It was raining at Pimlico Racecourse on Saturday, hours before the Kentucky Derby winner. Mystic Dan He aims to win the Triple Crown in a row. Take on 7 other horses in the Preakness Stakes.
This will be his first time winning both the Derby and Preakness since Justify in 2018. If that happens, the Triple Crown will be on the line at next month’s Belmont Stakes, creating an unusual and historic moment. first time at Saratoga Racecourse in upstate New York. Belmont Park renovation work in New York City.
Mystic Dan would have to win. trained by bob baffert Imagination, Brad Cox’s Catching Freedom The main challengers, Chad Brown’s Tuscan Gold and Preakness, could be run on muddy tracks, with rain expected to continue into the afternoon.
Baffert was scheduled to saddle two horses for the race, which was scheduled to start just after 7 p.m. EDT. Morning line favorites mousse I got scratched All week due to fever. Mystic Dan was the favorite to win Saturday’s opener with a 3-1 record, followed by Catching Freedom and Tuscan Gold with a score of 7-2 each and Imagination with a score of 9-2.
Mystic Dan’s trainer Kenny McPeek said this week: “Catch Freedom was training very well for the Derby.” “He’s a very good horse. And Bob, he won’t bring in anything but a good horse, and Chad also got a horse that won the Louisiana Derby (third place behind winner Catching Freedom). Yeah. It’s not something we take for granted.”
it wasn’t a given McPeak will send Mystic Dan to Baltimore on a two-week turnaround after the colt won the Kentucky Derby by a strong nose.But he one of three The number of horses running in the Preakness will increase by two in 2022 from one last year.
The reluctance of many trainers to run horses with the Derby and Preakness, once the norm for Triple Crown horses, raises questions such as: The prestige of the middle jewel And I fear it has become the series’ unwanted stepchild. There is debate about spacing out races to accommodate modern Thoroughbreds, who race less frequently than in previous eras.
This will look like this the last preakness Demolition of the now dilapidated Pimlico Racecourse is scheduled to begin early next year. The 150th run in 2025 will take place at a track still under construction, with plans to move to Laurel Park in 2026 and return to a rebuilt Pimlico in 2027.
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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
