derby, obviously. It’s obviously not ideal, but we’re not going to be too upset about it.”
“He had a perfect trip from the 1 hole last time. At some point (jockey) Miguel (Mena) is going to have to get him to the outside because the horse does his best running from the outside, but going into the first turn we’ll get to save all the ground. It’s obviously not what we would have preferred, but we’ll deal with what we have.”
Yet all these horses have to wrestle with California Chrome, a horse that’s been training well and is seemingly unaffected by the rigors of the Kentucky Derby. He should get a nice stalking position in third or fourth behind the speed in this field. He’ll have some pressure on his inside and out. If he relaxes by the time they hit the clubhouse turn, he could contend for the Triple Crown.
“My horse is kind of push-button,” Sherman said. “People don’t know that he’s got enough lick that he can stay with any horse in the race. He likes a target to run at and I know that (jockey) Victor (Espinoza) is going to ride him well.”
General a Rod (Post 2, 15-1), Kid Cruz (Post 7, 20-1) and Ride On Curlin (Post 10, 20-1) round out the field. Post time is set for Saturday at 6:18 p.m.
