The conversation this week should be about how Medina Spirit ran a sensational race at the Kentucky Derby, raving about how the horse’s rags-to-riches story is just the type of feel-good tale that the world needs in some brutally difficult times.
Preakness Notes: Fradkins Happy To Take Detour From Commercial Market With Rombauer Sponsored by:
Rombauer at Pimlico race course on Friday morning
At this time a year ago, Diane and John Fradkin were trying to figure out what to do with the 2-year-old homebred colt they would later name Rombauer. A couple of unexpected turns, six races and $290,500 in purse earnings later, the versatile son of Twirling Candy has brought the Santa Ana, Calif. couple to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., for Saturday s 146th Preakness Stakes (G1).
Rombauer is their first starter in a Triple Crown race.
“That s exciting,” John Fradkin said. “Generally speaking, we think of ourselves as small-time, commercial breeders. We aim to sell our progeny. This is a rarity. In the past we ve pretty much only raced horses that we couldn t sell. This is kind of an exception, just the way it all transpired.”
Pedigree fun facts: 2021 Preakness Stakes May 14, 2021 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com Can American Pharoah s son Ram outperform his 30-1 odds in the Preakness? (Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club)
Several Preakness S. (G1) contenders with strong pedigree ties to the middle jewel are longshots. Might that portend an upset brewing at Pimlico on Saturday?
Triple Crown champion
American Pharoah (2015) is trying to join the exclusive club of Preakness winners who have sired one, but it would be a massive shock if his son
Ram can pull it off. The 30-1 shot on the morning line has more pedigree than past performance power.
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.
Keeler Johnson’s Preakness 146 Selections
Keeler Johnson’s Preakness 146 Selections
13 May, 2021 10:47 PM
By J. Keeler Johnson ( Keelerman ) Twitter: @J Keelerman
How times flies! The 146th
running of the Preakness (G1) will take place on Saturday at Pimlico, just two
weeks after an ultra-competitive renewal of the Kentucky Derby (G1).
The second leg of the Triple
Crown has attracted a field of 10, including seven newcomers who skipped the
Derby. Let s take a horse-by-horse look at the field:
#1 Ram (30-1): Son
of American Pharoah has made rapid progress in recent weeks and was a flashy
allowance winner on Kentucky Derby day at Churchill Downs. But Ram was the