It’s not too often that a Kentucky Derby winner won’t then be favored for the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, but that is the case for Saturday’s race at Pimlico at Baltimore.
Despite finishing second in the Derby, Bodemeister was installed as the 8-5 WagerWeb.com favorite for Saturday’s race and will break from Post 7. The colt, trained by Bob Baffert, set the pace at Churchill Downs before being overtaken in the stretch by I’ll Have Another, who won by 1 1/2 lengths.
I’ll Have Another is the second-favorite in the Preakness at 5-2. He breaks from Post 9 in the field of 11 entered for the Preakness. Four of the top five finishers in the Derby are in the field. Six Derby contestants were entered for the second jewel of the Triple Crown with five newcomers. The field is the smallest since 2007, when Curlin beat Derby winner Street Sense in a nine-horse field.
Should I’ll Have Another win the Preakness, the Kentucky-bred son of Flower Alley would be positioned to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. The Santa Anita champion, undefeated in 2012, suffered a shin injury last September and has raced only three times as a 3-year-old.
Bodemeister, who was sent off the slight 4-1 favorite for the Derby, can give Baffert his sixth Preakness victory and his first since Lookin At Lucky won the race in 2010. Bodemeister set one of the quickest tempos in Kentucky Derby history (:22.32, :45.39, 1:09.80 for the first six furlongs) last Saturday with Mike Smith aboard and led by three lengths in the stretch. But he could not fend off the determined challenge from 15-1 shot I’ll Have Another, who reeled in the leader under little known jockey Mario Gutierrez near the sixteenth pole and drew clear for the triumph.
Bodemeister became only the sixth horse in Derby history to run the opening six furlongs under 1:10, and of those only the second to “hit the board,” or finish in the top three. (Spend a Buck won the 1985 Derby after opening up a six-length advantage in 1:09.60.) I’ll Have Another ran the final quarter-mile in 25.99 seconds. That enabled him to catch and pass a dead-tired Bodemeister, who ran the final quarter-mile in 26.94.
At Pimlico there is only one reason to question Bodemeister, and it has nothing to do with his talent. The colt has crammed his whole five-race career into the span of four months, and the exertions may have taken a toll on him. After the Derby, Baffert said, “I was worried that he might be wiped out and stay in the back of his stall for three days and sulk.” But Baffert believes his colt has bounced back and is ready to run at the level he did in the Derby.
Also entered in the Preakness are Tiger Walk (30-1), Teeth of the Dog (15-1), Pretension (30-1), Zetterholm (20-1), Went the Day Well (6-1), Creative Cause (6-1), Daddy Nose Best (12-1), Optimizer (30-1) and Cozzetti (30-1).
Place your Preakness bets at our online racebook!
Related Posts
- Bodemeister is one to beat in 138th Kentucky Derby (May 4, 2012)
- The 138th Kentucky Derby: Pretenders, Maybes and Contenders (May 3, 2012)
- Kentucky Derby Betting – Don’t Rely on Horse-for-Course Angle in Derby (May 1, 2012)
- Greg Melikov’s Horses to Watch – Kentucky Derby Betting (Apr 30, 2012)
- Kentucky Derby – Horse Racing Rules And Regulations (Apr 30, 2012)








