Preakness Stakes Expert Predictions and Handicapping
Preakness Stakes Hall of Fame horse trainer Bob Baffert is on the cusp of placing another notable album in horse racing — if he win the 1 million Preakness (G1) for the eighth time.
Authentic, together with stablemate Thousand Words, provide Baffert two shots at Preakness win No. 8, that will move him forward of 19th century coach Robert Wyndham Walden. Baffert is seeking to go 6-for-6 when he directs his Derby winner to what he’s become the next leg of the Triple Crown, and two weeks after a Derby run on the first Saturday in May.
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“2 weeks, however. It had been fourteen days. We have got a month today,” Baffert, who has two Triple Crown winners in Western Pharoah and Justify, clarified. “I’d have loved to conduct two weeks after because he [Authentic] was only full of himself fourteen days later. It is simply giving horses moment to freshen up. You’ve got fresh shooters now. It turned around today.”
Preakness Stakes Odds: Thousand Words, Authentic
Authentic Winning The Kentucky Derby – Courtesy of Churchill Downs/Coady Photography.
And why not he? Try this: When he wins the Preakness, together with Authentic or Thousand Words (6-1), his album will be 8-for-the-19-years he has had a horse/horses at the race. And he would increase his”batting” ordinary from .388 into .421 — maybe not too many .400 hitters around nowadays, particularly in Baltimore.
I believe that he [Authentic] will run his own race,” Baffert said. “He has not regressed. He looks excellent.”
A little more intrigue was inserted when coach Kenny McPeek entered his celebrity filly Swiss Skydiver to shoot on Baffert’s duo in addition to second-betting decision Art Collector (5-2), a horse which beat the filly from the Blue Grass (G2).
“She proceeds to do great. She continues to impress us daily,” McPeek said. “She eats terrific. You can not have fear. We’d love to find the big prize, and now we are.”
Swiss Skydiver, winner of this Alabama (G1) and second in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) following her loss from the Blue Grass, has an Opportunity to become the sixth largest filly to win the Preakness, and also the first because Rachel Alexandra at 2009.
Just like Authentic, Swiss Skydiver enjoys to be at or near the front of the package.
Preakness Stakes Handicapping, Best bet
The area includes three entrances from Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, who’s looking for his third party Preakness win (Curlin at 2007 and Rachel Alexandra would be others): Excession in 30-1; Max Player in 15-1 and Pneumatic in 20-1.
Other contenders include Tom Drury-trained Art Collector, 4-0 this season and scratched prior to the Derby with a slight foot injury, and Mr. Big News (12-1), who conducted a surprising third in the Derby in 46-1 for coach Bret Calhoun.
Asmussen considers Max Player is on the upswing after taking over as coach for Linda Rice and sending him into some fifth-place end at the Derby.
Excession has not run as a second-place end to Nadal at the Rebel Stakes (G2) on March 14. Pneumatic, a boy of Uncle Mo, appears like a wise-guy option among handicappers since the race develops nearer, having won the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park on Aug. 15, and coaching nicely into this timeless.
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The Majority of the field came in Pimlico on Tuesday, and have gotten a Opportunity to get Knowledgeable about the monitor
“Both horses do good. They look great out here,” Baffert said after he saw dawn gallops. “This path is really tender. You simply don’t listen to them. I have always adored this surface “
As a result of rigorous COVID-19 health and security limitations, no spectators will be in the track throughout Preakness weekend, even with only essential employees, such as personnel, jockeys, owners and trainers, on site. All will be asked to undergo health checks.
With numerous health and travel limitations, a number of the country’s top jockeys won’t be riding at the Preakness.
Preakness Stakes Odds: Trainer Bob Baffert
Bob Baffert and Maximum Security – Courtesy of Santa Anita press release
While Baffert said it’d have been better to conduct a delayed Triple Crown in its typical order of Derby-Preakness-Belmont, he is OK with how it has turned out — up to now.
“I think it’d been a fantastic situation. I just feel blessed that we have this.
Back in Baltimore for a couple of days now, Baffert says there is no Preakness buzz.
“It does not feel as though Preakness, but it does the afternoon of,” he explained. “It is similar to the Kentucky Derby. It did not feel as though Derby that afternoon, but if that gate came it felt just like Derby. All you’re hoping for is that your horses appear and should they flip for home you are trusting you have something to cause. That is it. That is everything you can ask for.”
Miriam Lee has always been a horse racing fan thanks to trips to the tracks in her home state of Maryland with her father as kid. She owns an OTTB and is an advocate for promoting the sport among her peers. Miriam studies communication arts at Hood College and will receive her master’s degree in 2021, which she plans to use for a career in screenwriting. Her all-time favorite racehorse is Man O War.
