This was supposed to have been posted yesterday, prior to Rombaur's surprise win at the Preakness. Going ahead and still posting today because of the interesting back story ~~~FD
BALTIMORE – So much for a return to normalcy.
After being run in October as the third leg of the Triple Crown and in front of an empty grandstand in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Preakness has been restored to its rightful place on the calendar – the third Saturday in May. There will be fans allowed on-site, albeit just 10,000 on a day when typically more than 100,000 are in attendance.
Yet, Saturday’s 146th Preakness will be conducted under a cloud of controversy. Medina Spirit had his Kentucky Derby victory come into question when trainer Bob Baffert announced Sunday the horse had tested positive for the corticosteroid betamethasone, a legal therapeutic medication that is not permissible to be in a horse’s system on race day. After initially denying the horse had been administered the drug, Baffert said Tuesday that the horse had been given an ointment that contained betamethasone to treat a skin irritation.
Under an agreement between Baffert and the Maryland Jockey Club, Medina Spirit – as well as Baffert’s other Preakness entrant Concert Tour – will undergo increased testing and monitoring in order to run. Provided those horses pass drug tests taken this week, they will be permitted to race. Test results were expected to be announced Friday.
Dr. Dionne Benson, the chief veterinary officer of 1/ST Racing, the parent company of Pimlico, said if the results show “it is even going to be close [to a positive], then we will enact our request for Mr. Baffert to scratch the horse.”
Baffert, who has won the Preakness seven times, has opted to return to his home in California and let assistant Jimmy Barnes saddle the two horses.
Not only are Medina Spirit (9-5 morning line) and Concert Tour (5-2) the two top choices in the 10-horse field, they are the primary speed of the race. Medina Spirit’s victories in the Robert Lewis at Santa Anita and Kentucky Derby came when he was able to make the lead. Concert Tour won the Rebel at Oaklawn Park in gate-to-wire fashion.
Saturday, Medina Spirit breaks from post 3 under John Velazquez, while Concert Tour figures to hustle out of post 10 under Mike Smith, who rides him for the first time.
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