[QUOTE=NMK;5600503]
At one time, didn’t the Preakness ban bringing coolers to the infield? Is that still the case?
I don’t want to think of what an Animal Kingdom sandwich could be…pork, beef & chicken with elk? Yuck. Hope its vegan.
Hope to see Nehro at the Belmont. He will make it interesting in NY.[/QUOTE]
Coolers still banned. Now there is “all you can drink” tickets for infield. Beer and cups provided in a wide variety of choices.
~Emily
Don’t expect to see Animal Kingdom hanging out at Pimlico days before the Preakness. The plan appears to van him down the afternoon of May 20th - just 24-hours before the race.
Probables with anticipated jockey
Animal Kingdom - John Velazquez
Astrology - Mike Smith
Concealed Identity - Sheldon Russell
Dance City - Ramon Dominguez
Dialed In - Julien Leparoux
Flashpoint - Cornelio Velasquez [just transferred to trainer Wesley Ward]
King Congie - Robby Albarado
Midnight Interlude - Martin Garcia [replacing Victor Espinoza]
Mr. Commons - (undecided; previously Mike Smith)
Mucho Macho Man - Rajiv Maragh
Norman Asbjornson - Julian Pimentel
Shackleford - Jesus Castanon
Sway Away - Garrett Gomez
Oddly no Rosie, yet it’s almost her “home track”.
Apologies go out to those who are attending and/or handicapping the Preakness. I found a sun dress that fits like it was custom made for me for $40. As a result you can rest assured it will be 50 degrees and raining on Preakness day! In fact, this dress is so nice there may be snow flurries…
Mr. Commons - (undecided; previously Mike Smith)
Mr. Commons (3rd in the Santa Anita Derby) will be ridden by Victor Espinoza in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 21, trainer John Shirreffs said on Thursday.
Bonus talk
If Dialed In wins the Preakness he will break the record - set by Smarty Jones with the Oaklawn/KY Derby double - for the “single-race earnings”. (However that in my view is rather misleading as the money is tied to not just one race but rather prior multiple ones and furthermore its a bonus, not earnings.)
The potential $6.1 million in single-race earnings for Dialed In would set a North American record, eclipsing the $5.884 million earned by Smarty Jones in the 2004 Kentucky Derby.
“For me, honestly, I’m telling you now — you could give mine to charity, as long as the feed man don’t mind,” Zito said. “He could take his and you could give the rest to charity … You’ve gotta pay your bills, that’s what it’s about. But I’m blessed, as you know, and I’m not going to change. I’m just grateful to have the horse.”
Zito denied any assertions that he was more interested in winning the Preakness 5.5 bonus than what would have been his third Kentucky Derby. Zito’s take would be $500,000 of the $5.5 million bonus, with the rest going to LaPenta.
“I can look you right through the eye, into your grandparents, into their forefathers. That’s not me,” he said.
“There’s no guarantees in racing, number one. So nobody’s that smart, including me. Second of all, the Derby, in my opinion, is worth three times that amount.”
But hey Dialed In isn’t the only horse eligible for some extra dough with a victory afterall - Shackleford also has the chance to add an extra $550,000 payday onto the $600k winner’s purse.
The bonus for which Shackleford is eligible is called the XpressBet .55, “a consolation prize of $550,000 ($500,000 to the owner and $50,000 to the trainer) to be awarded to the winner of the 2011 Preakness,” a press release last fall announcing the bonuses said. To be eligible for that smaller bonus, a horse had to run in “one of the initial qualifying races” – in Shackleford’s case, the Fountain of Youth – and then finish in the top three in the Santa Anita Derby or Florida Derby.
Romans said Shackleford has done well since the Derby.
“A race like that can knock a horse out of the feed tub, but he’s been cleaning his feed tub, been bucking and playing,” Romans said. “He was bucking in the middle of his gallop today.”
A field of 13 (with 1 gate to spare) is what the Preakness is looking to be.
Running on synthetic and running on are entirely different kettles of fish. I wondered why they made such a big deal that AK had never run on dirt, likely he trained on dirt, right? No where near the same surfaces differential from turf to dirt.
a little off topic…
But what a lovely head AK has!
http://gallery.pictopia.com/bloodhorse/gallery/7157/photo/bloodhorse:9523492/?o=1
We’ll see what happens but maybe Nehro in the Preakness mix, too
If Animal Kingdom wins in Baltimore it will only heighten the spotlight on Fair Hill as a training facility. Even if that doesn’t happen the venue is enjoying a lot of good press.
Why train horses here, on 350 acres amid trout streams and covered bridges, far from the racket at a race track? Why break from the decades-old tradition of working with horses on the ovals where they’ll actually race?
“It’s a relaxed atmosphere, away from the pressures and the intensity of the track,” Motion said Thursday. "It’s a better setting for equines and for humans.
On the right sits a steeplechase course nearly 100 years old, where the ghosts of do-or-die jumpers and their white-knuckled jockeys punctuate the landscape’s hoary past. On the left, it’s another story: a modern training facility boasting immaculate stables, a cutting-edge therapy center, serpentine wooded trails and a state-of-the-art synthetic track.
As for the prospective Preakness runners - there is some doubt about Bowie-based runner Concealed Identity who won the Federico Tesio Stakes:
Eddie Gaudet said today that the $100,000 James W. Murphy Stakes on the Preakness undercard is very much an option for the 3-year-old son of 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones.
"I’m pointing for the other race,” said the veteran trainer, referring to the Murphy, a one-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds.
Some of the undercard races for Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan …
Here is a quick look at the other highlights of a 13-race Friday card:
$75,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint (race 5): A full gate of 14 older specialists has been entered in this five-furlong dash, which promises to be one of the best betting races of the weekend if it holds together. Heros Reward, an earner of more than $1.1 million, has Velazquez named to ride in a lineup that also includes such accomplished speedsters as Ju Jitsu Jax, Ben’s Cat, Blue Sailor, and Yield Bogey.
$31,000 Legends for the Cure (race 7): Dedicated to raising funds and awareness for breast-cancer research, this six-furlong allowance is for retired female jockeys and will be limited to eight starters. Among those named to ride are Andrea Seefeldt, Abigail Fuller, Patti Cooksey, and Barbara Jo Rubin. This is the second year Pimlico has carded the "Legends’"race on the Preakness eve card.
$75,000 Miss Preakness (race 9): This race typically draws a short field, but not this year - 12 3-year-old fillies, including a Wesley Ward entry, will clash at six furlongs in another outstanding wagering event. Dominguez gets the call on the unbeaten local, Bold Affair, who was assigned post 1. Other notables include Sweet Susan, Full Moon Blues, Strike the Moon, Fast Tip, Final Mesa, and R Holiday Mood.
$75,000 The Very One (race 11): New York shippers Lady Rizzi (Dominguez) and Rose Catherine (Velazquez) look like the ones to beat in the filly-mare counterpart to the McKay. Threetimesawonder, a winner in 4 of her last 6, will ship from Delaware Park for Scott Lake as the one to catch in a well-matched field of 10 turf-sprinting distaffers.
$75,000 Hilltop (race 13): In a fitting conclusion to what shapes up as a terrific betting card, a full field of 14 3-year-old fillies is scheduled to go 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Excited, a Todd Pletcher filly exiting the Ashland, has Velazquez named as a prominent contender, with the opposition including such capable routers as Mount Holiday, Frontside, Subpoena, Blushandbashful, and Ms Silver Oak.
Full Card Info here for Fri 20th
http://equibase.com/static/entry/PIM052011USA-EQB.html
As for the signature Race #10 Black-Eyed Susan (Grade 2) for $250k
Seven three-year old fillies have entered the 1 1/8mi race
PP. Horse. Jockey
As mentioned European rider, Ms. Hayley Turner, will be riding several horses for the first time in the US. One of the rare bits of unique scandal in the UK you can have with a female jockey.
Wall Street Journal May 13, 2011 “Pimlico Trots Out ‘Kegasus’ for Post-Bankruptcy Preakness”
Kegasus will preside as “Lord of the Infield Fest,” an extravaganza with so much going on that the $1 million horse race may seem like a dog-and-pony show.
The Infield Fest features rock concerts from Bruno Mars and Train, a bikini contest on the Jägermeister Stage, a professional beach volleyball match and cornhole tournament. And for just $20 more, partiers can join Kegasus’s Mug Club and obtain a bottomless beer stein.
Chuckas said Kegasus’s power, along with increased marketing of the more traditional grandstand experience, appears to be having an effect. A week before the running, ticket sales are up 16% over last year.
I am forever hoping for another triple crown winner so I pick:
Animal Kingdom
Mucho Macho Man
Shackleford
Plans for Nehro going to the Preakness nixed by owner - pointed to Belmont instead
Zayat said he conferred with trainer Steve Asmussen, assistant trainer Scott Blasi, and exercise rider Carlos Rosas about Nehro. He said both he and Asmussen were “wavering” on whether to run. Nehro has run three times in the last six weeks. The Preakness would have been his fourth start in eight weeks.
Often complained about the Triple Crown is that nothing precludes “fresh legs” or horses who haven’t raced in the Derby to run in the Preakness. The assumption being that jumping in somehow gives an edge. Long ago that may have held true, it isn’t showing today.
The numbers actually don’t show much success of that:
Horses who try to crash the Triple Crown party after skipping the Derby are known as “new shooters.” From 1980 to '83, newbies took home first place in three of four Preakness Stakes but have only managed three more since then. Here’s the complete list of horses since 1919 who won the Preakness after not running in the Kentucky Derby:
2009 Rachel Alexandra
2006 Bernardini
2000 Red Bullet
1983 Deputed Testamony
1982 Aloma’s Ruler
1980 Codex
1972 Bee Bee Bee
1962 Greek Money
1951 Bold
1945 Polynesian
1942 Alsab
1934 High Quest
1929 Dr. Freeland
1928 Victorian
1925 Coventry
1924 Nellie Morse
1922 Pillory
1921 Broomspun
1920 Man o’ War
“New” runners for the Preakness will likely be Astrology, Dance City, Flashpoint, and King Congie.
I like the confident remarks from “Norm’s” camp - why enter the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown just to say you were there, go there to win
B’More Sun May 17: “High hopes for Norman Asbjornson”
Harry Nye, who co-owns Norman Asbjornson, the Preakness contender trained by Chris Grove, is blunt when asked about his horse’s chances in Saturday’s race.
“We’re going to win,” he said. “The horse is peaking at the right time and we’re going to surprise the hell out of everybody. We’re going to kick everybody’s butt.”
As of yesterday (May 16) the status of Concealed Identity, winner of the Federico Tesio Stakes on May 7 at Pimlico, is “80-20” to run in Saturday’s Preakness, said Linda Gaudet, who co-owns the horse with Morris Bailey.
Animal Kingdom it was thought would be hauled in late on Friday for Saturday’s race. Now it appears he might not come over until Saturday morning. Sparing him from having to “stay overnight in an unfamiliar environment.”
Motion said he doubts Animal Kingdom will need anything like a police escort on Saturday when he makes the hour-and-a-half drive to Pimlico. The trainer has a handful of other horses on the card that day, and will simply leave Fair Hill early enough that traffic on the hour-and-a-half drive won’t be an issue.
Let me tell ya…
Horses from Bowie, have been known to come up and snag some of the purse!!
Just saying…
~Emily
Not unheard of, especially for Graham Motion. In the U. K. shipping a horse to the track the day of the race is S. O. P.
[QUOTE=sportinghorsepolo;5604743]
But what a lovely head AK has!
http://gallery.pictopia.com/bloodhorse/gallery/7157/photo/bloodhorse:9523492/?o=1
:D[/QUOTE]
I have a Candy Stripes son and they all seem to have the same head. Check out Invasor. He, too, has the same head…the look of Eagles…
Love this line…
Drawing at 5pm EST today on HRTV only with a full field of 14-entered
In the mix will be Concealed Identity the local shooter. Regarding the 80-yr old trainer
Eddie Gaudet, a mainstay of the Maryland circuit for decades after moving here from his native New England, won the 1971 Black-Eyed Susan with At Arms Length and will have his first Preakness starter Saturday with longshot Concealed Identity. His wife, Linda, co-owns Concealed Identity with Morris Bailey, a longtime Gaudet client.
Gaudet, 80, has become a legend for being a top horseman and a practical joker.
“Eddie has won a lot of races and earned everybody’s respect,” said Larry Horning Jr., his brother-in-law and fellow trainer at the Bowie Training Center. “He’s also a lot of fun. He’s very engaging; he’ll talk to anybody. He talks about how the house when he was a kid had a dirt floor, how he’d gallop horses bare-footed. He’s got more stories than Mother Goose.”
Classic!
Try working for the man. He is a hoot and a half!
He has MANY nicknames on the track and I like him too much to divulge any here!!
~Emily
DRF 5-18 “Collmus mimics some great racing voices”
Larry Collmus, who on Saturday will be making his first Preakness call for NBC Sports, grew up in nearby Ellicott City and worked as a go-fer as a teen in the press boxes of Maryland racetracks. Besides honing his own race calls, Collmus, now 44, became an ace at imitating established announcers such as Dave Johnson, Marshall Cassidy, Ross Morton, Jack Lamar, Costy Caras, Bob Weems, and Dick Woolley.
“Actually, Jack Salter was my favorite,” said Collmus.
I’d be rather happy to hear Larry call this race with Dave Johnson’s smoother voice
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