Posted on
5/18/2007 6:16:54 PM
Street Sense – Bet on the Preakness Stakes Favorite
By Robby Maddux
Saturday, Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense will face eight competitors for the second jewel of the Triple Crown in the 132nd Preakness at Pimlico. Street Sense was tagged the 7-5 morning line favorite in a race where chalk excels.
Favorites have won the Preakness in five of the last six years, while three of the last four Kentucky Derby winners have taken the second jewel of the Triple Crown. The chalk may have went a perfect 6-for-6 if last year's Derby winner, Barbaro, didn't break down who was sent off the favorite in last year's Preakness.
In the first leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown at famed Churchill Downs, Street Sense made a remarkable charge from 19th in the 20-horse field en route to a 2 1/4-length victory.
On paper, it's Street Sense's race to lose. The dark bay colt was impressive in the Derby under jockey Calvin Borel, who will also get the Preakness mount. The win made him the first horse to win both the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby, also the first horse since Spectacular Bid in 1979 to be both the two-year-old champion and the Derby winner.
Hard Spun finished second in the Derby and may be the stiffest challenge for Street Sense. Hard Spun was chosen as oddsmakers second selection at 5-2. He will emerge from gate 7 and Street Sense will break from the No. 8 hole.
Hard Spun set the pace for the first 3/4 mile of the 1 1/4-mile Derby but was caught at the top of the stretch by Street Sense. He easily held on for second and may have a better shot in the Preakness, a shorter race.
Mario Pino, the winningest jockey in Maryland history, will be aboard Hard Spun.
Curlin will break from post 4 finished third in the Derby. Robby Albarado will be aboard Curlin as the 7-2 choice.
Curlin did not compete as a 2-year-old, then won his first three races in impressive fashion, capping the run with a 10 1/2 -length romp in Arkansas Derby.
Todd Pletcher is a three-time Eclipse Award winner but is 0-for-26 in his career in Triple Crown races. He is 0-for-19 in the Derby and 0-for-6 in the Belmont Stakes and 0-for-1 in the Preakness.
Circular Quay may be Pletcher's best shot to end the dismal Triple Crown drought. After finishing sixth in the Derby, Circular Quay is listed at 8-1 and will break from the third gate under John Velazquez. Pletcher also will send out King of the Roxy (12-1), the runner-up in the Santa Anita Derby who did not run in the Derby.
King of the Roxy won the Grade 2 Hutcheson at Gulfstream Park in his belated seasonal debut on March 3, before finishing only a half-length behind Kentucky Derby also-ran Tiago in the Santa Anita Derby.
Completing the field are Xchanger (15-1), who won the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico; Flying First Class (20-1), who won the Derby Trial; C P West (20-1), the runner-up in the Withers Stakes; and Mint Slewlep (30-1), fourth in the Withers.
Keep checking the Locker Room all through the Triple Crown season, as we will cover the trainers, horses and jockeys in each race. You can get your early Preakness Stakes odds at Pimlico Racetrack place your bets in now in the BetUS sportsbook in the Future / props section, under Horse Futures: 2007 Preakness Stakes.