The 148thPreakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course is set for Saturday, May 20. The second leg of the Triple Crown has a purse of $1.5 million, with the winner’s share at $900,000. US Racing will profile all the contenders. The post-position draw is Monday, May 15. Profiles will be updated with odds and post positions following the draw.
By US Racing Tean
He’s super, thanks for asking.
Blazing Sevens, that is, the 3-year-old trainer Chad Brown will saddle in the Preakness with a chance to win the second leg of the Triple Crown a second year in a row and for the third time in his career.
After his Champagne (G1) winner posted a 5-furlong work in 1:00.02 at Belmont Park on Saturday (May 13), Brown is looking forward to the trip to Baltimore with this 3-year-old son of Good Magic.
“The horse did super. I was really pleased with the work,” Brown said.
Irad Ortiz, Jr., who rode the colt for the first time in the Blue Grass (G1) on April 8 and finished third behind Tapit Trice and Verifying, was aboard for the work and will pilot him again in the Preakness.
“It went perfect. He was within himself. He’s fit and happy,” Ortiz said.
After a winning debut at Saratoga last summer, he ran a distant third in the Hopeful (G1) over a sloppy and sealed track. He won the Champagne in the slop at Belmont and ran fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) to close out his 2-year-old campaign.
He finished eighth in the Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park before Ortiz rode him for the first time in the Blue Grass.
Blazing Sevens had enough points to make the Kentucky Derby (G1) field, but Brown chose to take a pass and aim for the Preakness. Neither of his Preakness winners ran in the Derby (Cloud Computing in 2017 and Early Voting in 2022).
“When he threw a big clunker in the Fountain of Youth and didn’t do any running, it really set me back fitness wise and I was just trying to play catch up at that point getting into the Derby,’’ Brown said. “I have no regrets sitting the Derby out the way it unfolded. I think this is the right decision for this particular horse at this point in time.”
2023 Preakness Entries: Blazing Sevens
Post position: 7
Odds: 6-1
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Owner: Rodeo Creek Racing
Career record: 6-2-0-2
Career earnings: $565,250
Best Equibase speed figure: 98
Pedigree: Good Magic-Trophy Girl, Warrior’s Reward
Color: Bay
Running style: Mid-pack
Notes: Bob Baffert is the last trainer two win the Preakness two years in a row – with Point Given in 2001 and War Emblem in 2002 … Ortiz, the nation’s leading rider, was set to ride Derby favorite Forte before the colt was scratched the morning of the race with a slight foot bruise.
2023 Preakness Stakes Post Positions and Odds
| PP | Horse | Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Treasure | 4-1 | John Velazquez | Steven M. Asmussen |
| 2 | Chase The Chaos | 50-1 | Sheldon Russell | Ed Moger Jr. |
| 3 | Mage | 8-5 | Javier Castellano | Gustavo Delgado |
| 4 | Coffeewithchris | 20-1 | Jaime Rodriguez | John E. Salzman Jr. |
| 5 | Red Route One | 10-1 | Joel Rosario | Steven M. Asmussen |
| 6 | Perform | 15-1 | Feargal Lynch | Claude R. McGaughey III |
| 7 | Blazing Sevens | 6-1 | Irad Ortiz Jr. | Chad C. Brown |
| 8 | First Mission | 5-2 | Luis Saez | Brad H. Cox |