Posted on
5/15/2007 6:08:28 PM
Street Sense Running For Triple Crown At Preakness
By Robby Maddux
Perfect games, hitting for the cycle, running for 300 yards plus, the hat trick and a hole-in-one are all rare and unprecedented feats in the world of sports, but winning the Triple Crown is even more monumental.
Street Sense will be the next Triple Crown hopeful when he loads in the gate at Pimlico for Saturday's 132nd Preakness following his dominating victory in the Kentucky Derby. If the dark bay colt can win the Preakness and Belmont Stakes he'll make history. The last horse to win all three legs of the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. Sir Barton was the first to do it back in 1919.
Only eleven horses have won the Triple Crown making the task one of the most elusive events in all of sports. The grueling schedule of three races in five weeks at extended distances makes conquering the feat a rarity.
The betting public will send Street Sense off as the odds-on favorite. He'll be facing a smaller field than in the Derby, but that doesn't figure to increase his chances of capturing the
Triple Crown. However, millions will be pulling for him to do something most of us don't recall happening.
Hard Spun will be a big threat to Street Sense's odds of taking the Triple Crown. Hard Spun was the Derby leader until the final sixteenth of a mile when Street Sense blew past the Lane's End champion to win by 2-1/4 lengths.
Larry Jones, the trainer of Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun, vowed on Thursday to derail the Triple Crown hopes of Street Sense at the Preakness Stakes. "Believe me, we have every intention of seeing to it that there is not a Triple Crown winner in 2007," said Jones.
A field of competitors longing to upset Street Sense, the mile-and-three-sixteenths distance and just two weeks rest will all be huge factors in his chances. It's arguably the largest achievement in North American sports, and it's an event you don't want to miss. Get in a little wager on the race in the BetUS Racebook and watch to see if history is made.
Note: The complete field for this year's Preakness Stakes will be set on Wednesday, May 16.
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 Kentucky Derby at Pimlico Racetrack bets in now in the BetUS sportsbook in the Future / props section, under Horse Futures: 2007 Preakness Stakes.