Preakness Stakes

We're now inside the six-week mark for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Is your money on an older horse winning the season-capping dirt route championship race or one of the 3-year-olds? Both divisions have a respectable upper crust of candidates. Neither age group has a dominant, standout star who towers over his peers. Improbable (City Zip)'s last-to-first, 4 1/2-length shakedown of the GI Awesome Again S. field at Santa Anita this past Saturday nudged him into tepid early favoritism for the Classic. The Oct. 10 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup...

Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) was named likely to make the line-up for Saturday's GI Preakness S. at Pimlico following a four-furlong work in :48 flat (2/88) at Churchill Downs Sunday. "Most likely he's going to go, but tomorrow we'll make the decision," trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. said. "We were very happy with the work." Ny Traffic came up a nose short of Authentic (Into Mischief) when second in the July 18 GI TVG.com Haskell S. Sunday's work was his first since finishing eighth behind that rival in the Sept. 5...

GI Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Mr. Big News (Giant's Causeway) put in his final work for next weekend's GI Preakness S. Saturday with a half-mile move in :50.40 (59/68) at Churchill Downs. With regular exercise rider Tony Camacho in the saddle, the bay went in splits of :13.20 and :25.40 with a five-furlong gallop out of 1:03.20, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols. "He left the pole really strong, which is how he was working before the Derby," trainer Bret Calhoun said. "We only wanted an easy work and...

GI Kentucky Derby hero Authentic (Into Mischief) and GI Kentucky Oaks victress Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) both returned to the worktab Saturday at Churchill Downs. GI Preakness S.-bound Authentic covered five panels in :59.20, the fastest of 38 works at the distance. With jockey Martin Garcia aboard, the bay clicked off splits in :23.80 and :35.40, galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.20. "It went very well. Martin has been with me," said trainer Bob Baffert, who came to Louisville from the Keeneland Sale in Lexington. "He knows what I expect. I told...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 553 yearlings for its 2020 Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale to be held Oct. 5-6. The auction, which will be held immediately following the rescheduled GI Preakness S. Oct. 3, will be conducted at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. Hips 1-200 will be offered in the Monday session, which will begin at 1 pm. The sale will begin with a large group of New York-breds, which are catalogued together as hips 1-154. Hips 201-553 will be offered in the Tuesday session, which will begin at 10 am....

The $250,000 GII Black-Eyed Susan S., traditionally run the day before the GI Preakness S., will join the Oct. 3 Preakness day card at Pimlico this year. The $250,000 GIII Pimlico Special will be held Oct. 2. The $100,000 Weber City Miss, to be contested at 1 1/16 miles Sept. 7 at Laurel Park, will once again serve as a 'Win and In' race for the Black-Eyed Susan, offering automatic entry for the winner. Also on Laurel's Labor Day card, the Federico Tesio S. will serve as a 'Win and...

Laurel Park has annonced a Labor Day weekend stakes line-up worth $900,000. The nine stakes on offer include the Federico Tesio, a 'Win and In' for the GI Preakness S., and the Weber City, a 'Win and In' for the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. Both races will be held Monday, Sept. 7. The Labor Day card will also feature three races on the turf--the Henry Clark S. and Laurel Dash for 3-year-olds and up, and the All Along S. for fillies and mares. There will be four $100,000 stakes Saturday,...

Coming off one of the most talked about performances of the year, Gamine (Into Mischief) is headed back to the barn of Bob Baffert, who will wait a few weeks before deciding what's next for the 3-year-old filly. Nothing could have overshadowed the win in the GI Belmont S. by Tiz the Law (Constitution), but Gamine came close in the GI Acorn S. With John Velazquez aboard, she won by 18 3/4 lengths and her time for the mile, 1:32.55, shattered the stakes record (video). Her effort earned a 110...

The deadline for late nominations to the rescheduled 2020 Triple Crown will be Wednesday, June 3. Owners and trainers can make 3-year-old Thoroughbreds eligible for the three-race series with a payment of $3,000. Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional order and dates for the Triple Crown were revised: the GI Belmont S. will be run first June 20 at 1 1/8 miles, followed by the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5 and GI Preakness S. Oct. 3. A total of 347 horses were made eligible to the Triple Crown during...

All New York-bred yearlings entered at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale will be catalogued together as a group in 2020, the company announced Wednesday. "Having to cancel our Saratoga auctions this year due to Covid-19 has displaced many New York-bred yearlings," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "By cataloguing New York-breds together at Midlantic Fall, we are providing buyers with a large group of New York-breds that can easily be zeroed in on. We annually have strong representation from New York owners and trainers at Midlantic Fall, which makes the sale...

What has traditionally been the final leg of the Triple Crown will now be the first. The GI Belmont Stakes will be run June 20 at the distance of a mile and an eighth, NYRA announced Tuesday. In a year where the coronavirus has caused tracks across the country to scramble and adjust their racing calendars and stakes schedules, the Triple Crown, in order, will now consist of the June 20 Belmont, the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5 and the GI Preakness Oct. 3. "The Belmont Stakes is a New...

The 1/ST Preakness At Home livestream event, featuring a look back at the fun, festivities and world-class Thoroughbred racing of GI Preakness S. past, will air May 16 at 6 p.m. The one-hour show is hosted by NBC Sports' Laffit Pincay and XBTV's ZoeCadman and follow NBC's nationally televised broadcast: The Middle Jewel: American Pharoah's Run to the Triple Crown, which airs at 5 p.m. The livestream event will feature appearances by some of racing's biggest stars including, seven-time Preakness winner Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith along with messages...