Call it “The Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown” or “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans.” Call it overlooked or overshadowed.
But the 148th Preakness Stakes takes center stage on Saturday. And whatever unfolds at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore will surely add more intrigue as the nation’s eyes then turn their attention to the Belmont Stakes.
A potential Triple Crown is at stake. A legend makes his return. An iconic Preakness contender looks to claim another title. A debate rages on.
The Preakness Stakes may be held 215 miles away, but its significance for New York is tied to the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown, awaiting its turn.
Mage normally takes dead-aim by 14th Multiply Crown
If the Kentucky Derby gives way to the Preakness Stakes, all eyes turn to the winner with one question often asked:
“Can (insert horse name) win the Triple Crown?”
Certainly, that question looms over Mage, the 15-1 longshot who claimed the Run for the Roses and now enters Pimlico as the 8-5 favorite.
How Mage approaches the Preakness will be interesting to watch. In the Kentucky Derby, he broke late and was near the back of the pack, eventually making a comeback to finish sixth one mile into the race before kicking into high gear to win by a length.
Such a strategy may not pay off as well at the Preakness, the shortest of the three Triple Crown races. Still, the question remains: Can Mage keep hopes alive for the third Triple Crown in a decade?
There have been 13 Triple Crown winners. The only two since Affirmed in 1978 are Bob Baffert trainees: American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018). Interestingly enough, friends of Mage’s trainer, Gustavo Paez, refer to him as the Venezuelan Bob Baffert.
Speaking of Baffert…
2023 Preakness Stakes: Typically the return involving Bob Baffert
A suspension kept the legendary trainer away from any Triple Crown races last year. After being forced to sit out the Kentucky Derby as part of a punishment from Medina Spirit, the 2021 Derby winner who tested positive for a substance beyond its permitted limit, Baffert makes his return with the Preakness.
From the No. 1 post position, National Treasure holds 4-1 odds of winning at Pimlico, the third-best morning line in the eight-horse field.
Should he win, Baffert would earn his eighth win at the Preakness, breaking a tie for the most wins for a trainer that he currently shares with R. Wyndham Walden from the 1870s and 1880s.
In addition, jockey John Velazquez, who will ride National Treasure, could secure his sixth victory in Triple Crown races – and his first in the Preakness.
Personal trainer Chad Darkish: Preakness specialized?
Six years ago, Javier Castellano (another Mage connection, the horse’s jockey in 2023) won the Preakness with Cloud Computing, marking the first Preakness victory for trainer Chad Brown.
Five years later, Brown secured a second win at Pimlico with Early Voting.
In both instances, Brown opted to bypass the Kentucky Derby and instead focus on the Preakness.
This year, Brown is doing the same with Blazing Sevens, conveniently starting from the No. 7 post position. Could another horse trained by Brown win the Preakness after skipping the Derby?
For what it’s worth, both Cloud Computing and Early Voting chose to skip the Belmont Stakes, the longest and most grueling of the three Triple Crown races. Only time will tell if Brown makes the same decision with Blazing Sevens.
Should certainly Triple Top change it is scheduling?
With each passing race and each passing year, the debate grows louder: Should Triple Crown scheduling remain as it is, or should we shake things up? Specifically, should there be more time between each race?
Many argue that horses need more time to recover and train for each subsequent leg. Currently, there are two weeks between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, followed by a three-week gap leading up to the Belmont Stakes.
Some suggest that there should be three months or a month between the first and second legs. Theoretically, this would encourage owners and trainers who ran in the Derby to also compete in the Preakness instead of bypassing the race to prepare for the Belmont, which takes place a month after the Pimlico run.
This discussion comes on the heels of 2022 Derby winner Rich Strike bypassing the Preakness, the first Roses winner in good health to skip the race since 1985.
Dave O’Rourke, president and CEO of the New York Racing Association, stated shortly after the incident that the NYRA has no plans of signing off on such changes in the near future.
“This is the one thing in racing that is growing and performs really well,” O’Rourke told Thoroughbred Daily News. “It’s an international event. There’s a Triple Crown contender, and everybody will be watching. To dampen that momentum, yes, that’s a big concern.”
Legendary trainer Shug McGaughey calls himself a traditionalist and said he would “hate to see people keep changing a lot of different things.” However, he stated during a recent teleconference, “It’s different times now.”
That said, McGaughey made one thing clear: “I’m not necessarily in favor of seeing a Triple Crown winner every year.”
Grant Lucas is the senior managing editor for PlayNY. A long-time, award-winning sports writer, Grant has covered gambling and legal betting since 2018, when he began reporting on the New Jersey and Pennsylvania industries. He currently oversees PlayNY as New York expands legalized gambling to include sports betting and online casino games.
