Photo from Google Images
The Royal Wedding is this Saturday for those who want to wake up super early to watch. I lost all interest when I heard they were serving lemon cake as the wedding cake. It sounds awful! Another big event is happening on this side of the pond in Baltimore, MD; The 143rd running of the Preakness Stakes!
The one mile and three-sixteenths track is going to be another muddy race for the second race of the triple crown series with the weather forecast showing 100% chance of rain. Some horses are not bothered at all by rain and this years Derby winner, Justify, showed his speed in the rain. Until 2015 when American Pharoah ended a 37-year Triple Crown drought, almost 1/3 of all of the Kentucky Derby winners won the Preakness two weeks later.
With Justify as the Derby winner and the Preakness favorite, the Bob Baffert trained horse is trying to move Baffert from being tied with trainer Wayne Lukas (Sporting Chance and Bravazo) with six wins to tie the all-time Preakness winner R. Wyndham Walden with seven wins. But don’t ask Baffert or Lukas about the Preakness record. They have grown close over the years. Baffert asked Lukas to be the one who inducted Baffert into the Hall of Fame in 2009. Neither of them want to talk about the record, but both of them want to win the race on Saturday.
“This is my favorite leg of the Triple Crown because it’s a relaxed atmosphere, everyone’s in the same barn so we can hang out with each other. The tension of the Derby is over, I love this place!” said Baffert.
Justify was given a patch after bruising his hind leg in the Derby and if that injury flares up during Saturday’s race, the betting world will go nuts and the triple crown drought continues another year. As they say in Pimlico; If it doesn’t happen here, it doesn’t happen at all.
Happy Birthday, Lil Bush! Sorry, due to a flight back to LA, I have to miss your party in DC. But next year, we are celebrating in Vegas!