Tag: 147th Preakness Stakes

Rich Strike enjoys a bath from groom Jerry Dixon Jr. after arriving at Belmont Park Tuesday morning. The Kentucky Derby champion will go through paddock schooling, then informally work out in the afternoon. (Image: Adam Coglianese)

Derby Winner Rich Strike Arrives in New York for Belmont Stakes

- 3 min read

Rich Strike arrived at Belmont Park today, 10 days before the 154th Belmont Stakes. The surprise Kentucky Derby winner took a trot around the dirt training track before heading to the barn for a long nap. The Derby winner, along with exercise rider Gabriel Lagunes and outrider Juan Galvez and […]

Kentucky Derby champion Rich Strike had his first workout since winning the May 7 Run for the Roses the same day as the Preakness Stakes his connections passed. He will have one more Churchill Downs workout before going to New York for the Belmont Stakes. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Derby Winner Rich Strike Returns to the Track — For a Workout

- 2 min read

As he watched his biggest meal ticket work out Saturday, Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed cast a figurative eye East toward Pimlico Race Course. Then, he answered the question of many fans wondering why he wasn’t there, running the second jewel of the Triple Crown — the Preakness Stakes. “Skipping […]

Early Voting exits Pimlico Race Course Sunday, heading back to New York -- but not for the June 11 Belmont Stakes. The Preakness winner will run next in one of the summer sophomore preps. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Preakness Winner Early Voting, No. 2 Epicenter Early Belmont Defections

- 3 min read

You won’t see the top two horses from Saturday’s Preakness Stakes in Queens, New York, next month, as trainer Chad Brown said Preakness winner Early Voting won’t run the June 11 Belmont Stakes. Nor will Kentucky Derby and Preakness runner-up Epicenter. But Creative Minister, the third-place Preakness finisher, is likely […]

Early Voting (5) held off Epicenter (8) and Creative Minister (6) to win the 147th Preakness Stakes. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Early Voting Finds Target, Punches a Winning Ballot in Preakness Stakes

- 4 min read

Chad Brown wanted Early Voting to have “a target” in the 147th Preakness Stakes. He wanted the lightly raced, but fast colt to go out fast – but he wanted someone else to go out faster. And Armagnac obliged. The California colt wasted no time taking the lead, providing Early […]

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas (right on his exercise pony) takes aim at his record-tying seventh Preakness Stakes title with filly Secret Oath. The Kentucky Oaks winner would be the seventh filly to win the second jewel of the Triple Crown. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Breaking Down the 2022 Preakness Stakes: More Filly Follies?

- 9 min read

The 2022 Preakness Stakes comes to you with a paradox, a wagering quandary that pits one 21st century trend against one 2020s trend. The trend this century is the friend to chalk. Since 2000, 10 favorites found the Pimlico Race Course winner’s circle. Oxbow at 15.40/1 in 2013 is the […]

Creative Minister is becoming a horseplayer's favorite as a sneaky dark-horse for the 147th Preakness Stakes. He is 2-fo-3 going into his stakes debut. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Creative Minister Provides an Expensive Preakness Wild Card

- 3 min read

There wasn’t a lot of creativity involved in putting Creative Minister in the 147th Preakness Stakes. Not unless you consider cutting a check for $150,000 to supplement his entry to be a creative act. It cost 150 large to put Creative Minister into the Pimlico Race Course starting gate because […]

Epicenter arrives at Pimlico as the most complete contender for the 147th Preakness Stakes. (Image: Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club)

Epicenter Ready to Turn the Page at Preakness

- 3 min read

If going 4-2-0 in his first seven races is merely a warm-up for Epicenter, as trainer Steve Asmussen alluded to on Tuesday, we are apparently in for some kind of blockbuster main event at Saturday’s 147th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. “I think it’s a very unique opportunity and […]

Un Ojo (back in yellow) disposed of Ethereal Road to win the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes in March. Un Ojo will miss the Preakness Stakes with the same bone bruise that kept him out of the Kentucky Derby. (Image: Coady Photography)

Pesky Bone Bruise Knocks Un Ojo Out of Preakness Stakes

- 2 min read

The same foot bruise that kept Un Ojo out of the Kentucky Derby will keep him out of the 147th Preakness Stakes, his connections told turf publicist Jennie Rees. Ricky Courville, the one-eyed gelding’s trainer, told Rees by phone that something wasn’t right after Un Ojo’s Saturday workout. Un Ojo […]

Epicenter is the sizable favorite for Saturday's 147th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. (Image: Preakness Stakes.com)

Epicenter Named Decisive Favorite for 2022 Preakness Stakes

- 3 min read

Kentucky Derby favorite Epicenter will reprise his role as a Triple Crown race favorite for the second time in as many races, coming into the 148th Preakness Stakes as the 6/5 morning-line favorite. Pimlico Race Course’s morning-line author, David Feustle, tabbed the Derby runner-up as the definitive favorite during Monday […]

Gutsy Happy Jack will try giving trainer Doug O'Neill his second Preakness Stakes title. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Like His Sire, Happy Jack Searching for Preakness Glory

- 3 min read

After explaining all the concrete reasons he’s running Happy Jack in the 147th Preakness Stakes, Doug O’Neill threw this little aside out as the cherry on top. “Oh, by the way, his sire, Oxbow, won this race and that is kind of a cool thing,” O’Neill told Santa Anita Park’s […]

Sonny Leon and Rich Strike won't repeat this iconic image in the Preakness Stakes. The owner of the horse decided to pull the Kentucky Derby winner from the May 21 Preakness and wait for the Belmont. (Image: Skip Dickstein)

No Triple Crown This Year; Rich Strike Out of Preakness

- 2 min read

Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike had the plug pulled on a possible Triple Crown run when his connections decided Thursday to bow out of the 147th Preakness Stakes. Instead, they will follow their original playbook and wait for the Belmont Stakes. Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, said all along the […]

Secret Oath was the first Oaklawn Park-based horse to win the Kentucky Oaks since Rachel Alexandra in 2009. Now, the filly will attempt to duplicate that remarkable filly's Preakness Stakes win that year. (Image: Coady Photography)

Lukas Rolls the Filly Dice Again, Sends Secret Oath to the Preakness

- 3 min read

Secret Oath will attempt to join Swiss Skydiver, Rachel Alexandra, and four other fillies as a Preakness Stakes champion after trainer D. Wayne Lukas confirmed the filly will run in the 147th Preakness Stakes on May 21 at Pimlico Race Course. Lukas went all-in Wednesday afternoon after opening the day […]

Now that he's in the 147th Preakness Stakes, Epicenter will be the presumptive favorite -- even after his Kentucky Derby runner-up finish. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Kentucky Derby Runner-Up Epicenter Heading to Preakness

- 2 min read

Epicenter’s connections were looking for a sign that the Kentucky Derby runner-up wanted a piece of the horse — Rich Strike — who upset him last Saturday. After receiving that sign during a Wednesday training session at Churchill Downs, Epicenter will run in the 147th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race […]

Fourth-place Kentucky Derby finisher Simplification became the first Preakness Stakes contender arriving at Pimlico Race Course Tuesday. (Image: Jerry Dzierwinski/Maryland Jockey Club)

Simplification First to Arrive for Preakness, Gets Johnny V in the Irons

- 3 min read

After finishing fourth in Saturday’s 148th Kentucky Derby, Simplification was the first horse to arrive at Pimlico Race Course for the 147th Preakness Stakes. The Grade 2 Fountain of Youth winner and third-place finisher in the Grade 1 Florida Derby arrived at Pimlico after an 11-hour van ride from Churchill […]