The winner of the Kentucky Oaks and the second-place Derby finisher, Epicenter, are the top horses to watch in the 147th Preakness.
BALTIMORE — There are no regrets from the camp of the Kentucky Derby champion, Rich Strike, for skipping the Preakness Stakes on Saturday and forgoing a Triple Crown bid.
Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, was with him at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Friday and, after watching him turn in a strong gallop, says that he is convinced that waiting for the Belmont Stakes in three weeks is the right call.
In Louisville on Saturday, Rich Strike will have a timed workout and, if all goes well, Reed plans to ship the colt to Belmont Park on May 30.
“I hate not being at the Preakness, but Rich Strike is showing us by the way he’s training that we did the right thing,” Reed said by telephone Friday. “I just kept going back to how he wouldn’t be mentally ready to run in two weeks. Now, he’s acting like a strong and alert horse.”
The time away from the limelight also has been good for Reed and Rich Strike’s owner, Rick Dawson. In the roughly two minutes that the 80-1 shot Rich Strike took to weave his way to victory in the Derby, the pair went from unknown horsemen to Everyman heroes.
They appeared on network morning shows and did countless media interviews. Reed could not wait to get back to the morning routine of training his horses on his Lexington, Ky., farm, then racing them in the afternoons at tracks in Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia.
“We’re still on cloud nine, but working hard has put our feet back on the ground, and me and my guys know we need to focus on what’s ahead,” Reed said.
The middle jewel of the Triple Crown, however, does not lack star power — the filly Secret Oath is taking on the boys after an emphatic victory in the Kentucky Oaks. She is trying to become only the seventh filly to win the Preakness and is trained by the Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas.
Secret Oath will be the 46th horse saddled by Lukas for the Preakness. No one has had more. Lukas, 86, has won here six times — his first victory at the Preakness, in 1980, was a controversial one after his colt, Codex, beat the Kentucky Derby winner Genuine Risk, a filly, in a roughly ridden race.
“Being a filly, she’s real rangy and slight-built anyhow. She isn’t tucked up. I feel pretty good about her,” he said. “I actually think that she is training better these two weeks than she did the two weeks before the Oaks. Even with the trip here, it seems like she is taking a hold of it. That might be maturity and getting into the groove of what we really want to do.”
There’s 14 races at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday. Post time for the Preakness is 7:01 p.m. Eastern. Coverage begins on CNBC at 2 p.m. Eastern time and moves to NBC at 4 p.m. Coverage will also be streamed on NBCSports.com. The weather is expected to be around 90 degrees. Here’s what else you need to know:
The lineup is set for the second leg of the 2022 Triple Crown following Mondays post draw for the Preakness Stakes.
Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike will be notable by his absence at Pimlico. He pulled off one of the most improbable victories in Derby history when he surged past Epicenter, the betting favorite going into the race, down the final stretch.
Secret Oaks is only 10 days removed from a victory in the Kentucky Oaks, an improvement from her third-place showing in the Arkansas Derby. The filly figures to be the stiffest competition for Epicenter.
Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter will be running near the outside of the nine-horse field after drawing the No. 8 gate.
The winner of the Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby is the strongest horse in this years Preakness field. Trainer Steve Asmussen has guided two horses to victory in this event, though his most recent triumph was more than a decade ago (Rachel Alexandra in 2009).
When is the 2022 Preakness Stakes? Start time, pole positions
The 2022 Triple Crown season went off with a bang as Rich Strike became the second biggest underdog in Kentucky Derby history to win the run for the roses. The madness continues on Saturday as the field meets in Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes.
The second jewel of the Triple Crown will pit established favorites Epicenter and Simplification against newcomers like Early Voting, who opted to sit out of the Kentucky Derby. A notable absence — Rich Strike himself, the darling of the 2022 season — will not make the trip to Baltimore. While that effectively ends the bid for the Triple Crown, the Preakness is shaping up to be an event full of entertainment and intrigue.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 147th edition of the Preakness Stakes:
The Preakness Stakes is the second jewel of the Triple Crown and one of the premier annual horse racing events. With millions of viewers tuning in every year, it is the second-most watched race behind only the Kentucky Derby.
Traditionally held on the third Saturday of May, the Preakness Stakes is distinct in culture and competition.
Clocking in at 1 3/16 miles — 1/16 mile shorter than the Kentucky Derby — it is the shortest of the Triple Crown races, favoring speed and strength. The Preakness is also considerably more exclusive, featuring a maximum 14 horses.
The biggest change to the weekend program is the premier of Preakness Live, an immersive cultural experience highlighting music, art and culinary stars. Megan Thee Stallion, Lauryn Hill and The Chainsmokers are just a few of the celebrities expected to perform during the two-day event.
The Preakness Stakes have long called Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., home.
Nicknamed “Old Hilltop” after a small incline in the infield frequented by trainers and spectators alike, the course is celebrating its 152nd year of horse racing. The hill has since been leveled, but the name stuck and became an integral part of the event’s legacy.
Pimlico Race Course is named after the surrounding neighborhood, Pimlico, located approximately seven miles outside of downtown Baltimore.
The Preakness Stakes will take place on Saturday, May 21st with a post time of 7:01 p.m. ET.
Epicenter leads the rest of the pack. But beware of the fresh horses.
While several Derby contestants inevitably skip the Preakness in favor of the Belmont or one of the marquee summer races, the ones who do stick around — in this case Epicenter (second at the Derby), Simplification (fourth) and Happy Jack (14th) — have to contend with what horseplayers refer to as new shooters, or those who did not run in the Derby and instead focused on the Preakness, the $1.5 million crown jewel of the track known as Old Hilltop.
Last year, Rombauer followed this path to an upset victory in the Preakness. This year, Early Voting, the lightly raced second-place finisher in the Wood Memorial, is looking to do the same. His trainer, Chad Brown, made the tough call to hold him out of the Derby despite qualifying for the race. Brown and the colt’s owner, Seth Klarman, used this playbook before with the 2017 Preakness victor, Cloud Computing.
“With Seth being a Baltimore native, it’s a very important race to him, and he’d be honored to win it a second time,” Brown said. “So it’s not a disappointing goal to shoot for. We hold the race in high regard, and we want to do the right thing for the horse for the future, too, beyond the Derby and the Preakness.”
Another new shooter, Creative Minister, was not even on the Derby trail. His first race was in March, but after two impressive wins in three starts, his owners paid a $150,000 supplemental fee to make him eligible for the Preakness and the Belmont.
Rounding out the field of nine are Armagnac, who was previously trained by the embattled Bob Baffert; Fenwick, trained by Kevin McKathan, who runs a training center for young horses that produced the likes of American Pharoah and Silver Charm; and Skippylongstocking, who has four dark-colored legs, or stockings.
FAQ
What race number is the Preakness race?
What race number is the Preakness 2022?
How many races are in the Preakness?
