5 burning questions entering the Preakness Stakes
With an entertaining opening leg of the Triple Crown in the books, racing fans have more questions than answers going into this weekend's Preakness Stakes. Here are five of the biggest queries entering the race.
Are Justify's tootsies still tender?
The morning after winning the 144th Kentucky Derby, trainer Bob Baffert brought his winning colt, Justify, out of his stall for a photo-op session with fans and media. However, it was obvious that Justify was not 100 percent, as he showed some lameness in his left hind leg.
When questioned about it at the time, Baffert chalked the discomfort up to "scratches," a skin condition he said is caused by horses standing in wet and muddy ground - which was the condition of the track on Derby day. However, it was later revealed that Justify had suffered a bruised heel. According to his connections, the colt has recovered, partly thanks to a special shoe, and should be good to go. But only Justify can tell the truth.
Will Baffert's Derby-Preakness streak continue?
Bob Baffert has won the Preakness six times, four of those times with his Derby winners (every horse he won the Derby with went on to take the Preakness).
Justify will be the overwhelming favorite Saturday, but Baffert's never brought a Derby-winning horse off such a short succession of races, since the colt didn’t run as a 2-year-old. Whether that lack of seasoning will catch up with Justify remains to be seen.
Can Good Magic turn the tables?
When the 20-horse field turned for home in the Run for the Roses on May 5, it was clearly a two-horse competition between the eventual winner and the runner-up, Good Magic, who will try to turn the tables on Justify in the Preakness. Trainer Chad Brown won the race last year with Cloud Computing, and is hoping the Derby took a bit of a toll on Justify so his colt can edge past.
Still, the numbers are against Good Magic. In the past 50 years, the Derby winner and runner-up have met in the second jewel of the Triple Crown 33 times. The Derby winner has taken the Preakness 16 of those times, while the runner-up has won just three times.
What about new shooter Quip?
Tampa Bay Derby winner Quip was originally pointed to the Kentucky Derby, but got rerouted to the Preakness after trainer Rodolphe Brisset was not completely satisfied with the horse’s energy and training. Now fresh and poised for a big effort, this colt - should he handle the muddy track predicted for Saturday at Pimlico - could pose the biggest threat to Justify’s Triple Crown bid.
Curiously, Quip is owned by some of the same principals as Justify, meaning Winstar Farm and China Horse Club could be knocked out of Triple Crown contention by their own horse.
Can Lukas pull off another upset?
Only one person alive knows how to win the Preakness like Baffert: the legendary D. Wayne Lukas, who's also won the race six times. The last time Lukas, 82, took the second jewel, it was with 15-1 longshot Oxbow in 2013, upsetting Orb’s chances at the Crown.
This year, he brings two outsiders in Bravazo and Sporting Chance. It will be tough to upend Justify, but nobody gave Oxbow much consideration either.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)