Preakness 2012: Six horses to watch
I'll Have Another (Opening odds: 5-2)
(CBS/AP) All eyes will be on Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another when an 11-horse field lines up for the $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday. A victory, and I'll Have Another will have a chance to become the first Triple Crown champion in 34 years if he goes on to win the Belmont Stakes next month in New York.
I'll Have Another will start from the No. 9 post. The colt, who won the Derby out of the No. 19 post, will again be ridden by Mario Gutierrez.
"Anything with a nine in it, we feel very good about. We're cool with it," trainer Doug O'Neill said. "We talked about the possibility of being inside Bodemeister and really forcing our hand to push him early. Now it's in Mario's hands to still kind of push Bode, but we'll be on the outside of him."
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Preakness 2012: Six horses to watch
Bodemeister (Opening odds: 8-5)
He was the morning-line favorite in the Derby, and he's the morning-line choice in this one, too. Why? Because he's fast, and the 1 1/4-mile Derby distance was just a little too far for him to carry all that speed. The Preakness is a sixteenth-of-a-mile shorter, plus Bodemeister won't be pressured early like he was in the Derby by Trinniberg and Hansen, who are not entered. It probably doesn't hurt that his trainer, Bob Baffert, has won the Preakness five times in 11 tries. Mike Smith is back to ride, and look for the Hall of Fame jockey to put his colt in front right out of the No. 7 gate.
Baffert was delighted to receive the No. 7 post in the 11-horse field.
"With him, anything in the middle would be fine," the Hall of Fame trainer said. "With the Preakness, you just don't want to be stuck on the inside where you have to use your horse a little bit. The Derby winner drew really well, also."
Some horse racing handicappers, like the Washington Post's Andrew Beyer, thought Bodemeister actually ran the better race at Churchill Downs despite coming in second. Beyer doesn't foresee the same result on Saturday. "Bodemeister wins the Preakness in a runaway," he predicts.
Derby winner is second-favorite at Preakness
Preakness Stakes cheat sheet: 6 things to know
Preakness 2012: Six horses to watch
Went The Day Well (Opening odds: 6-1)
A troubled trip that ended with a speedy finish in the Derby gives Went the Day Well fans hope for an upset. The same team that won last year's Derby with Animal Kingdom only to finish a half-length behind Shackleford in the Preakness is confident their Spiral Stakes winner is ready to win a Classic. The New York-bred colt broke poorly from the No. 13 post under jockey John Velazquez, got caught in traffic through the first turn, but rallied in the stretch to close from ninth and 10 lengths back, to fourth and 2 1/2 lengths behind the winner. In a smaller field, look for Velazquez to avoid early trouble breaking from the No. 5 post and emerge as a major threat down the stretch.
But can the 6-1 shot hang with a speedster like Bodemeister? Barry Irwin, managing partner of Went the Day Well, says the Preakness favorite may still have some lingering fatigue from the Derby.
"You can't run as fast and as hard as he did and not have it affect you," Irwin said.
Derby winner is second-favorite at Preakness
Preakness Stakes cheat sheet: 6 things to know
Preakness 2012: Six horses to watch
Creative Cause (Opening odds: 6-1)
This gray colt is quite familiar with I'll Have Another. He lost to him by a nose in the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby, and finished fifth — three lengths behind two weeks ago in the 1 1/4-mile Derby. However, Creative Cause beat I'll Have Another last year in the Best Pal. He also owns a win over Bodemeister in the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe. If jockey Joel Rosario can position Creative Cause in striking position turning for home, the colt would have another chance to show he can finish strong. It didn't happen in the Derby, but the slightly shorter distance may be a positive.
But could Creative Cause be jet lagged? The colt completed a lengthy round trip when he flew into Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon. He returned to California following the Derby and caught a 5 a.m. flight for the trip East.
"He's a good traveler," trainer Mike Harrington said.
Creative Cause will have to be. This is his third flight from the West Coast, having shipped to Churchill Downs to run third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November.
Derby winner is second-favorite at Preakness
Preakness Stakes cheat sheet: 6 things to know
Preakness 2012: Six horses to watch
Tiger Walk (Opening odds: 30-1)
One of the new shooters in the field, he's competed in a trio of graded-stakes races this year. In his last start, the son of Tale of the Cat finished a non-threatening fourth in the Wood Memorial. He was fourth in the Gotham and third in the Withers before that. Tiger Walk has a tendency to lose ground around the turns so trainer Ignacio Correas will fit the colt with blinkers Saturday in an effort to keep him more focused. He'll also have a new rider in Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux — a two-time Preakness winner very familiar with the Pimlico racing surface. Long odds at 30-1, but he's a hometown horse owned by Kevin Plank's nearby Sagamore Farm.
The Baltimore Sun says that of the Preakness Stakes horses who did not run in the Kentucky Derby, "Tiger Walk looks to be the strongest of the lot."
Derby winner is second-favorite at Preakness
Preakness Stakes cheat sheet: 6 things to know
Preakness 2012: Six horses to watch
Cozzetti (Opening odds: 30-1)
Nowadays, it's wise not to discard the chances of horses trained by Dale Romans. He won last year's Preakness with Shackleford, and watched as Dullahan finish a strong for third in the Derby two weeks ago. While his top 3-year-old is sitting out the Preakness, he's sending out this gray colt with hopes of pulling off a surprise at 30-1. Earlier in the week, this maiden winner who likes to come from behind worked five furlongs in a fast 58.80 seconds over a muddy track at Churchill Downs, and Romans said, "He's fresh, and he's going to have to run fast" on Saturday, especially leaving from the outside No. 11 post. He was fourth in the Arkansas Derby, 9¾ lengths behind Bodemeister, in his last start.
Cozzetti's exercise rider Tammy Fox told the Courier-Journal that if the colt translates his morning workouts to actual races, then the sky's the limit.
"He's never really shown what he does in the morning," Fox told the newspaper. "He hasn't figured it out yet, I don't think. His last race was a good race, but it always seemed like there's more to him than what he puts out in a race. So maybe he's waking up. I was impressed with the way he did everything. He's older and has a stronger feeling underneath me."
Derby winner is second-favorite at Preakness
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