The first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown came with some controversy, but in the overall scheme of things it is not as big a deal as it might have seemed at first glance. The horse was not on anabolic steroids. His blood sample showed traces of a substance used to help decrease inflammation and mask pain, and it is actually a legal substance to use, although it is supposed to be out of the horse’s system before race day, so you do not have a positive test.
It was a trace amount in a jurisdiction that allows a lower level of that substance than most others. (Kentucky allows none.) With that said, Bob Baffert has done himself no favors by being defiant about it. In the end, the horse did test at a higher level than is acceptable, the rules are widely known, and it is ultimately Baffert’s fault whether he wants to take the blame or not.
146th Preakness, the week in photos 1 of 23
France Go de Ina arrived at Pimlico Race Course Saturday night to prepare for the 146th running of the Preakness Stakes May 15. The Kentucky-bred colt, based in Japan with trainer Hideyuki Mori, will become the first horse from Japan to compete in the Preakness since Lani in 2016 and the first Japanese horse to compete in a Triple Crown race since Master Fencer ran in the 2019 Belmont. France Go de Ina, a chestnut colt by Will Take Charge, who raced in the 2013 Preakness, arrived in California on Wednesday to quarantine. The colt left California Saturday afternoon and made a stop in Newark, New Jersey, before arriving in Baltimore and Pimlico at approximately 7:45 p.m.
SI Gambling insider Frankie Taddeo handicaps this Saturday’s 146th running of the Preakness Stakes from Pimlico, including the latest odds and his best bets.
Any Horse But a Baffert Horse
I will root for any horse to win Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, as long as they are not trained by Bob Baffert. Baffert has cast a black cloud over Saturday’s race and he doesn’t deserve any positive headlines right now. Maybe that narrative changes, but I can’t bet on a Baffert horse to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, even though he has the two favorites in the field of 10. Baffert has lost all credibility with me, and he’s going to have a hard time winning it back. I will bet on both Chad Brown entries Risk Taking and Crowded Trade and see what happens.
Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
A 10-horse field is set to run for the Black-Eyed Susans in the 146th Preakness Stakes amid Medina Spirit s controversial bid for the Triple Crown.
The Kentucky Derby winner s status as the winner at Churchill Downs is in dispute. Bob Baffert s winning colt tested positive for excess amounts of betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory steroid. Whether the Derby s results will be upheld is going to rely on his split sample coming back negative.
Those results won t be back in time to make a ruling before the Preakness, so Medina Spirit s quest for the Triple Crown continues, but there are conditions.