BALTIMORE fans are back at Pimlico Race Course for another chance to win a Triple Crown.
The Preakness will feel a little normal again, even if everything has a giant asterisk on it.
The limited capacity of 10,000 Fans expected on Saturday is far less than the 100,000, which usually packs the stands and infield and is a fraction of the 50,000 that saw Medina Esprit win the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs two weeks ago. The Bob Baffert-trained stallion was released Friday for the return leg of the Triple Crown after failing a medicine test after the Derby.
All eyes are on the Preakness to see what happens next in the recent chapter in the horse racing drama.
“If Medina Spirit wins the Preakness on Saturday, the general public will immediately say, “Oh, well, look, there’s still something funny going on,”” NBC Sports analyst Matt Bernier said. “If he’s not doing well for some reason, the general public is always going to look at him and say, ‘look, there was something funny going on in the Kentucky Derby. It’s a winless situation for Bob Baffert, for everyone who deals with the horse, and for the whole industry.”
Due to the presence of the derby winner with a triple Crown still possible when the starting gates open, the Preakness is usually the safest bet on the sports calendar. The last two years have broken this trend: the races were out of order in due to the recent times, and the Preakness came out at the end of the Derby chaos, after Maximum Security, who had finished first, was disqualified and Country House was voted the winner-although both horses skipped the Preakness.
Medina Spirit is a spoiled Champion after 21 picogram of the steroid betamethasone in his Postrace blood sample on May 1. but he will have another opportunity in the Preakness after he and Stablemate Concert Tour passed three additional Prerace medicine tests that were agreed upon by Baffert and Maryland Racing officials.
“Although we recognize the difficult circumstances that have led to this additional need for transparency, this above all reflects the fact that the principles of integrity, responsibility and safety in our Sport are non-negotiable.”said Craig Fravel, CEO of 1/St Racing, a brand arm of the Stronach Group that owns Pimlico Race Course.
Medina open mind as 9-5 acres Favorite line and concert tour of the 5-2 second choice. By Friday night, Midnight Bourbon had become the 5-2 favorite.
“I have people calling me (saying), “I really like your horse,”” owner Ron Winchell of Winchell Thoroughbreds said of Midnight Bourbon. “It’s hard not to be too optimistic.”
Aside from the circus around Medina Spirt and Baffert — who is not in Baltimore and has blamed Assistant Jimmy Barnes — there’s a lot of optimism about 10 horses running in front of Fans again at the Preakness. It may not be a full-fledged party like the Derby and won’t be a blocked court, but the black-eyed Susan drinks will be circulating at Pimlico again.
“Welcome, to say the least,” said Steve Asmussen, who coaches Midnight Bourbon. “It was such a rush to the Derby this year. We just didn’t have Fans, and you almost weren’t ready for that. But the energy level before the race, during the race, wow, that was so welcome. And we needed it.”
The short lap of the last Preakness Oct. 3 gave Barnes less time to recover from a broken right hand after a camp accident at the Kentucky Derby in September. 5. he’s just happy to get back to work and doesn’t mind signing up for Baffert.
“I’m used to it,” Barnes said. “I travel all the time. I’m always on the road, and when Bob’s around sometimes, it’s great. If Bob can’t do it, then I just have to take it easy and keep walking and try to do my best and try to win.”
Aside from the Triple Crown Out-of-Order, Baffert-trained Derby winners are undefeated in the Preakness. The previous two, Justify in American Pharoah, won the Belmont.
“The Derby is the hardest race to get through,” Barnes said. “To come here, I don’t know. It seems that the horses that run well in the Derby really show up here. At least every one of us.”
Bafferts Authentic lost an extension duel to Filly Swiss Skydiver in the first October Preakness without Fans. 1/ST Racing Marketing Director David Wilson said it’s not feeling good and is hoping for limited Preakness capacity this year and a bright future.
“It was just weird,” he said. “It will be great to have Fans back and we will move forward slowly. And I hope until Preakness 147 we have a full house.