Time To Bet: The Field For The 146th Preakness Stakes
Here are profiles the 10 horses entered for Saturday’s 146th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (G1). These updated profiles include odds and post positions, along with new developments over the past few days. The profiles were published in the past week, and are written by usracing.com contributors Ed McNamara, Lynne Snierson, Margaret Ransom, Jenny Kellner, and Richard Rosenblatt. The profiles are in post-position order.
1) RAM
By Jenny Kellner
- Ram is likely to be the longest shot in the field, but who cares when 85-year-old D. Wayne Lukas has a horse in the Preakness (G1)?
The Hall of Famer saddled his first Preakness winner in 1980, when Codex, with Angel Cordero, Jr., aboard bullied his way to victory over Kentucky Derby-winning filly Genuine Risk. Now, 41 years later, Lukas will be looking for a record-tying seventh win the in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
Ram needed eight races to win for the first time in a maiden claimer at Oaklawn Park on April 16 and followed it up with an allowance win at a mile at Churchill Downs on May 1.
“We realize he has to step forward to be effective,” Lukas said. “But when these horses are doing well, sometimes they’ll step up and do what you want them to do.”
In his first seven races from July 2020 through March 2021, his only in-the-money finish was a second back in September.
Nonetheless, Lukas said, “I always thought this horse had potential. He was immature; he’s a May 13 foal. I bought him as a yearling. I liked him then. He was a little bit feminine, which I like. I gave him plenty of time, waiting for him to come around.”
Ram, who will be ridden by Ricardo Santana, Jr., arrived by van – with Lukas riding shotgun — arrived at Pimlico from Churchill Downs on Monday.
“The ship was easy,” Lukas said. “I think this was the quickest we ever made it.”
Trainers Bob Baffert and Robert Wyndham Walden each have seven wins in the Preakness.
Lukas has pulled off many surprises during his illustrious career that totals more than 4,800 victories.
“I don’t have any grandiose ideas, but I think I could surprise some people how well this horse runs,” Lukas said. “I think the horses that ran in the Derby had a hard race. Ram had the most perfect prep for the Preakness you could have. He rated kindly behind those horses, circled them five, six wide and went off and won. Now whether that equates to a big Preakness, I don’t know.”
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders:RAM
Post position: 1
Odds: 30-1
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Jockey: Ricardo Santana, Jr.
Owner: Christina Baker, William Mack
Career record: 9-2-1-0
Career earnings: $119,615
Best Equibase speed figure: 88
Pedigree: American Pharoah-Miner’s Secret, by Mineshaft
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Mid-pack
Notes: Lukas’ six Preakness winners are Codex (1980); Tank’s Prospect (1985); Tabasco Cat (1985); Timber Country (1995); Charismatic (1999); and Oxbow (2013) … Lukas has won 14 Triple Crown races (Derby, 4; Preakness, 6; Belmont, 4) … Ram is a son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah … Purchased for $375,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
2) KEEPMEINMIND
By Margaret Ransom
Keepmeinmind was a solid juvenile, having won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs last Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs as a maiden, which came after a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) and a third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).
He hasn’t really been able to turn that form into a productive 2021 and is winless in three graded stakes, though his seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1) was better than it looked thanks to a troubled trip.
He was bred in Kentucky by Laoban’s owner/breeder Southern Equine Stables and was purchased privately by his current connections. Keepmeinmind is a large horse with no early speed, which is why he does his best running late. The Preakness will be his fourth track in his eighth career start.
He vanned to Pimlico on Tuesday for three full days of training over the Maryland oval’s main track.
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders:KEEPMEINMIND
Post position: 2
Odds: 15-1
Trainer: Robertino Diodoro
Jockey: David Cohen
Owners: Cyprus Creek Equine (Kevin Moody), Arnold Bennewith & Spendthrift Farm
Career record: 7-1-2-1
Career earnings: $424,987
Best Equibase speed figure: 99
Pedigree: Laoban-Inclination, by Victory Gallop
Color: Bay
Running style: Closer
Notes: Keepmeinmind was named after a song by the Zac Brown Band … Diodoro, a 46-year-old native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has more than 2,670 victories since 1995, including nine in graded stakes … Keepmeinmind was his first Kentucky Derby runner and will be his first Preakness starter … jokey David Cohen will also ride in the Preakness for the first time after riding in his first Derby aboard Keepmeinmind … Spendthrift Farm as an owner was represented by Horse of the Year and runner-up Authentic a year ago, though Moody and Bennewith will have their first Preakness starters this year … Laoban raced nine times with a single win coming in the 2016 Jim Dandy (G2) at Saratoga … Dam Inclination never raced.
3) MEDINA SPIRIT
By Ed McNamara
For the second straight year, Bob Baffert won the Kentucky Derby (G1) with a horse who early on wasn’t considered his best 3-year-old. John Velazquez replicated his ride on 8-1 shot Authentic last fall with 12-1 Medina Spirit, who also led throughout 1 1/4 miles at Churchill Downs.
(The Derby win is in jeopardy after the horse had a post-race positive for the corticosteroid betamethasone. If a second sample comes back positive, Churchill Downs said the horse would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be the winner. After much discussion, an agreement was reached to allow Medina Spirit to run in the Preakness)
Medina Spirit is a tough colt who in six races has never been out of the exacta. The $1,000 yearling already has earned more than $2 million over his $35,000 price as a 2-year-old. A rags-to-riches story for King of the World Baffert? Seems like a cosmic contradiction.
Despite losing his previous two races by a combined 12 1/4 lengths, the son of obscure sire Protonico won America’s Race by a half-length over Mandaloun. A half-length farther back was Hot Rod Charlie, a head in front of favored Essential Quality, the previously unbeaten 2-year-old champ.
“When the swarm came, I was expecting all those horses to go by him, and he just dug in and outran them all to the wire,” Baffert said. “That stretch can be brutal, and I wasn’t convinced until the last hundred yards.”
Medina Spirit gave Baffert a record-breaking seventh Derby trophy, for now. If he repeats at Pimlico, Baffert will break a tie with R.W. Walden, who won the Preakness seven time from 1875-88. It may be the first record in sports history to stand for 133 years.
The unlikely Derby hero will face a much weaker field in Baltimore than the one in Louisville. This time he’ll be the favorite, and no one will be surprised if he gives Baffert a shot at his third Triple Crown in seven years.
“He’s in peak form right now,” he said. “You don’t have to do much with a horse who just won the Derby. He’s a very courageous colt, and when Mandaloun came to him, he wasn’t going to let him go by.
“I can’t compare him with (Triple Crown winners) American Pharoah and Justify, because their Beyers were through the roof. But he’s tough and he’s getting better.”
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders:MEDINA SPIRIT
Post position: 3
Odds: 9-5
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: John Velazquez
Owner: Zedan Racing Stables
Career record: 6-3-3-0
Career earnings: $2,175,200
Best Equibase speed figure: 110
Pedigree: Protonico-Mongolian Changa, by Brilliant Speed
Color: Dark bay
Running style: Front-runner/stalker
Notes: Baffert’s first five Derby champions won the Preakness. Authentic ran second last September to the filly Swiss Skydiver … Medina, a city in Saudi Arabia, is a major Islamic pilgrimage site. Its Green Dome rises above the tomb of the prophet Muhammad … Owner Amr F. Zedan, a Saudi businessman, met Baffert at the 2018 Dubai World Cup. Zedan bought into 2014 Derby-Preakness star California Chrome shortly before he won the 2016 Dubai World Cup. “The problem is that I first tasted the sport on top with California Chrome,” Zedan said. “” thought that would be the norm.” He just won the Derby with a 12-1 shot, so maybe that is the norm for him.
4) CROWDED TRADE
By Richard Rosenblatt
Trainer Chad Brown’s one and only victory in a Triple Crown race came in the 2017 Preakness (G1), when Cloud Computing won by a head over Classic Empire at 13-1 odds.
The four-time Eclipse Award winning conditioner is back for another shot with Crowded Trade (and Risk Taking), a work in progress who skipped the Kentucky Derby (G1) after a third-place finish in the Wood Memorial (G2) on April 3.
Brown is one of the nation’s top trainers and wouldn’t pick this spot for his lightly raced (three career starts) son of More Than Ready chestnut colt unless he thought he was ready for a big effort.
Plus, there are many similarities between Cloud Computing and Crowded Trade – both won their 6-furlong debuts at Aqueduct; both ran second and then third in the Gotham (G3) and the Wood, both have Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables as an owner, and Javier Castellano rode Cloud Computing and is set to be aboard Crowded Trade.”
Said Brown: “When you look at the two horses the only difference is that at this stage of their development, I was more certain that Cloud Computing could get the distance than Crowded Trade. But I wouldn’t be surprised if this horse was able to do it, as well.”
Crowded Trade looks like he runs best from off the pace, a running style that could work out with Derby winner Medina Spirit and stablemate Concert Tour – the expected favorites – likely to be up front. In the Wood, he got off to a slow start, and that may have compromised his chances in a race won by 72-1 shot Bourbonic, with Dynamic One second.
“It didn’t help, and it may have cost him the race,” said Brown. “Hopefully, he breaks cleaner this time.”
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders:CROWDED TRADE
Post position: 4
Odds: 10-1
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Javier Castellano
Owner: Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables
Career record: 3-1-1-1
Career earnings: $179,000
Best Equibase speed figure: 105
Pedigree: More Than Ready-Maude, by Jump Start
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Off the pace
Notes: Crowded Trade and stablemate Risk Taking both worked 5 furlongs on Saturday at Belmont Park in 1:01.76 … In addition to Cloud Computing, Brown also sent out Good Magic in the 2018 Preakness, where he finished fourth in the fog behind Justify … As for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness distance, Brown said “The distance is definitely a question mark, but he seems like a horse that’s improving.” … With 40 Derby qualifying points, Crowded Trade could have made the Derby, but Brown said, “We specifically sat out the Derby to try to give him a little bit more time in between starts and try a slightly shorter distance than the Derby (1 ¼ miles).” … Castellano is 2-for-8 in the Preakness, winning aboard Bernardini in 2006 and Cloud Computing in 2017.
5) MIDNIGHT BOURBON
By Lynne Snierson
Midnight Bourbon is wheeling back in two weeks after his sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1). His connections feel he’ll be mighty spirited since he was denied the chance to show his stuff after getting smashed by another horse out of the gate and then racing wide around both turns and through the lane.
The terrible trip in the Derby took away the colt’s preferred way of running, which is close to the pace.
“We didn’t think he got the opportunity that he deserved after he missed the break and his back end went out from underneath him,” said David Fiske, the racing and bloodstock manager for the Winchell family.
“He got jostled around by the horses on either side of him, then lost some ground. He was pretty wide on the second turn; I think eventually he ran 52 or 56 feet farther than the winner. So that would have put him a little closer. And speed seemed to be lethal on (Derby Day),” Fiske continued. “There weren’t a whole lot of horses that were closing on the front-runners. Then the fact that it took two handlers to get him back to the barn to give him a bath, it didn’t seem to take that much out of him. So, we thought we’d give it a try.”
Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen has won the Preakness twice, with Curlin in 2007 and with the filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009. Both of those horses would go on to be honored as Horse of the Year.
For the second jewel of the Triple Crown, Midnight Bourbon is getting a different partner. Hall of Famer Mike Smith was in the irons for the Derby, but with his commitment to ride Concert Tour in the Preakness for Bob Baffert, the mount opened and three-time Eclipse Award winner Irad Ortiz, Jr. takes over.
“The horse is doing great,” said Scott Blasi, the longtime assistant to Asmussen, who also conditioned 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner “I don’t think he did a lot of running early (in the Derby), so he seems to have come out of the race pretty fresh.”
Midnight Bourbon worked 4 furlongs in 50.20 seconds at Churchill Downs on Monday, and Asmussen said he’s excited about his Preakness chances.
“Driving back to the barn from the grandstand (after the workout), I was thinking how crazy we are as horsemen,’’ said Asmussen. “It’s only less than two weeks from the disappointment of the Derby, and here I am, thinking I’m going to win a classic again and I get all giddy.”
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders:MIDNIGHT BOURBON
Post position: 5
Odds: 5-1
Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds
Career record: 8-2-2-3
Career earnings: $461,420
Top Equibase speed figure: 99
Pedigree: Tiznow-Catch the Moon by Malibu Moon
Color: Bay
Running style: On the pace
Notes: The Winchells have bred and owned top quality horses for decades but are still seeking the family’s first winner in a Triple Crown race. Tenfold was their best finish in the race when he was third in the 2018 Preakness. The Winchells owned homebreds Untapable, champion 3-year-old filly and Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) winner; BC Dirt Mile (G1) winner Tapizar; and Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Summerly. All were trained by Asmussen. They also own super sire Tapit … Midnight Bourbon was bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet and brought $525,000 as a yearling in the Keeneland September sale … His dam, Catch the Moon, was unraced but has excelled as a broodmare.
6)ROMBAUER
By Richard Rosenblatt
By winning the El Camino Real Derby three months ago and finishing third in the Blue Grass (G2), Rombauer had enough qualifying points to run in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
The owners, John and Diane Fradkin, took a pass, opting to use an automatic berth – all fees paid — into the Preakness (via the win in the El Camino Real) and then move on to the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 5.
“That’s the plan,’’ said John Fradkin.
And so, Rombauer becomes one of many “new shooters” in the second leg of the Triple Crown. The son of Twirling Candy runs from off the pace, and trainer Michael McCarthy said with no early pace in the Blue Grass, his colt did not run one of his better races, finishing behind Essential Quality and Highly Motivated.
“The horse laid a little closer than I would have liked but ran a credible third (to Essential Quality and Highly Motivated).”
The plan calls for a weekend workout at Santa Anita, and then the trip to Pimlico.
With Derby winner Medina Spirit and stablemate Concert Tour the likely pacesetters, Rombauer could have a chance to hit the board in a field about half the size of the 19 horses that ran in the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Rombauer has competed against some of the top 3-year-olds so he should not be overlooked here. He ran second in the American Pharoah (G2) to Get Her Number and ahead of Spielberg and was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) won by Essential Quality.
“He’s done everything and made a nice little progression from 2 to 3,” said McCarthy. “He’s put on a little weight. He’s a horse that takes pretty good care of himself, so he’s been pretty easy that way.”
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders:ROMBAUER
Post position: 6
Odds: 12-1
Trainer: Michael McCarthy
Jockey: Flavien Prat
Owners: John and Diane Fradkin
Career record: 6-2-1-1
Career earnings: $290,500
Best Equibase speed figure: 100
Pedigree: Twirling Candy-Cashmere, by Cowboy Cal
Color: Bay
Running style: Off the pace
Notes: Prat rode Hot Rod Charlie to a third-place finish in the Derby … Rombauer is 0-for-3 on dirt, his wins coming on turf at Del Mar and on the synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields … Prat will be the sixth jockey to ride Rombauer in his seventh career start … This will be McCarthy’s first Preakness starter … Fradkin was a bond salesman living on the West Coast when he got into racing business in 1993, and then the breeding business in 1997. He says he breeds to sell horses, but Rombauer was among the exceptions because he was “an averaged sized horse” that made him “less than a sales prospect than we would have liked.’’
7) FRANCE GO DE INA
By Ed McNamara
This Japan-based colt has one of the most unusual names in Triple Crown history, so he’ll draw attention for that. To get to Pimlico, France Go de Ina took two flights covering about 7,900 miles (Japan to Los Angeles to Newark) before a four-hour van ride.
He hasn’t run since racing sixth on March 27 in the UAE Derby, his 3-year-old debut. Joel Rosario retains the mount after riding him in Dubai that day, when they were compromised by a slow start. France Go de Ina lost all chance to catch winner Rebel’s Romance but made up ground with a grinding rally to finish about 10 lengths behind.
Last year, the Kentucky-bred son of 2013 Travers hero Will Take Charge won two 9-furlong races at Hanshin Racecourse after running fourth in his career debut at 6 1/2 furlongs.
He’ll be the first Japan-based Preakness runner since Lani, a temperamental gray who ran fifth behind Exaggerator in 2016. The durable Lani raced in all three classics, finishing ninth in the Kentucky Derby and third, only 1 1/2 lengths behind Creator, in the Belmont. Two years ago, Japan’s Master Fencer ran sixth in the Derby and fifth in the Belmont after skipping the Preakness.
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders:FRANCE GO DE INA
Post position: 7
Odds: 20-1
Trainer: Hideyuki Mori
Jockey: Joel Rosario
Owner: Yuji Inaida
Career record: 4-2-0-2
Career earnings: $162,184
Best Equibase speed figure: N/A
Pedigree: Will Take Charge-Dreamy Blues, by Curlin
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Speed/stalker
Notes: The presence of Rosario, one of the country’s top riders, will make France Go de Ina’s odds shorter than they should be … Mori, a big-time trainer in his homeland, won his second straight Saudi Derby this year. Pink Kamehameha, in his dirt debut, finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Cowan, ridden by Rosario and trained by Steve Asmussen. Mori won last year’s Saudi Derby with Full Flat. Second was international superstar Mishriff, who this year won the world’s richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup.
8) UNBRIDLED HONOR
By Jenny Kellner
The way things have been going for trainer Todd Pletcher, maybe this is the year he can pull off his first Preakness victory when he sends out maiden winner Unbridled Honor.
A longshot for sure in Saturday’s second leg of the Triple Crown, but Unbridled Honor seems to be headed closer to the winner’s circle in a big race.
He ran fourth in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2), then second behind King Fury in the Lexington Stakes (G3) on April 10 and did not run in the Derby. Pletcher, however, sent out four other horses, none of them having hit the board.
A Pletcher runner in the Preakness is rare, since the two-time Derby winner prefers to give his runners time off after such a big race. Unbridled Honor will be his 10 Preakness starter and his eighth Preakness.
Pletcher also was elected to racing’s Hall of Fame recently in his first year of eligibility. He won the Florida Derby (G1) with Known Agenda, the Wood Memorial (G2) with 72-1 longshot Bourbonic, and the Kentucky Oaks (G1) with unbeaten Malathaat.
Unbridled Honor will be ridden by Luis Saez and leave from post 8. The son of Honor Code worked 4 furlongs in 49.75 seconds at Belmont Park on Saturday (May 8).
“It looks like all systems are go, assuming that everything is in good order (coming out of the breeze),’’ Pletcher said.
“He ran well in the Lexington, I thought he ran sneaky good at Tampa,” Pletcher said last week. “I trained him at Churchill, and I thought he breezed very well. He’s a horse I think will appreciate some pace in the race, which, I think the way this is going to shape up, we’re going to see a contested pace.”
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders: UNBRIDLED HONOR
Post position: 8
Odds: 15-1
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Luis Saez
Owner: Whisper Hill Farm
Career record: 5-1-1-0
Career earnings: $78,550
Best Equibase speed figure: 98
Pedigree: Honor Code-Silvery Starlet, by Unbridled’s Song
Color: Gray
Running style: Closer
Notes: Pletcher is winless with nine starters over seven runnings of the Preakness. Impeachment, third in 2000, was his best finish … Pletcher’s Derby winners, Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017 both ran in the Preakness and both finished eighth … Saez will be riding in his second Preakness; he finished second with Bravazo in 2018. Saez is the regular rider for Essential Quality, the Derby favorite who ran fourth and is not in the Preakness.
9) RISK TAKING
By Richard Rosenblatt
With Risk Taking joining stablemate Crowded Trade in the Preakness field, owner Seth Klarman and trainer Chad Brown now have two shots at winning the second leg of the Triple Crown for the second time.
In 2017, the owner/trainer combo won the Preakness with Cloud Computing – the four-time Eclipse Award winning trainer’s lone victory in a Triple Crown race.
After a win in the Withers (G3) established this son of Medaglia d’Oro as a Kentucky Derby contender, he finished seventh in the Wood Memorial (G2) after a bobble at the start and a wide run around the track.
Skipping the Derby allowed Brown and his team to regroup, and Risk Taking responded with a pair of impressive works at Belmont Park over the past two weeks. Jose Ortiz, one of the nation’s top jockeys, has the call as he seeks his first Preakness win.
With an outside post, Brown figures there’s enough speed in the race with the likes of favorites Medina Spirit and Concert Tour that “hopefully, the field gets strung out a little before the first turn and he (Risk Taking) can drop in. Just let Jose work out his trip from there.”
Risk Taking was a late scratch from last weekend’s 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan (G3) at Belmont Park, with Brown figuring the two-turn Preakness might be a better fit, not to mention the $1 million purse.
“It was a huge factor along with the distance of the race,” Brown said. “I think the longer the better for him. Both of his wins are around two turns, and I didn’t want to change anything.”
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders:RISK TAKING
Post position: 9
Odds: 15-1
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Owners: Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables
Career record: 5-2-0-0
Career earnings: $200,030
Best Equibase speed figure: 102
Pedigree: Medaglia d’Oro-Run a Risk, by Distorted Humor
Color: Bay
Running style: Closer
Notes: On May 1, Risk Taking worked 5 furlongs in 1:00.34, and followed that up on May 8 with a 5-furlong work in 1:01.76, both at Belmont Park. “His last two works were the best we’ve seen,” Brown said … Ortiz will ride in his fourth Preakness, his best previous finish was fourth aboard Good Magic (trained by Brown) in 2018 … Klarman and William H. Lawrence co-owned 2017 Preakness winner Cloud Computing.
10) CONCERT TOUR
By Ed McNamara
This speedy colt emerged as a serious 3-year-old by leading throughout a 4 1/4-length runaway in Oaklawn’s Rebel Stakes (G2).
Heading into the Arkansas Derby (G1) on April 10, Concert Tour looked like Bob Baffert’s best chance for a record seventh Kentucky Derby win. How little we know.
Instead, he tired after stalking Caddo River through quick fractions and faded to third as the 1-5 favorite. It was his first loss in four career starts.
“It was a very deflating race for us,” Baffert said. “We really thought we had the goods there, but for some reason he came up short.”
Gary West figured Concert Tour should skip the Derby, and he did.
“I never had an owner who had a nice horse talk me out of running in the Kentucky Derby,” Baffert said. “He said let’s give the horse a couple weeks and maybe run him in the Preakness if he’s doing well.”
Apparently, he is, and he’ll give Baffert a chance to win his eighth Preakness, which would break 19th-century horseman R.W. Walden’s 133-year-old record.
Concert Tour turned in two sharp 5-furlong breezes at Churchill Downs, including one May 9 of 1:00 2/5, and will be entered for Saturday’s 146th Preakness.
“We’ll run in it and see if he’s as good as we think he is,” Baffert said. “Or maybe he’s not as good as we think he is. We’ll give him a chance. I still think he’s a good horse.”
Baffert has won a record 17 Triple Crown races, so his opinion generally is pretty accurate. Don’t be surprised if Concert Tour rebounds dramatically from his Arkansas Derby dud.
2021 Preakness Stakes Contenders:CONCERT TOUR
Post position: 10
Odds: 5-2
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Owners: Gary and Mary West
Career record: 4-3-0-0
Career earnings: $856,600
Best Equibase speed rating: 106
Pedigree: Street Sense-Purse Strings, by Tapit
Color: Bay
Running style: Front-runner
Notes: Like Baffert’s 2018 Triple Crown winner, Justify, Concert Tour didn’t run as a 2-year-old. Concert Tour didn’t debut until Jan. 15. The Preakness will be his fourth stakes … Mike Smith replaces Joel Rosario, who will ride Japan-based France Go de Ina. Smith rode Preakness probable Midnight Bourbon to a sixth-place finish in the Derby after a troubled start and a wide trip … West and his wife, Mary, also owned Maximum Security, who was disqualified from first in the 2019 Derby and placed 17th for interference … The Wests have owned horses for more than 30 years, winning numerous major stakes but never a Triple Crown event.