Preakness Stakes

Baseball had a problem. Because games were taking way too long, because stolen bases were near an all-time low, because defensive shifts were cutting down on offense, the product that is baseball wasn't as good as it could be. Too many boring, interminable, bad games could only mean one thing, that fans were and would continue to lose interest in the national pastime. Sound familiar? Horse racing has a Triple Crown where the product has been weakened because trainers, who simply refuse to run their horses back on short rest,...

Perform (Good Magic) tuned up for Saturday's GI Preakness S. with a half-mile drill in :48.09 (2/42) over the main track at Belmont Park Sunday. Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Perform worked just after the renovation break under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-60s, completing his exercise to the outside of his maiden workmate Weyhill Road (Quality Road). McGaughey said the work was just what he hoped to see ahead of the colt's graded stakes debut. "I was very pleased with the way he worked and...

Sunrise at Old Hilltop will once again offer fans a unique behind the scenes walking tour of historic Pimlico Race Course this week. Suspended in 2020 and 2021 amidst the pandemic, the popular event returned in 2022. "Everything turned out great. People loved coming back," tour director and guide Fran Burns said. "I think it actually gained popularity because more people had heard about it, either on television or through word of mouth." Admission to the Sunrise at Old Hilltop tours is free and is on a first-come, first-served basis...

Next week at this time, we'll know if the sport is on the cusp of another Triple Crown sweep. Of all the potential excuses for GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) not emerging victorious from the GI Preakness S., intense media pressure is unlikely to be one of them. You could make the argument that the diminutive, white-blazed chestnut with the endearing overbite has enjoyed one of the least-scrutinized post-Derby weeks of any winner in recent history. That's not so much because the spotlight on his accomplishment has dimmed....

Lord Miles (Curlin), who was scratched from last week's GI Kentucky Derby by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission because he is a member of the Saffie Joseph, Jr. stable, will run next in either the GI Preakness S. or the GI Belmont S., reports owner Peter Vegso. Vegso said the decision would be made after the colt, the longshot winner of the GII Wood Memorial S., has a workout Friday morning. "We're going to work him on Friday and then decide if we're going to run him in the Preakness...

Two Phil's (Hard Spun), a game runner-up in the GI Kentucky Derby, will skip the May 20 GI Preakness S., according to a report from Jim O'Donnell in the Chicago Daily Herald. "Too soon," trainer Larry Rivelli told O'Donnell. "Phil came out of the Derby great. We shipped back to Chicago Sunday, but the Preakness is just 12 days away. That's just too soon." Two Phil's, coming off a win in the Mar. 25 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, was the only runner close to the hot pace to still be...

This week's Triple Crown feature examines the trips of GI Kentucky Derby runners in detail from first to last: 1) Mage (No. 12 in TDN pre-race rankings) Mage, the little horse who could, was a characteristic beat slow out of the starting gate. Javier Castellano let him roll with the flow as the field sorted itself out through the first furlong, then darted to secure the rail while fourth-last the first time under the wire. Unhurried through the turn, this son of Good Magic ($235,000 KEESEP; $290,000 EASMAY) raced several...

The team behind GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) was still savoring the colt's Classic victory on a rainy Sunday morning in Louisville, while taking a wait-and-see approach about a potential start in the May 20 GI Preakness S. "The horse is looking very good. I checked with the vet, and he's fine," trainer Gustavo Delgado, Sr. said. "Winning the Kentucky Derby is different than winning the Triple Crown and Simon Bolivar in Venezuela. It's the same but different. It was a very happy experience to win the Kentucky...

Tom Pedulla, who has reported on Thoroughbred racing for more than three decades for numerous publications, will receive the Old Hilltop Award at the Alibi Breakfast May 18 at Pimlico Race Course. The Alibi Breakfast began in the 1930s on the porch of the old Pimlico Clubhouse and features a gathering of media, owners, trainers, jockeys, horsemen and fans to celebrate the Preakness while gaining interesting and humorous race predictions. Pedulla, who started his career keeping box scores at New York Yankees games for Associated Press, became the Yankees beat...

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance has again been named the beneficiary of America's Best Racing's Pre-Preakness Party, which will be held May 17 at the Mt. Washington Tavern in Baltimore. Tickets for the eighth annual event are $25, which includes one drink ticket, snacks, access to racing personalities and networking opportunities for race fans. There will also be a silent auction to benefit TAA and a handicapping contest. Tickets are available online at: www.eventbrite.com/e/8th-annual-pre-preakness-party-by-thoroughbred-aftercare-alliance-abr-tickets-596988597967

Justin Johnson has been named the winner of the second annual Preakness Art of Racing contest. Johnson's original illustration titled "The Face of Victory" was selected by a panel of judges from among the 207 submissions, each of which depicted the extraordinary elements of Thoroughbred horse racing and the Preakness S. The winning artwork was announced at a ceremony in the Brown Center at the Maryland Institute College of Art. In attendance were Senior Advisor of Art & Culture for the City of Baltimore Tonya Miller, MICA dignitaries, Park Heights...

Frank Sumpter's Wild On Ice (Tapizar), winner of Sunday's GIII Sunland Park Derby, is one of a dozen 3-year-olds nominated to the Triple Crown with a late payment of $6,000 by Monday's deadline. The other late nominees (pending late mail) are:  Middleham Park Racing's Road to the Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes winner Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation); Adam Ference and Bill Dory's El Camino Real Derby winner Chase the Chaos (Astern {Aus}); John Salzman Jr., Fred Wasserloos and Anthony Geruso's multiple stakes winner Coffeewithchris (Ride on Curlin); Mrs. John Magnier,...