Foggy run leaves trainers searching
Other races affected by wet weather; NBC’s ‘Bat Cam’ makes debut at Preakness
Three years ago, torrential rain and lightning right before and during the 143rd Preakness were talked about nearly as much as American Pharoah’s victory.
On Saturday night, a dense fog that shrouded the Pimlico Race Course for the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown was as much a part of the conversation as Justify’s win. It even shook up the horse’s co-owners. “When this race was going on, I was there and we were watching, and really what got to me more than anything is when they kind of turned for home and all of a sudden I couldn’t see him,” said. “That scared me to death. … Then finally they showed up right there. Boom. It was unbelievable.”
Said “It seemed like an eternity, but when they went into the fog, I was like, ‘Where are they? Where are they?’ Just the anticipation of them coming out and you knew when they went in that he was in front, so you you were hoping to see those white silks coming out.”
Winning trainer joked that he was thinking more about the race announcer than his horse.
“Well, I was thinking it’s got to be tough for the announcer,” Baffert said. “He was probably saying, ‘They’re in the backside, I can’t see horses, but there’s [rapper and InfieldFest headliner]
It’s like my boys were with me and they said, ‘I can’t see anything.’ When I heard my boys say, ‘He’s making his move,’ I saw the white colors turning for home.”
Saying the fog made the race “freakishly exciting,” the trainer of third-place finisher Tenfold, added that “there felt like there was a five-minute lull until you saw him again, and when they came out and he was considerably closer, you just jumped.”
Asmussen said that Saturday’s conditions, as well as those three years ago, are just part of the elements that horses have to deal with during a race. He compared it with being on an airplane descending from the clouds into an airport with low visibility and thinking a relatively safe landing has suddenly become treacherous.
“That’s what makes horse racing what it is — it affects every single one of them differently,” Asmussen said. “Great horses have to overcome it. It’s like anything. It’s like looking out of a window when you’re flying into town. What you think is a big deal can be extremely insignificant when put into perspective. It can stir you up a little bit, turn your tummy, you know?” Four of five races from turf to dirt: The steady rain that has pounded Pimlico Race Course for the past few days forced track officials to move four of the five scheduled turf races to the dirt track on Saturday, heavily inflating the number of pre-race scratches.
The decision was made out of concern for the safety of the horses, who lose traction when the turf gets too saturated.
The main track also was sloppy, but it has been sealed and is expected to be in decent shape for the Preakness if forecasts of diminishing rainfall this afternoon are correct.
The original 12-horse field for the second race on the 14-race Preakness program was the first to be affected, with just four horses actually running.
In all, 27 horses have been scratched from the five races scheduled for turf. The move, announced ahead of the first race of the day, was expected to prompt a lot of trainers to scratch their horses, either for competitive or safety concerns.
The only turf race remaining was the ninth race of the day — the $150,000 guaranteed Gallorette Stakes, won by New NBC camera offers overhead view of backstretch: Preakness viewers who did not brave the rain and mud at Pimlico will get to watch the race from a new angle this year, thanks to an overhead camera NBC debuted at the Kentucky Derby.
Dubbed the “Bat Cam,” the cableoperated device will follow action along the backstretch, far from the view of the standard play-by-play camera NBC has used in previous years.
“It feels like you’re hovering 18 feet above the horses, traveling at the same speed,” said NBC producer who’s supervising his 20th Triple Crown telecast. “It really feels like you’re a very tall jockey.”
Hyland said NBC originally used the camera to deliver an intimate, high-speed view of NASCAR races.
“I think every sports product is in search of ways to bring the viewer closer to the action,” he said. Third-best attendance and handle: An announced 134,487 came to Pimlico on Saturday, ending a four-year rise in Preakness Day attendance.
The total is down 4.2 percent from last year’s record — when more favorable weather conditions helped draw out an announced 140,327 — but was still the third largest in the event’s 143-year history.
Saturday’s total Preakness handle was $93.655 million, also falling short of last year’s record mark of $97.168 million. It is likewise the third-largest handle ever. No Preakness Day bikini contest: In deciding to reconfigure the infield at Pimlico for the 2018 Preakness, the Maryland Jockey Club did away with the bikini contest this year.
The new infield design accommodates one big stage and gives fans more sight lines to the track.
“I think it was discarded merely in the restructuring of the Infield Fest this year,” Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager said Saturday morning.
He added that the timing with the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment was coincidental.