The freakin preakness

Have no preview or anything for you guys,but the Preakness is taking place tonight at Pimlico..

Hopefully ORB can win to keep the triple crown bid going...

Only a nine horse field so traffic problems shouldnt be an excuse,11/10 with UK bookies atm looks pretty decent..

The field for Saturday's 138th running of the Preakness Stakes is set to take aim at Kentucky Derby winner Orb, as he attempts to become the first thoroughbred in 35 years to capture the Triple Crown, consisting of victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes.

Nine horses will go to the post at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern time for the mile and 3/16 race. Orb will have the No. 1 post position along the track's inside rail as trainer Shug McGaughey attempts to win his first Preakness, though he wouldn't have selected that spot to start from.

"Obviously, if I was going to pick it out, I wouldn’t have picked the ‘1.’ But with only nine horses in there to run a mile and three-sixteenths, with a rider like Joel (Rosario), he’s going to figure out what to do. He’ll have him in the right spot," McGaughey told reporters after Wednesday's post position draw.



Veteran trainer and five-time Preakness winner D. Wayne Lukas will have three horses in the race. Oxbow, who finished sixth in the Derby, and Will Take Charge, who finished eighth, will start from the sixth and seventh post positions, respectively. Lukas's third horse is Titletown Five, who will run out of the No. 3 post position. Titletown is owned in part by NFL Hall of Famers Paul Hornung and Willie Davis.

“I was satisfied all the way around with my three horses, especially Oxbow. It’s a small field with a good run to the turn. I don’t think it’s very significant, except maybe for Orb. Oxbow for a change got a decent post position, so that’s going to help there. I like what happened there very much," Lukas commented after the post position draw.

Another five-time winner, trainer Bob Baffert is in the field with Governor Charlie, who will start from the eighth spot. Governor Charlie was in the mix to run in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, but suffered an injury and was not entered in the race.

Baffert says his horse is healthy now and ready to compete over the mile and three-sixteenths distance.

"It’s a different group of horses he’s running with and it’s a classic, but he’s bred to run that far," Baffert told the New York Daily News.

Other Kentucky Derby horses that are in the Preakness include Mylute and Goldencents. Saturday's Preakness Stakes will be broadcast by NBC.

Racing fans had their eyes glued to their TV sets on May 18 to see if Orb could continue his quest towards the Triple Crown. But after a thrilling race, Oxbow took home the Preakness Stakes title!
The Preakness Stakes may not be as glamorous as the Kentucky Derby, but it is definitely just as exciting. This year’s race at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland featured the heavily-favored Orb, who was looking to move one step closer to claiming the first Triple Crown title in 35 years. But it was not meant to be!


Oxbow: 2013 Preakness Stakes Winner
Rain had intermittently fallen all day — creating a mucky track similar to the one Orb won on at the Kentucky Derby. The nine-horse field — smaller than the Kentucky Derby’s — quickly bunched up for the 9.5-furlongs race as the horses jockeyed for position, but Oxbow notably got out ahead. In a huge upset, the favorite Orb couldn't get anything going, and seemed stuck in place as the underdog horse Oxbow and his jockey Gary Stevens pulled ahead.

It was a huge upset win, with Oxbow taking the title as Orb finished 4th. It was an unbelievable run for Oxbow, who took the lead out of the gates and never gave it up.

Orb’s Quest For The Triple Crown Ends
Orb and his jockey Joel Rosario went into the Preakness Stakes with history on the brain. Only 11 horses have won the Triple Crown — a sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes — and the world has not seen a Triple Crown winner since 1978 in the horse Affirmed.

A bit of intrigue was added to the Preakness when Orb drew the rail position — the starting gate closest to the inside rail. It is widely known as the most difficult starting point to win a horse race, mostly because the other competing horses can squeeze the horse and force him to the back.

That obviously had an effect on the race, as Orb clearly got pinched into the pack and couldn't find room to run forward. Looks like we’ll have to wait yet another year for that Triple Crown.

Txs James

REPLAY

thanks for the link Hibs...(tu)