Preakness
Barbaro seeks second jewel in racing’s Triple Crown BALTIMORE, Md. – A step closer to horse racing immortality or more Triple Crown heartbreak?
That is the question Kentucky Derby-winner Barbaro will answer today in the 131st Preakness Stakes here at Pimlico, the second jewel of racing’s Triple Crown. Eight other horses hope to stop the big, bay colt in the 1-3/16-mile race and extend the sport’s longest Triple Crown drought to 28 years.
But that will not be easy – judging from Barbaro’s dominant performance at Churchill Downs two weeks ago. In improving his career record to a perfect 6-0, Barbaro not only won the Derby by 6-1/2 lengths (the biggest margin in 60 years), but he also ran the final quarter-mile in 24.2 seconds. That’s the fastest final quarter at The Derby since the immortal Secretariat in 1973.
That kind of jaw-dropping finishing kick – coupled with Barbaro’s tactical speed – has many insiders insisting that this horse will become the first horse to win The Derby, Preakness and Belmont since Affirmed in 1978. Barbaro is currently an even money favorite Saturday and the odds will likely go lower come post time.
“We hoped he was going to run a big race,” said Barbaro trainer Michael Matz said of the Derby. “What surprised us was the ease he did it with … I thought, to his credit, that was a terrific performance.”
One that his challengers noticed as well.
“He’s undefeated and won the Derby by six lengths. What’s the knock on him?” asked Dan Hendricks, trainer of Brother Derek, the second choice of oddsmakers at 3-1. “… One of us is going to have to step up to beat him. He’s not going to come back to us.”
History is also on Barbaro’s side. Not only have six of the last nine Derby winners gone on to win the Preakness, but the Preakness has also hosted three undefeated three-year-old Derby winners. All three – Citation in 1948, Seattle Slew in 1977 and Smarty Jones two years ago – won the Preakness with Citation and Seattle Slew earning the Triple Crown at the Belmont.
“There’s a look in his eyes,” said Gretchen Jackson, one of Barbaro’s owners and breeders. “There’s a certain presence about him. That’s what people see.”
Barbaro will break from the No. 6 post Saturday. And more Preakness winners have started from that slot (15) than any other including Smarty Jones, which won by the biggest margin in Preakness history (11-1/2 lengths) two years ago, and Louis Quatorze, which set the Preakness record back in 1:53-2/5 back in 1996.
But Matz isn’t taking anything for granted.
“I think this horse can win the Triple Crown … but we don’t really know how he’ll run,” Matz said. “How much did a race like (The Derby) take out of him? But how much did it take out of the other horses (Brother Derek and Sweetnorthernsaint) that ran? We don’t know. He might just take the lead early and keep going. He’s done it before.”
Barbaro jockey Edgar Prado says racing needs Barbaro to come through Saturday and at The Belmont June 10.
“(A Triple Crown) would help everyone in racing because we need a hero,” Prado told reporters last week. “And Barbaro would be that hero.”
But not if Sweetnorthernsaint jockey Kent Desormeaux has anything to do with it. Desormeaux has guaranteed that his horse, which finished seventh after a rough trip at Churchill Downs, will finish no worse than second Saturday.
“I’m not much into guarantees but Kent knows this horse, he knows the field and he knows the track,” said Sweetnorthernsaint trainer Mike Trombetta.
History says that if anyone is going to beat Barbaro it will be either Sweetnorthernsaint (4-1) or Brother Derek, which rallied to a fourth-place finish at the Derby despite a bumpy ride.
A horse that ran in The Derby has won the Preakness 21 times in the last 22 years. The lone exception was back in 2000 when Red Bullet upset Derby-winner Fusaichi Pegasus, which went off as an overwhelming 3-10 favorite. Barbaro may approach that figure by post time Saturday.
The biggest question about Barbaro is how will he perform after only two weeks rest. Since early February, he’s run only two races, winning at Churchill Downs and at the Florida Derby April 6.
“The idea was that we could not have him race hard before the Derby, knowing that the next three races were going to be difficult for any three-year-old,” Matz said.
Barbaro, Brother Derek and Sweetnorthernsaint are the only Derby horses entered, the fewest for a Preakness since 1979 with the field of nine the smallest since 2000. Withers Stakes-winner Bernadini at 8-1 may be the best of the rest. Rounding out the field is Like Now (12-1), Greeley’s Legacy (20-1), Diabolical and Hemingway’s Key, both 30-1, and 50-1 long shot Platinum Couple.
E-mail John Lindsay at lindsayj(at)shns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com