I guess Street Sense scared everyone away. This Saturday's Preakness is shaping up to be a ho-hum affair. The 1-2-3 finishers in the Derby will go in the Preakness. Street Sense will probably go off as the favorite--figure even money or so. Hard Spun may go as the 2nd choice and Curlin will be right behind those two. Of the three, Curlin may be the better value and may turn out to be as good as his first 3 races indicated.
The rest of the expected field just seems outclassed. King of the Roxy, 2nd in the slow Santa Anita Derby, was distance-challenged at a mile and an eigth when overtaken by longshot Tiago. Now, the King will go a bit farther. Unless there is a pedestrian pace, which seems highly unlikely, I can't see it. Ditto for Flying First Class. Yes, Flying First Class won the Derby Trial; but, it was a very weak field. Flying First Class is the perfect miler--so, distance is a question here as well.
C.P. West, a Nick Zito trainee, is shipping in after having run 2nd in the Withers Stakes at Aqueduct earlier this year. Finishing 2nd while drifting out badly is a sign of a tiring horse--and that was at a shorter distance than the Preakness. Another distance-challenged horse.
Mint Slewlep had a horrible trip in the Withers and managed to finish 4th in the Withers; however, had he won the Withers, it would have been a surprise.
If you're looking at the "horse for the course" angle, then you will like Xchanger. Xchanger won the Federico Tesio at Pimlico earlier this year. That field looked more like an optional/claiming race than it did a stakes race. In any event, Xchanger has been over the track, seemed to have liked it and showed some staying power. He is stepping way up in class; but, not a total throwout--especially in trifectas and superfectas.
The field should be announced by Thursday; so, stay tuned.
Over & out,
Racetrack Lenny
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