An extra level of intrigue
Favorite Medina Spirit eyes Crown’s 2nd jewel after Derby drug saga
All week long, the talk has been about scandal and cheating and betamethasone. Horse racing, which is supposed to be shining at this time of year, has been reeling with the news that Medina Spirit, the winner of the most popular race on American soil, failed a postrace drug test following the Kentucky Derby.
But the game does go on, and here we are, at the 146th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes.
The Maryland Jockey Club announced late Friday afternoon that Medina Spirit would be allowed to run in the Preakness. The MJC made an agreement with Medina Spirit’s trainer Bob Baffert that all his horses running on Preakness weekend would be subject to drug testing. The final results came in and all of them — also including stablemate Concert Tour who is running
in the Preakness — have been cleared to run.
Ten horses are entered in the 13⁄16-mile race, led by Medina Spirit, who was installed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite. Right behind him is Concert Tour, who is 5-2. Baffert, the most recognized face in the sport,
decided to skip the Preakness because he wanted to avoid being a “distraction” here. He is home in California.
Instead, his top assistant, Jimmy Barnes has been at Pimlico supervising the training of his two horses.
He has refused to answer questions about his boss and the controversy around Medina Spirit. After the Derby, the horse tested for the regulated substance betamethasone. Baffert admitted that Medina Spirit has been treated for a skin rash with an ointment — Otomax — which contains betamethasone, an antiinflammatory drug.
Barnes will talk about the horses and the Preakness. Medina Spirit and Concert Tour will attempt to give Baffert his record eighth win in the second
leg of the Triple Crown.
Barnes said that Medina Spirit has bounced out of the Derby in great shape.
“He had no wear and tear,” he said. “He came out (of the Derby) in excellent shape and moved right ahead, forwardly. We only walked him three days and went right back to the track and jogged. That’s usually a sign — how soon we get back to the track — of how happy we are with the recovery
from the race.”
History has not been on the Derby winner’s side in the last dozen runnings of the Preakness. Just four horses that won the Run for the Roses came to Pimlico and left with the second jewel of the Triple Crown. The last to do it was Justify in 2018; the time before that was American Pharoah in 2015. Both of them then went to Belmont Park and won the Triple Crown.
Medina Spirit will be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez. In the Derby, he went straight to the lead with Medina Spirit and never lost it. In the Preakness, they have a formidable foe in Concert Tour, who has plenty of speed himself and will be motoring early with his jockey, Hall of Famer Mike Smith, who will ride him for the first time.
Concert Tour skipped the Derby after finishing third in the Arkansas Derby as the 1-5 favorite. Now, he jumps into the Triple Crown pool and figures to give Medina Spirit all he wants on the front end.
“I know which direction he’s heading and it’s the one we want to see him in,” Barnes said. “He’ll show up on Saturday.”
Only two other horses that ran in the Derby — Midnight Bourbon (6th) and Keepmeinmind (7th) — are in the Preakness. Most trainers will skip the
Preakness if they don’t win the Derby because running on just two weeks’ rest is not the norm these days.
There are horses coming to the Preakness because their trainers are not fearing the Derby winner. There is no American Pharoah or Justify in this group. At least according to those who are playing Saturday.
“It appears to be a wide-open group,” said Todd Pletcher, the newest member of the Racing Hall of Fame who will saddle Unbridled Honor in the Preakness. “Until someone steps up and wins a couple of these in a row, it seems like it’s the kind of year that you could see three different winners (in the three Triple Crown races).”
Unbridled Honor (15-1) last ran in the Lexington at Keeneland on April 10 and finished second.
“It’s a closely knit group of horses,” said trainer
Mike Mccarthy, who will try the Preakness with Rombauer (12-1), who was last seen finishing third in the Blue Grass, also at Keeneland, on April 3. “The last few years, speed has been dangerous in these Triple Crown races and it could be dangerous again this weekend. I don’t know if there is a superstar emerging out of this Triple Crown drop, but it’s a competitive field.”
Mccarthy said if Medina Spirit runs back to his Derby win, he will be tough to beat. He is hoping the two Baffert horses do get into a speed duel. That would help the chances of his late-running horse.
Post time for the Preakness is scheduled for approximately 6:50 p.m. Saturday. The race will be televised by NBC (WNYT-13).